State Sports Roundup; Kenseth wins at Talladega, but still 12th in point standings

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Wisconsin driver Matt Kenseth won the fourth race in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup. The Cambridge native escaped a 20-car pile-up on the final turn yesterday to win the Good Sam Roadside Assistance-500 in Talladega Alabama. Kenseth recovered from a spin off Jamie McMurray's bumper on the 42nd lap. Kenseth took the lead just after the halfway point by surging past Kurt Busch. But Kenseth trailed Tony Stewart on the final lap when Stewart’s car spun, hit Michael Waltrip, and triggered the massive pileup. Kenseth drove around it and finished ahead of runner-up Jeff Gordon, who also managed to escape the crash. Kenseth's victory was his second of the year, after he won the season-opening Daytona-500. But it kept him 12th-and-last among the Chase drivers who are still in the running for the Sprint Cup season crown. Kenseth is now 62 points behind first-place Brad Keselowski. Travis Kvapil of Janesville took eighth at Talladega. He remains 30th in the point standings. Paul Menard of Eau Claire took 28th, and he held steady in the point totals at Number-16.

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In golf, Rhinelander native Dan Forsman finished second-to-last among 79 players at the S-A-S event on the P-G-A Champions Tour. Forsman shot a two-over-par 74 in his third-and-final round yesterday, after he fired an 80 on Saturday at Cary North Carolina. Forsman ended the tournament at 10-over-par-226. Bernhard Langer was the winner at nine-under-203.

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All of last year’s champions are back, as the state girls’ high school golf tournament begins today in Madison. Mequon Homestead will defend the Division-One title it won a year ago, while Madison Edgewood will try to win their 11th Division-Two crown in the last 12 seasons. Both of last year’s individual champions are also back – Emily Joers of Waukesha will try to win her third Division-One title in four years. Osceola senior Casey Danielson hopes to become only the second individual in state history to win four medalist honors as she competes in Division-Two. Her sister, Lindsay Danielson, was the first to win four straight titles from 2005-through-’08.

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Paul Zdroik of Watertown won the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. He ran the 26-miles-plus in two-hours, 27-minutes, and eight seconds yesterday. That was almost two-and-a-half minutes ahead of second-place Zachary Meineke of Wauwatosa. The 26-year-old Zdroik ran the steeple-chase in college, and was competing in only his third marathon. Ryan Giuliano of Cary Illinois took third – and his new bride to be, Jacqui Giuliano, won the women’s marathon in 2:55:06. They’re getting married this Saturday, and she decided to take her husband’s name early. About 32-hundred runners took part in Milwaukee marathon. It was a cool 34-degrees when it started in Grafton around 7:30 yesterday morning.

Tags: sports, wisconsin