Kenya’s Cherono wins Boston Marathon

Kenya’s Cherono wins Boston Marathon

BOSTON

Two-time Boston Marathon champion Lelisa Desisa turned onto Boylston Street with a sliver of a lead, leaning in front of two other runners with the finish line in sight.

Unfortunately for him, one of them was the fastest man in the field.

Lawrence Cherono needed every bit of his speed to outkick Desisa in a sprint to the tape on Monday, passing him just steps away from the finish line to win the 123rd Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 7 minutes 57 seconds.

Desisa, who won in 2015 and 2013, the year the race was overshadowed by a bombing at the finish line, eased up after realizing he was beaten and finished 2 seconds back. Kenneth Kipkemoi was third, another 8 seconds behind, one of seven Kenyans in the top 10.

Worknesh Degefa broke away from defending champion Des Linden and the rest of the women’s pack in the Framingham flats and ran alone for the last 20 miles to claim the $150,000 first prize and a gilded olive wreath from Marathon, Greece.

Flyers hire Vigneault as head coach

PHILADELPHIA

The Philadelphia Flyers have hired Alain Vigneault as head coach. Vigneault has led the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup final and takes over a Flyers team that missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher made his first big move since he was hired in November. Vigneault replaces interim coach Scott Gordon.

“The history they have established and the passionate fan base has made this a first-class franchise. I am excited to work with Chuck, the talented group of players, and the prospects coming up through the system in order to return Philadelphia to the top of the NHL landscape,” Vigneault said.

Section of Preakness seats deemed unsafe

BALTIMORE

An engineering firm has determined the last historic section of Pimlico Race Course isn’t safe, meaning almost 7,000 seats won’t be available for the Preakness Stakes next month.

The Baltimore Sun reports the Maryland Jockey Club will hold a news conference Monday about the closure of 6,670 seats in the Old Grandstand’s open-air section. The club told ticket buyers of the closure in an email Saturday about the May 18th race.

Pimlico’s website says the seats make up about 17.5% of the overall seated capacity of nearly 38,000 people. An additional 82,000 people are estimated to fit in standing room and infield areas.

Lawmakers recently rejected legislation to accelerate plans to renovate Laurel Park and a Bowie facility so they could host the race.

Foreman’s 40 vehicles damaged in fire

Houston

Authorities say an accidental fire in a garage at the Texas home of former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman damaged the garage and many vehicles, but caused no injuries.

A spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, Rachel Moreno, says the Sunday night blaze didn’t spread beyond the garage. She says smoke and water damaged some of the approximately 40 vehicles inside. Moreno said the fire started on a golf cart.

Foreman later tweeted, “Don’t worry all is well.” He thanked firefighters who responded to the home in Huffman, an unincorporated community in the Houston area.

The fire comes just more than a month after Foreman’s daughter, Freeda Foreman, was found dead in her home in suburban Houston.

Correction

The Western Reserve boys 4x100 relay team (Jimmy Mayberry, Luke Kilbert, Todd Henning, Josh Miller) finished second to Girard at Saturday’s Bulldog Invitational at East Palestine. Their names were omitted from the results printed in Sunday’s edition. The relay team’s time was 46.25.

Staff/wire report