Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/261964
Tehama Tracker 1B Tuesday February 18, 2014 Sports AP photo Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States compete in the ice dance free dance figure skat- ing finals at the Iceberg Skating Palace during the 2014 Winter Olympics Monday in Sochi, Russia. Davis, White win ice dance gold SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Through 17 years of grueling practices, of defeats and victories, Meryl Davis and Charlie White insist they've never considered parting ways. A perfect pairing, they were nearly flawless at the Sochi Olympics, and on Monday they became the first Americans to win an ice dance gold medal. ''The closest we came to breaking up, I can't pinpoint one because there hasn't been one,'' Davis, 27, said. ''Certainly there have been struggles. It hasn't been easy to get where we are. ... It's a partnership which I couldn't have asked for more. ''Charlie and I are very different. We used those differ- ence to balance it out. There has never been a moment of doubt.'' Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, the 2010 cham- pions, took silver, while bronze went to Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov. Davis and White won silver in Vancouver, but in the four years since they have overtaken the Canadians, their training partners in Detroit under Russian coach Marina Zoueva. The reigning world champs scored 116.63 points in the free dance to finish with 195.52, 4.53 ahead of Virtue and Moir. ''No athletes like it to sit in this position,'' Moir said. ''We came here to win the competition. But it's easier when we see them and know how hard these guys work.'' When their program to ''Sheherazade'' ended with White on a knee, Davis rested her head on his back in exhausted elation. The two started skating together in 1997 in Michi- gan, and on the biggest day of their career, they performed just as they had visualized it. ''That in itself justified 17 years of hard work,'' White, 26, said. The music swelling over the final minute of the program, their feet were in nonstop motion, yet every step was intri- cately choreographed. Their lifts were a blur as White spun across the ice with Davis held aloft, their movements and expressions still fierce despite the draining demands of the performance. As they told the story of the Persian king and the woman who enchants him, White was regal in purple velvet, Davis beguiling in a lavender dress with jewels shimmering on her midriff. They now have one medal of each color after winning bronze in the new team event in Sochi, the first American figure skaters to own three. Virtue and Moir had become the first North American ice dance gold medalists at their home Olympics in Vancouver. Their free dance to Russian classical music told the story of their own partnership, which also stretches back to 1997. In a performance at times tender and at others triumphant, Moir kissed her hand at the start and again throughout the program. ''I think there is relief,'' Moir said. ''It has been a journey to get here since 2010, a lot of sleepless nights to get to the Olympic Games. If I could only have been that 22-year-old at Vancouver. ''The reason we stayed in is we wanted a different jour- ney. Now, the pressures of this game are just melting away.'' Ilinykh and Katsalapov were just ninth at last year's world championships but are now the latest Olympic ice dance medalists from Russia, finishing 7.51 points behind the Canadians. She's only 19; he's 22. The home fans start- ed cheering when the first few notes of ''Swan Lake'' played for their free dance, and they were roaring when it ended with Katsalapov collapsed on his knees and Ilinykh weep- ing. ''The program builds and builds and builds,'' Katsalapov said through a translator, ''and the audience gave us energy to keep building it more and more.'' France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat were fourth, 6.26 points out of bronze. The other U.S. teams, Madison Chock and Evan Bates and siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, finished eighth and ninth. Russia has won 18 of 33 medals in ice dance's Olympic history, but now North Americans own two straight golds. Virtue and Moir have said they'll likely retire. For Davis and White, talk of the future can wait until this historic victory starts feeling real. ''We wanted to fight for the best performance we could give and we did that. You dream of this for so long, work so hard, and they worked hard, too,'' White said, referring to Virtue and Moir. ''They always have been with us, pushing us, and we couldn't have done it without them.'' Corning High boys earn No. 1 seed; girls net 6th DN Staff Report The Corning High boys soccer team finished its sea- son undefeated, earning a record of 18-0-2 overall and 9-0-1 in Northern Athletic League play. The Cards' efforts netted them the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section CIF Division II playoffs, which start Thursday. The Cards, with their No. 1 seed, earned a first- round bye and will host No. 4 Gridley or No. 5 Yreka on Feb. 25. Orland High School (17-2-1, 11-1 Butte View League) earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye as well. Rounding out the teams that earned playoff berths