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Memorial Day American Legion Baseball Tournament at RBHS, 10 a.m. MLB—Astros at Cubs, 11:10 a.m., WGN MLB— Giants at Cardinals, 1 p.m., CSNB MLB—Yankees at Athletics, 1 p.m., CSNC French Open — Round of 16, 9 a.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B Spartans fly high at finals Monday May 30, 2011 Dan Wheldon wins stunning Indy 500 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dan Wheldon was zip- ping toward the final corner of Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, surely figuring the best he could do was another run- ner-up finish. Then he came upon JR Hildebrand’s crum- pled car, all smashed up and sliding along the wall. The rookie had made the ultimate mistake with his very last turn of the wheel, and Wheldon, not Hilde- brand, made an improbable turn into Victory Lane. ‘‘It’s obviously unfortu- nate, but that’s Indianapo- lis,’’ said Wheldon, who won Indy in 2005 and fin- ished second the last two years. ‘‘That’s why it’s the greatest spectacle in racing. You never now what’s going to happen.’’ This might have been the whackiest one ever. In his first event of the year, Wheldon captured the ultimate IndyCar prize. But the 100th anniversary of the ‘‘Greatest Spectacle in Rac- ing’’ will be remembered more for the guy who let it slip away with the checkered flag in sight. Leading by almost 4 seconds and need- ing to make it around the 2 1/2-mile track just one more time, Hildebrand cruised through the first three turns with no problem. The fourth one got him. He went too high, lost control and slammed into the outside wall. Wheldon sped past, while Hildebrand’s battered machine skidded across the line 2.1 seconds behind, still hugging the concrete barrier. ‘‘It’s a helpless feeling,’’ Hildebrand said. The 23-year-old Cali- fornian got into trouble when he came up on another rookie, Charlie Kimball, going much slower as they approached the last corner. Instead of backing off, the leader moved to the outside to make the pass — a deci- sion that sent him slamming into the wall to a collective gasp from the crowd of 250,000. ‘‘I caught him in the wrong piece of track,’’ Hildebrand said. ‘‘I got up in the marbles and that was it.’’ While Wheldon celebrat- ed his second Indy 500 win, series officials reviewed the video to see if Wheldon passed the wrecked machine before the caution lights went on. He clearly did, and Hildebrand’s team said it wouldn’t protest the result. That gave the Brit anoth- er spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Not bad, consider- ing he doesn’t even have a full-time job. ‘‘I just felt a lot of relief. Daily News photos by Rich Greene (Top) Colin Dahlberg takes flight in the boys long jump. (Bottom left) Adrienne Hinkston pushes ahead for the win in the girls 400 meters. (Bottom right) Meaggan Rector celebrates on top of the podium after winning the girls shot put. TRACK &FIELD By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor The rain was starting to come down, but no one seemed to care. Colin Dahlberg’s smile was lighting up the podium area. His 4x400 relay team had just lit up the track. “Oh my god. I’ve never felt better in my life ... ever,” the Spartans’ senior said. Red Bluff had just won its fourth event of Fri- day’s NSCIF Track and Field Championships and Dahlberg and Co. were headed to Clovis for an even bigger challenge. “We’re going to state — he took us with him,” Zach Iverson blurted out in between fist pumps and congratulating his teammates. Of course Iverson had as much to do with Red Bluff’s win in the 4x100 as anyone. The Red Bluff junior ran the opening lap and gave the Spartans a strong and somewhat surpris- ing lead in what was supposed to be one of the closet events of the night. Jonah McInnis and Jeff Foster then took their turns, each keeping the momentum with the Spar- tans until Dahlberg took over in what was essen- tially a victory lap as Red Bluff (3:26.53) beat Enterprise by a full second and finished four sec- onds faster than third place Yreka. After injury kept Dahlberg from reaching his full potential as a junior, he had finally reached his spot on top of the podium. By the end of the section championships it was already an old habit. Hours earlier Dahlberg and junior Meaggan Rector captured the first two titles for the Spartans during the first round of field events. While Dahlberg was winning the long jump with a leap of 22’8”, Rector was taking the girls shot put title. “I had a goal and I really wanted to reach my goal,” Rector said. The goal — set a new personal record with a 38-foot put. She was right on the money about what she needed to do as her West Valley rival Paige Adkins turned in a 37’11.5” mark. Rector marked out at 38’4.5”. “It’s exciting going to state as a junior,” Rector said. She’ll be traveling to Clovis for this week’s State Championships along with Dahlberg, Iver- son, McInnis and Foster and perhaps the Spartan with the most surprising win — Adrienne Hinkston. The freshman sprinter got out of the blocks quick in the girls 400 meters and kept the lead through roughly the first 375 meters. But on the last straight away, Hinkston was slowing down and West Valley’s own freshman, Jenna Hinkle was nipping at her shoes. Hinkle passed Hinkston just meters from the finish line, but she then took an awkward step. Hinkston capitalized and burst past Hinkle with one final blow of energy to win with a time of 59.45 seconds — .16 ahead of Hinkle. “She passed me and I was like ‘oh, man’,” Hinkston said. “She tripped up and I gave it all I had.” Asked how she was going to deal with the pending pressure of living up to her freshman effort the next three years, Hinkston gave a sprint- er’s answer. “It’s just going to push me to run faster,” she said. Because of the time of the year, the NSCIF Championships often can be conflicting for senior athletes. Some athletes even have to choose between competing or attending their own graduation. The choice was somewhat easier for Red Bluff’s Zak Stroing. He gave up his senior trip to grab a fourth place medal in the discus. “It’s always worth it to compete,” he said. Erin Eicholtz ran a strong race to take third place honors in the girls 800 meters. Dahlberg was the runner-up in the 100 meters and the Lady Spartans’ 4x400 team of Jessie Slade, Joanna Smith Conrad, Eicholtz and Hinkston placed fourth. It’s an incredible feeling,’’ Wheldon said. ‘‘I never gave up.’’ He took the traditional swig of milk and headed off on a triumphant lap around the speedway — a lap that Hildebrand should have been taking. Instead, the youngster stopped by the garage to get a look at his mangled car, which was hauled through Gasoline Alley instead of being wheeled into Victory Lane. He’s now in the com- pany of athletes such as Jean Van de Velde, who squan- dered a three-shot lead on the last hole of the 1999 British Open, and Lindsey Jacobellis, whose hotdog- ging wipeout at the 2006 Winter Olympics cost her a certain gold medal. They had it in the bag — and threw it all away. ‘‘I’m just frustrated. It’s not because we came in here with the expectation of win- ning and we didn’t,’’ Hilde- brand said. ‘‘I felt like I just made a mistake and it cost our boys. I guess that’s why rook- ies don’t win the Indianapolis 500 a whole lot, and we’ll be back next year, I guess.’’ Indianapolis 500 Championships NSCIF