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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lindsey Vonn made the kind of mistake that happens sometimes in skiing, even with a medal at stake. What the Canadian men's hockey team did won't be dismissed so eas- ily, even if a medal wasn't at stake. A squad of NHL greats supposed to win gold in a sport that means as much to Canadians as football, baseball and basketball combined mean to Ameri- cans let a two-goal lead dissolve into a tie with Switzerland. It was that way after regulation, after overtime and after three rounds of a shootout. Then Sidney Crosby scored and the entire host country exhaled. A loss would've been more humiliating than damaging to Canada's chances of winning the Olympic tournament. Still, this way-too-close of a call — with an own goal clink- ing in off the skate of Patrick Marleau and goal- tender Martin Brodeur not even coming close to stop- ping a shot he saw the entire way — is sure to have the country buzzing and the rest of the teams wondering whether the pressure is getting to the guys with maple leafs on their jerseys. Vonn was vying for her second gold medal in as many days, and was lead- ing the super-combined after the downhill portion. Trying to make a hard cut during the slalom leg, she failed to slip a ski inside a gate and wound up losing a ski and going tumbling down the snow. Her aching shin — which was ''killing me'' — wasn't to blame. She sim- ply goofed trying to catch up to her best friend Maria Riesch of Germany and teammate Julia Mancuso. ''I was disappointed, but I went down fighting,'' Vonn said. ''I had to give it everything I had.'' The United States remains comfortably ahead on the medals count, with five golds and 17 overall. Germany is second in both categories. Other noteworthy events Thursday: — Two gold medals for women named Tora/Torah: Tora Berger's victory was part of a sweep of biathlon events by Norwegians. Hers also gave Norway the nifty milestone of being first nation with 100 Win- ter Olympics gold medals. Torah Bright became the 2010 champ in women's halfpipe by beating defending champion Han- nah Teter (silver) and 2002 champion Kelly Clark (bronze). — The U.S. men's and women's hockey teams remained undefeated, with Summer Olympics golden boy Michael Phelps cheer- ing the guys from the stands. — The U.S. men's and women's curling squads remained winless. BOBSLED The slick track at the Whistler Sliding Center is causing problems again. At least 11 two-man bobsleds have spilled side- ways in the first two days of training. This season's World Cup two-man over- all champion from Switzerland and an Aus- tralian were held out of practice Thursday follow- ing crashes Wednesday night. Practice wrecks happen in bobsledding. But when they happen within a week of a luger dying in a train- ing accident that causes things like Thursday's decision to add extra train- ing runs. The federation said that was being done ''out of an abundance of caution.'' SPEEDSKATING Canada's Christine Nes- bitt figures she's had better 1,000-meter skates. But never one more important. And few that were any closer. She won by two- hundredths of a second. Jennifer Rodriguez was the top American, finishing seventh. Meanwhile, five-time gold medalist Claudia Pechstein of Germany won't be competing here after the top court in inter- national sports rejected her appeal of a suspension for showing abnormal blood levels. BIATHLON How do you say ''sweep'' in Norwegian? Emil Hegle Svendsen won the men's 20-kilome- ter individual event, deny- ing his mentor, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, his sixth Olympic gold. With a sil- ver, he became the first Olympic biathlete to medal in the same event in three straight Winter Games. American Jeremy Teela was a late scratch after waking up with sinus prob- lems. Tim Burke was the top American at 45th. Berger dominated from start to finish in the women's 15-kilometer individual race, becoming the first Norwegian woman to win an Olympic race. Lanny Barnes was 23rd, best by an American since 1994. SKICROSS Injured Americans Daron Rahlves (dislocated right hip) and Casey Puck- ett (dislocated shoulder) say they're healthy enough to compete on Sunday. ''When you're motivat- ed to get healthy, it's really impressive, when you do everything you can, how quickly you can come back,'' Puckett said. Maybe Vonn could loan them some Austrian curd cheese. SKI JUMPING Could it be — ski- jumping subterfuge? The Austrians are grip- ing that Switzerland's Simon Ammann — who won the normal hill event — has improper bindings and wants him to use dif- ferent ones for the large hill competition. The Austrians aren't challenging his win, but will file a protest if he trots them out Saturday. The head of the Swiss team says there won't be a change and predicts that