San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
RUPP WINS 2ND STRAIGHT U.S. MARATHON TRIALS
Galen Rupp, Aliphine Tuliamuk and America’s other top distance runners have claimed their spots on the U.S. Olympic marathon team in Atlanta.
That’s only half the battle. Now they have to wait to see if the Tokyo Games will be held.
Rupp reclaimed his status as the nation’s top distance runner Saturday, winning his second straight U.S. marathon trials and earning a spot for an Olympics shadowed by a global virus.
“I’ve always been someone who says you can control what you can control,” Rupp said, adding the impact of the coronavirus on the Olympics is “a decision that’s way above myself. I’ll let the proper authorities or governing bodies deal with that when it comes.”
Rupp pulled away in the final miles for a dominant victory. Carrying a U.S. flag in his right hand, Rupp was all alone as he crossed the finish line, almost 43 seconds ahead of Jacob Riley. Abdi Abdirahman also earned a spot on the U.S. team by finishing third.
Tuliamuk edged Molly Seidel by seven seconds in the closest women’s finish in the trials.
Seidel became the first woman to make the U.S. Olympics team while running in her first marathon. Sally Kipyego was third. Hilltop High graduate Desi Linden finished fourth.
Tennis
Rafael Nadal, ranked No. 2 in the world, beat former Rancho Santa Fe resident Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the ATP Acapulco tournament.
• After saving match points to reach the final, topranked Novak Djokovic was scarcely troubled as he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to win the Dubai Championships for the fifth time.
• Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus won the sixth title of her career with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Petra Kvitova in the Qatar Open final.
Locally
The San Diego Legion rugby team captured its fourth straight win to start the season with a 25-21 victory on the road against the NOLA Gold. Legion captain Joe Pietersen made a penalty kick in the 65th minute for their first lead at 22-21.
• Third-seeded Xiaodi You of China overcame fifthseeded Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in 99 minutes to win the $25,000 Shoebacca Women’s Open singles title at Morgan Run Club & Resort.
• In MASL play, the San Diego Sockers (14-6) beat the Milwaukee Wave (12-5) 6-5 in the shootout. Kraig Chiles scored the winning goal.
• The San Diego Seals beat host Calgary 13-12 in NLL action.
Local colleges
Troy Melton (3-0) pitched six innings of shutout baseball to lead San Diego State (7-4) to a 6-0 victory over visiting Oregon State (5-5).
• Caleb Ricketts hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the USD baseball team (8-2) a 4-3 win over Monmouth (0-2).
• The Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (23-4, 18-4) beat No. 17 UC San Diego, 75-57, at home. The two teams share the CCAA regular-season title but the Cougars will be the conference tournament’s top seed with the Tritons (22-5, 18-4) seeded second.
• The San Diego State women’s track team finished second at the Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. Kaitlin Heri of the Aztecs won the pole vault.
• The USD women’s basketball team (19-10, 13-5) rallied from a deficit in the third quarter to beat visiting Pepperdine (14-14, 8-10), 62-58, to secure the second seed in the WCC Tournament. Junior guard Myah Pace led the way for the Toreros with 15 points.
• The UCSD softball team (18-7, 9-7), ranked No. 14 in Division II, split a CCAA doubleheader at Cal State Monterey Bay (12-8, 8-8). The Tritons won the first game 8-3, but dropped the second game 8-0.
• The Tritons men’s basketball team ran its win streak to 19 games with a 9986 victory at Cal State San Marcos. UCSD tied its school record for wins with 27. The Tritons finished 21-1 in the CCAA.
• The Point Loma Nazarene basketball teams swept a pair of games at Holy Names in Oakland. The women’s team (18-14-8 Pacwest) won 81-58 to wrap up the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. The men (22-6, 18-4) edged Holy Names (8-20, 616), 87-85.