Demong sprints into second place

Not disheartened after finishing 18th in the jumping segment of the competition yesterday, Bill Demong of Vermontville, N.Y., was second to teammate Johnny Spillane of Steamboat Springs, Colo., in the 10-kilometer cross-country race, good enough for a second-place finish in the Nordic combined event in Schonach, Germany, that put Demong in second in the World Cup standings behind winner Anssi Koivuranta of Finland. It was the third podium of the season for Demong and the fifth straight podium for the United States. Spillane was 12th overall, and Todd Lodwick, also of Steamboat Springs, placed 14th. Koivuranta won the ski jumping and was 27th fastest in the 10K in capturing his fourth win of the season. Koivuranta leads the standings with 643 points, Demong has 447 . . . In Val di Fiemme, Italy, Dario Cologna of Switzerland (35 minutes 12 seconds) won the men's 11-kilometer pursuit and Virpi Kuitunen of Finland the women's 9K pursuit (37:26.9) to claim Tour de Ski cross-country titles . . . In Innsbruck, Austria, Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria won the third leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament with jumps of 126.5 and 128.5 meters.

With the finish and victory literally in sight, Lindsey Vonn made a costly error. The 24-year-old American crashed just five gates before the finish on the icy Crveni Spust slalom course in Zagreb, Croatia, losing a likely triumph and the overall lead in the World Cup standings. Maria Riesch of Germany finished in a combined time of 1:58.69 to win her third straight slalom and take the lead in the standings. Vonn led after the opening leg and was .94 seconds faster than Riesch at the second intermediate time in the final run before hitting a gate and crashing. She was not injured. "So many things can happen in a second and your day is done," said Vonn, who was skiing aggressively because she wasn't aware of her lead over Riesch. "I would have slowed down a bit had I known that I was a second ahead." Riesch has 607 points to lead the overall standings for the first time in her career. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who finished seventh, is next with 543, and Vonn is third with 530 . . . Austrian Nicole Hosp, the 2007 giant slalom world champ, is out for six weeks after injuring her left knee during a warm-up run in Zagreb . . . Organizers were unsure whether they could reschedule the sprint events after races at the US Cross-Country Championship in Anchorage were postponed for the second straight day by temperatures that neared 11 degrees below zero . . . John Napier and Bree Schaaf won the US Bobsled Championships at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y., and qualified for next month's world championships. In the women's race, Schaaf and brakewoman Emily Azevedo won in 3:51.98, defeating Phoebe Burns and her brakewoman, Jamie Greubel of Arlington, by 2.73 seconds. Also at Lake Placid, Todd Bodine held on to edge Joe Gibbs Racing phenom Joey Logano at the fourth annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, which featured NASCAR drivers in an effort to raise funds for the US men's and women's bobsled teams . . . On his 35th birthday, two-time Olympic champion Armin Zoeggler of Italy won a luge race in Koenigssee, Germany.

A day after the parent club's 14-game home winning streak came to an end, the Providence Bruins extended their modest home run to four. Brock Hooton scored his first AHL goal in his second game with Providence, and Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots as the P-Bruins defeated the Houston Aeros, 3-1. Mikko Lehtonen and Johnny Boychuk also scored for Providence . . . University of New Hampshire standout James van Riemsdyk's overtime goal lifted the United States to a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic and a fifth-place finish at the world junior championship in Ottawa.

North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow missed her fourth straight game as she battles a recurrence of breast cancer. The 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach was diagnosed with the disease in 1987. School officials said Yow's status for next week's game against No. 2 North Carolina probably won't be known until later this week. The Wolfpack had won the first three games Yow missed before falling to South Carolina, 56-55, on a buzzer-beating layup by Demetress Adams.

Indiana Pacers guard Mike Dunleavy is expected back within a week or so after missing all 33 games this season with soreness in his right knee. He sat out just 11 games in his first six NBA seasons.

Defending champion Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 victory at second-tier Southampton in the FA Cup and will host Tottenham in the fourth round. Teenager Danny Welbeck headed the Red Devils in front after 20 minutes, and Southampton midfielder Matt Paterson was ejected for a foul on Nemanja Vidic in the 36th. Nani scored from the penalty spot in the 48th minute and Darron Gibson added the third in the 81st after a strong run by Wayne Rooney. Two goals by James Milner on his 23d birthday gave Aston Villa a 2-1 victory at League 1 Gillingham . . . Lei Clijsters, the father of tennis player Kim Clijsters and a former Belgium soccer international, died in Belgium at 52 after a battle with lung cancer.

Marat Safin, who arrived in Perth, Australia, Saturday night with bruises and cuts on his face from a recent fight in Moscow, including a heavy bruise under his left eye, teamed with his sister Dinara Safina to give Russia an opening victory over Italy at the Hopman Cup. Safin had 14 aces on his way to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Simone Bolelli in the second singles match. Safina beat Flavia Pennetta, 7-5, 6-3.