are No. 3 Live Oak and No. 6 Sutter. On the girls side, the Lady Cards (8-11-1, 4-6 NAL) earned the No. 6 seed and will visit No. 3 Sutter (10-9- 3, 6-3-3 BVL) at 3 p.m. Thursday. Winters earned the No. 1 seed, Orland the No. 2, Lassen the No. 4 and Yreka the fifth. In Division III, the Los Molinos Bulldogs (10-3-1, 9- 2-1 Mid Valley League) earned the No. 4 seed and host No. 5 Colusa at 3 p.m. Thursday. Willows is the No. 1 seed, University Prep is No. 2, Esparto is No. 3 and Durham is seeded sixth. HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER Costas returns to Olympic coverage SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Bob Costas returns as host for NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage Tuesday night, if still not exactly clear-eyed, at least with a sharpened sense of respect for the colleagues and crew who covered for him during a six-day absence. ''The doctors told me the infection has to run its course, which is 2-to-3 weeks, which covers the entire Olympics. It's the all- time perfect bad timing, but what can you do? It's a curve ball and you've got to go with it,'' Costas chuckled during an interview with The Associated Press, ''even though I couldn't spot the rotation on a curve ball right now.'' Wrapping up prepara- tions a few hours before air- time, the broadcaster who began his Olympic work as a late-night host at the 1988 Seoul Games looked relaxed at the NBC compound in a navy polo shirt and cardigan sweater. Traces of his bout with viral conjunctivitis were still visible — the infection began in his left eye and spread quickly to the right — and both are still reddened. ''I'm better than I was,'' he said, ''but not as good as I'd like to be.'' Costas nursed a cup of Starbucks coffee and propped his feet up on the desk as he discussed his unwanted week off. He rated himself a 2 on a scale of 1-10. At one point, he thought there was about a 10 percent chance he would- n't make it back for the games. Today's schedule BOYS BASKETBALL Enterprise at Red Bluff, 7:30 p.m. Corning at Anderson, 7:30 p.m. Los Molinos at Mercy, 7:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Red Bluff at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m. Anderson at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Los Molinos at Mercy, 6 p.m. Sports on TV MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 4 p.m. ESPN — Kentucky at Mississippi ESPN2 — Texas at Iowa St. ESPNU — NC State at Clemson FS1 — Villanova at Providence NBCSN — George Washington at Rich- mond 6 p.m. ESPN — Iowa at Indiana ESPNU — Georgia at Tennessee FS1 — Butler at St. John's 8 p.m. ESPNU — Utah St. at San Diego St. SOCCER 11:30 a.m. FS1 — UEFA Champions League, Barcelona at Manchester City WINTER OLYMPICS At Sochi, Russia All events taped unless noted as Live NBC 3 p.m. Men's Speedskating - 10,000 Gold Medal Final; Men's Nordic Combined - Individual K-125 Large Hill Gold Medal Final 8 p.m. Women's Alpine Skiing - Giant Slalom Gold Medal Final; Men's Freestyle Skiing - Halfpipe Gold Medal Final; Women's Bobsled - Competition; Women's Short Track - 3000 Relay Gold Medal Final 1 a.m. Women's Short Track - 1000 Com- petition NBCSN 4 a.m. Men's Hockey - Elimination Round (LIVE) 7 a.m. Men's Speedskating - 10,000 Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Men's Nordic Com- bined - Individual K-125 Large Hill, Cross-Country Noon Men's Hockey - Elimination Round (LIVE); Women's Bobsled - Competition 2 p.m. Game of the Day: Hockey 12 Mid. Men's Hockey - Quarterfinal (LIVE) 2:30 a.m. Men's and Women's Snow- boarding - Parallel Giant Slalom Gold Medal Finals; Women's Cross-Country - Team Sprint Gold Medal Final (LIVE) MSNBC 9 a.m. Men's Hockey - Elimination Round (LIVE) CNBC 5 p.m. Men's and Women's Curling - Tie Breaker USA 2 a.m. Women's Curling - Semifinal (LIVE) PREP ROUNDUP BOYS BASKETBALL The Red Bluff Spartans (13-10, 1-5 Sac River League) fell to Foothill (20-4, 5-0 SRL) 82-59 on the road Friday. Red Bluff's Greg DuFour led the Spartans in scoring with 15 points. Joseph Bosetti scored 14 points, Matthew Fox tallied eight points and Wyatt Clement notched six points. The Spartans are currently fifth in Division III playoff points released Sunday. The Corning Cardinals (19-4, 7- 0 Northern Athletic League) defeat- ed the visiting Central Valley Fal- cons on Friday, 57-42. Corning's Michael Shoemaker scored a team-high 21 points, Chayce Maday followed with 12 points and Nick Hoag added nine points. The Cards are No. 2 in Division IV playoff points released Sunday, behind only Orland. The Los Molinos Bulldogs (12- 11, 4-6 Five Star League) fell to Redding Christian at home on Thursday, 50-37. The Bulldogs are No. 8 in Divi- sion V playoff points released Sun- day. GIRLS BASKETBALL The Corning Lady Cardinals (18-6, 6-1 NAL) edged Central Valley on the road Friday, 50-47. The Lady Cards are No. 2 in Division IV playoff points released Sunday, behind only Anderson. The Los Molinos Lady Bull- dogs (10-9, 4-6 FSL) beat visiting Redding Christian on Thursday, 42-33. The Lady Bulldogs are No. 11 in Division V playoff points. BOYS SOCCER Red Bluff (6-11-2, 3-8-2 SRL) fell on the road to West Valley on Friday, 4-1. GIRLS SOCCER The Lady Spartans (6-9-4, 3-6-3 SRL) dropped its season closer to West Valley at home Friday, 1-0.