Sports briefs 4/5/04

Motorsports

Elliott Sadler barely held off rookie Kasey Kahne in an exciting finish Sunday. Sadler's victory in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 -- his second career NASCAR Nextel Cup win -- came by two-hundredths of a second over Kahne, the rookie who has three runner-up finishes and a third-place showing in seven races for Ray Evernham. Jeff Gordon finished third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth,

Running

Eric Heins of Cape Girardeau and Nicole Cueno of St. Louis were the men's and women's winners in the St. Louis Marathon, which drew a field of 2,200 runners. Heins, 26, finished in 2:25:42, winning by more than seven minutes. Esteban Vanegas of St. Louis was second in 2:32:56 and Glenn Le Gros of St. Louis was third in 2:38:09. Cueno, 24, was the only female finisher to break three hours, winning in 2:55:50 for 21st overall. About 8,000 runners participated in the St. Louis Marathon Weekend, which began with the U.S. Olympic women's trials on Saturday and included a marathon relay and half-marathon.

Tennis

Andy Roddick battled a queasy stomach in the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open, and he was the healthiest player on the court. The curse of Key Biscayne struck again Sunday, and it hit Guillermo Coria hardest. He retired because of back spasms after losing the first three points of the fourth set trailing 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-1. It's the fourth time in 15 years that the men's final has been affected by an ailing player.

-- From wire reports