Team USA loses in baseball, American sprinter stripped of gold

SPORTSTICKER PAN AMERICAN GAMES REPORT

By David Gonzalez SportsTicker Staff Writer

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Ticker) - Team USA was looking to snap its baseball jinx at the Pan Am Games on Tuesday, but was derailed by the right arm of Cuban Luis Norge Vera.

BizVantage – Beyond the news: indepth on business, investment and technology.
Try the free, no-hassle 6 month trial!

The United States saw its stretch without a baseball gold medal at these games reach 36 years as Vera tossed a two-hitter in Cuba's 3-1 triumph over Team USA.

Earlier in the day, American sprinter Mickey Grimmes was stripped of the gold medal he won Wednesday in the men's 100 meters. Grimmes failed a drug test.

The United States did win 11 gold medals Tuesday and pushed its overall total to 189. The U.S. swimming team continued to dominate by capturing all five golds at the Aquatics Park.

The United States has not won the gold medal in baseball since 1967, and Vera, a 25-year-old righthander, led Cuba to its ninth straight gold medal at these games. Jered Weaver pitched eight strong innings, allowing two runs and eight hits, but the offense managed just two hits.

"We thought it was going to be a duel between the pitchers and it turned out to be that," Team USA coach Ray Tanner said. "Vera was just outstanding for Cuba. Jered Weaver battled his heart out for us, but we just weren't able to muster enough offense to get to Vera."

Over at the swimming venue, the United States put on another dominant performance.

The U.S. swimmers broke three Pan Am records en route to capturing three gold, and seven medals the night before, and on Tuesday night set two more marks.

Ben Michaelson broke a Pan Am record in the 100-meter butterfly and the United States set the event record in the men's 800-meter relay.

"I knew I had enough training to come back with anyone in the world," Michaelson said, who set the record with a time of 53.04 seconds.

The foursome of Ryan Lochte, Bryan Goldberg, Jeffrey Lee, and Daniel Ketchum finished the relay in a record-setting time of 7:18.93.

"The record is great," Ketchum said, who swam anchor and gave the U.S the lead. "That time would have been competitive at the past Olympics, so we're thrilled."

In the men's 400 meters individual medley, Robert Margalis swam a personal best time to capture gold, and his teammate Eric Donnelly took home the silver.

"I wanted to go a little faster," said Margalis, who finished with a time of 4:19.09. "I wanted to be under 4:19. I wanted to drop a couple of seconds, not just a couple tenths of a second."

Alexi Spann, whose father Scott won a bronze in the 1979 games, captured the gold in the women's 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:29.76.

"This was a breakthrough swim for me," Spann said. "I've always been in the 2:30's. I've never been in the 2:20s (but) breaking the 2:30 mark was amazing for me." Also, the American tandem of Dana Vollmer and Colleen Lanne captured gold and silver, respectively, in the women's 200-meter freestyle.

"I just wanted to break two minutes," said Vollmer, who finished the race in personal best time of 1:59.80. "I drank lots of water, and I felt really good in warmups. I was catching a lot of water."

In boxing, welterweight Juan McPherson and super heavyweight Jason Estrada advanced to the finals.

Also, heavyweight Devin Vargas moved into the medal round with a victory. He joins featherweight Aaron Garcia, who advanced to the semifinals Monday night.

McPherson used his superior height and reach to defeat Mexico's Alfredo Angulo Lopez. The fight was stopped by the referee with 77 seconds remaining the final round.

"I tried to do the same thing I did in my last bout, step around and establish the jab," McPherson said. "Coach told me to use a lot of angles. That was the game plan."

McPherson will have his hands full as he meets Lorenzo Argon of Cuba for the gold on Friday.

"I'm not worried about facing Aragon," McPherson added, who has beaten a Cuban in amateur competition. "I'm prepared, I've trained hard and I'm going to go out there and give it all I'I've got."

Estrada easily handled Sebastian Ceballo of Argentina and will box for the gold against Michael Lopez of Cuba.

"I'm just so happy right now," Estrada said. "I'm in the championship bout and I have two days to rest up and get ready. I'm in great shape right now."

On the strength of a knockdown and three-standing eight counts, Vargas advanced to the medal round. The referee stopped his contest against Alexsandro Cardoso of Brazil in the final round with 30 seconds remaining.

Two Americans were eliminated from the competition Tuesday.

Flyweight Raul Martinez was dropped twice in the fourth round, and lost to Juan Carlos Payano of the Dominican Republic, 18-17. Light welterweight Lamont Peterson dropped a lopsided decision to Patriz Lopez of Venezuela, 23-8.

On Wednesday, swimming begins its third day. Cycling events will be held at the Velodrome at Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Park and archery medals will be handed at Parque del Este.

C O P Y R I G H T   R E M I N D E R

This article is Copyright 2003 by SportsTicker Enterprises L.P..

All articles in the clari.* news hierarchy are Copyrighted and licensed to ClariNet Communications Corp. for distribution. Except for articles in the biz.clarinet newsgroups, only paid subscribers may access these articles. Any unauthorized access, reproduction or transmission is strictly prohibited.

We offer a reward to the person who first provides us with information that helps stop those who distribute or receive our news feeds without authorization. Please send reports to reward@clari.net. [Use info@clari.net for sales or other inquiries.]

Details on the use of ClariNet material and other info can be found in the user documentation section of our web page.