a protest would be rejected. Sports 1B Friday February 19, 2010 Friday Boys Basketball — Corning at West Valley, 7:30 p.m. Boys Basketball — Esparto at Los Molinos, 7:30 p.m. Boys Basketball — Red Bluff at Shasta, 7:30 p.m. Basketball — Mercy, boys and girls at Redding Christian Girls Basketball — Esparto at Los Molinos, 5:30 p.m. Girls Basketball — West Valley at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Spartans honor Barnwell By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor This season's Lady Spartans bas- ketball team was made up of juniors, sophomores and even a freshman, but there was always one person they could turn to for some senior leadership — grandma. Red Bluff celebrated their lone senior, Reba Barnwell, Thursday night, before their final home game of the season against Shasta. Although it was an off night shooting for the Lady Spartans in a 56-30 loss, there was reason to cel- ebrate. The Spartans lone senior carries a 4.0 grade point average and is known for giving all that she has during practices and games. "She exemplifies the perfect stu- dent-athlete for our program," Coach Kathy Brandt said. In the game itself, the Lady Spartans got behind early, shooting just 14 percent from the field, meanwhile Shasta was making their shots, including 6-for-16 from behind the arc. Alana Hinkston led Red Bluff with eight points. Reba Barnwell chipped in with four points, but as her coaches and teammates know, her contributions came in ways other than stats. Saturday's mat glance Division I Championships Foothill High School 10 a.m. Schools: Chico, CORN- ING, Enterprise, Foothill, Las Plumas, Oroville, Paradise, RED BLUFF, Shasta Directions: Interstate 5 north to Exit 678. Merge onto CA-44 East, toward Lassen National Park, for seven miles. Take the Deschutes Road exit and turn left. The school is at 9733 Deschutes Rd. 2009: Chico won the event with 229 points. Pleasant Valley was second with 218.5 points and Red Bluff was third with 195.5 points. Nick Foushee (135) and Dillon Reid (140) won indi- vidual titles for the Spartans. Taylor Wilson finished second at 215. Kurt Buxton (103) and Sultan Beardsley (130) fin- ished third. Corning was a part of the Division II championships and finished second. Wrestlers to watch (weight classes may change): 105: Zeke Andrade, Foothill; Kurt Buxton, Red Bluff; Nashon Garrett, Chico 114: Thomas Ocegueda, Pleasant Valley; Mason Sauseda, Chico; Dan. St. John, Red Bluff 121: Tanner Johnson, Corning; Brycent Molakides, Foothill; Blain Shaw, Paradise 127: Tyler Demarath, Red Bluff; Lucas Mosier, Oroville; Efren Rodriguez, Chico 132: Sultan Beardsley, Red Bluff; Nick Morelli, Par- adise; Derek Tenkoff, Pleas- ant Valley 137: Phang Lee, Chico; Terry Matthews, Shasta; Josh Wylder, Foothill 142: Chase Boontjer, Foothill; Nick Johnson, Corning; Bryant Wood, Pleasant Valley 147: Calvin Meister, Corning; Dallas Poston, Foothill; Desi Rios, Pleasant Valley 154: Billy Crawford, Corning; Travis Gallegos, Foothill; Dillon Reid, Red Bluff 162: CJ Berry, Chico 173: Taylor Hickson, Red Bluff; Ross Longneck- er, Chico, Peter Phelan, Oroville 191: Austin Bergstedt, Paradise; Jssen Cole, Chico; Logan Ecknoff, Shasta; Robert Sasek, Las Plumas 217: Max Bristow, Chico; Thomas Marshall, Corning; Taylor Wilson, Red Bluff 287: Kenny Young, Pleasant Valley Division III/IV Championships Tulelake High School Division III Schools: Biggs, Colusa, Durham, Etna, Modoc, Mt. Shasta, Portola, Quincy, Trinity, University Prep, Willows Division IV Schools: American Christian, Big Val- ley, Burney, Chester, Dun- smuir, Fall River, LOS MOLINOS, Redding Christian, Tulelake, Weed, West- wood Wrestlers to watch (weight classes may change): 105: Clay Buchanan, Chester; Alex Moreo, Modoc 114: Jacob Haley, Los Molinos 121: Levi Thomason, Trinity 127: Brandon Waltz, Durham 132: Marcus Buchanan, Mt. Shasta, Aaron Garica, Willows 137: Matthew Buchanan, Mt. Shasta, Cody Pack, Quincy 142: Kevin Maelfeyt, Trinity 147: Cameron Diaz, Quincy 154: Ethan Herman, Tulelake, Richie Lakin, Los Molinos 162: Aron McCulloh, Chester, Jared Stine, Willows 173: Tyler Wood, Modoc 217: Lance Gordan, Durham 287: Gary Olsen, Fall River; Miguel Torres, Modoc Daily News photo by Rich Greene Reba Barnwell takes a shot during her final home game. Lysacek wins gold, Vonn crashes MCT photo American Evan Lysacek reacts after his free skate performance, Thursday night. Lysacek became the first American since 1988, to take gold in the men's figure skating event. Russia's Evgeni Plushenko won the silver and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi won the bronze. Wheatland beats Corning Wheatland needed just one goal to beat the Corning Lady Cardinals, 1-0, Thursday, in the opening round of the Division I girls soccer playoffs. Corning had outshot Wheatland 15-5, but Emma Willard got the lone goal.