Australian Steggall Wins World Cup Slalom

Zali Steggall powered down a steep, icy slalom course at Park City, Utah, on Sunday to give Australia its first World Cup victory by a woman.

Steggall, 23, had the two fastest runs of the day in winning by .78 seconds over Sweden’s Ylva Nowen. New Zealand’s Claudia Riegler denied American Kristina Koznick a spot on the podium, finishing third by .40 seconds.

The Australian completed two runs in 1 minute 36.30 seconds. Nowen, second in the season-opening parallel slalom at Tignes, France, finished in 1:37.08.

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Bjorn Dahlie anchored Norway to a 3.6-second victory over Finland with time of 1 hour 37 minutes 31 seconds in a 40-kilometer World Cup cross-country ski relay at Beitostolen, Norway. . . . Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler, the 1994 Olympic bronze medalist, won the opening men’s World Cup luge event of the season at Sigulda, Latvia. . . . Joe Pack, the 1996 world junior aerials ski champion, injured ligaments in his left knee when he crashed during training at Park City. U.S. Ski Team trainer Kim Nelson said Pack would undergo a medical examination today at the Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Salt Lake City. . . . American Chris Witty set a world record in the women’s 1,000 meters with a time of 1:15.43 in the World Cup long track speed skating championships at Calgary, Alberta. Catriona LeMay Doan of Canada equaled her world record of 37.90 in the 500 meters.

Golf

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington shot a 5-under-par 67 and teammate Paul McGinley had a 68 as they finished nine-under par to win the $1.5-million World Cup of Golf at Kiawah Island, S.C.

Davis Love III shot a 65 to keep the United States within striking distance in the two-man team event, but Justin Leonard had putting problems and had a 70.

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie claimed individual honors with his third consecutive 66.

Tom Watson shot a one-under-par 70 and won the Dunlop Phoenix by two shots at Miyazaki, Japan. Joe Ozaki surged into second at 277 with a final-round 65 and Craig Parry finished third at 278 after a closing 73. He was in contention for the title until a double-bogey at the 17th hole.

Loren Roberts won the $300,000 Callaway Golf Invitational at Pebble Beach with a final-round 70 to finish at 12-under 276. Johnny Miller and Kirk Triplett were second at 279.

Miscellany

Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark won the Phoenix ATP Tour World Doubles tennis championship, beating Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in the final at Hartford, Conn. The winners will split the $60,000 prize.

Martin Bruno had a goal and an assist, and Nick Paneno and Seth George also scored as fifth-seeded UCLA defeated Santa Clara, 3-0, in a first-round game of the Division I men’s soccer tournament at Westwood. UCLA will play Washington next week in the second round at a site to be determined. The Huskies (15-2-2) beat Stanford, 2-1, in overtime.

Joy Driscoll scored the winning goal at 23:23 in the second period as North Carolina took a third consecutive NCAA Division I field hockey title with a 3-2 victory over Old Dominion at Storrs, Conn.

Lauren Johnson scored in the 20th minute to lift UC San Diego to a 1-0 victory over William Smith College in the Division III women’s soccer final at Elizabethtown, Pa.

Mike Skinner beat Mark Martin by 3.742 seconds to win the NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka exhibition race at Suzuka, Japan. Starting in the fourth spot, Skinner made a late charge to the front in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Swedish Match moved into the Fremantle, Australia, harbor hours behind schedule to win the second leg of the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race.

Katrina McClain had seven of her 22 points in an overtime as the Atlanta Glory defeated the San Jose Lasers, 81-77, in an ABL game before 4,218 at San Jose. . . . Katie Smith had 22 points as the Columbus Quest defeated the New England Blizzard, 83-58, in an ABL game before 2,521 at Columbus, Ohio.