Ciccone Wins Giant Slalom

Caitlin Ciccone had a strong second run to beat Olympic champion Julia Mancuso for the U.S. giant slalom title Wednesday in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

Ciccone trailed Mancuso after the first run, but won with an aggregate time of 2 minutes 17.96 seconds for her third podium at the national championships.

She was second in the slalom and the combined.

TENNIS

Golovin Advances to Play Sharapova

Tatiana Golovin, 18, earned a spot in a Nasdaq-100 Open semifinal by sweeping the last five games to beat Zheng Jie, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Golovin was born in Moscow and her family lives in Strasbourg, France. She began training part-time in Florida at age 7, moved to Miami last fall and practiced over the winter at Key Biscayne with Andy Roddick’s former coach, Tarik Benhabiles.

Her opponent tonight will be No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who hit 26 winners to beat No. 10 Anastasia Myskina, 6-3, 6-3.

No. 3 David Nalbandian and No. 6 Ivan Ljubicic will play in a semifinal Friday. Nalbandian advanced by beating No. 22 Mario Ancic, 6-2, 6-2, and Ljubicic defeated unseeded Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

No. 9 James Blake tonight plays the defending champion, top-seeded Roger Federer, for a semifinal berth in the most anticipated match of the tournament. No. 4 Roddick, the 2004 champion, will face No. 11 David Ferrer in the other quarterfinal today.

COLLEGES

Duke President Meets With Students

The president of Duke University, Richard Brodhead, met with students who feel his suspension of the lacrosse team during a rape investigation was not enough, urging them to be patient while police look into the matter.

Brodhead suspended the highly ranked team from play until the school learns more about accusations that team members attacked an exotic dancer hired to perform at an off-campus party. No one has been charged, and the team’s captains have said DNA tests will clear players.

Jim Zalesky, Iowa’s wrestling coach, will not have his contract renewed after the team’s worst season in 39 years. Iowa finished 11-7 in dual meets.

Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby announced that Zalesky, who replaced Dan Gable at Iowa in 1997 and won national titles in his first three seasons, will be replaced. Zalesky led Iowa to national runners-up finishes in 2001 and 2004.

SOCCER

Chelsea, AEG Announce Alliance

English Premier League champion Chelsea and AEG announced a “strategic alliance” to further the growth of professional soccer in the U.S.

The 101-year-old English club and the sports and entertainment giant will work together in such areas as tournaments, player development, marketing and merchandising.

The MLS-champion Galaxy is expected to play host to the English champions in August.

-- Grahame L. Jones

World Cup stars Kristine Lilly, Briana Scurry and Abby Wambach were among 25 players invited to the U.S. women’s team’s six-month residency training camp, which begins April 2 in Carson.

A few players with college eligibility will join the camp after the completion of their spring terms, including forwards Amy Rodriguez (USC) and Lauren Cheney (UCLA).

GOLF

Wie Will Play PGA’s John Deere

Michelle Wie will take another crack at the PGA Tour in the John Deere Classic in July after the tournament granted her a sponsor’s exemption. This will be the fifth time Wie plays on the PGA Tour.

Mojave entrepreneur Burt Rutan, who designed the first privately-built manned craft to reach space, will play in the LPGA Takefuji Classic pro-am on April 12 in Las Vegas.

MISCELLANY

Jockey Martinez to Retire

Jockey Felipe Martinez, 41, will retire from riding after Sunday’s program at Santa Anita.

Martinez, who ranked 13th in the standings with 21 victories entering the last four weeks of the winter-spring meet, told agent Alex Procel last summer that he would probably retire at the end of Santa Anita, which concludes April 23.

-- Bob Mieszerski

Drug dealers, coaches or athletes who distribute steroids could now face harsher sentences after the government made an “emergency” change to its federal sentencing guidelines.

The change, made by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on a temporary basis Monday, typically would result in a 25% increase in sentences.

Arizona-bound forward Chase Budinger of Carlsbad La Costa Canyon scored 11 points for the West in a 112-94 victory over the East in the McDonald’s All-American high school basketball game at San Diego State. James Keefe, a UCLA-bound forward from Santa Margarita, had five points and three rebounds.

In the girls’ game, Abi Olajuwon of Los Angeles Marlborough had eight points and five rebounds in the West’s 80-76 victory over the East. Morghan Medlock of Harbor City Narbonne finished with seven points and four rebounds.

JURISPRUDENCE

Ski Coach Sues Anti-Doping Chief

The former Austrian ski coach who fled the Turin Olympics and crashed his car after raids on team headquarters sued the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The suit filed by Walter Mayer claims WADA chief Dick Pound wrongly accused him of blood doping at the Games.