At The Gorge Games

The top female finisher was 19-year-old Christy Paul of Hood River. She completed the difficult 10 km course in 48:20.4.

Chris Morlan, 37, of Spokane finished first in the half-marathon--two circuits of the 10km course--in a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes, 32.2 seconds.

His margin of victory over runnerup Stan Holman, 39, Carson, was more than eight minutes in a race in which all 27 runners finished what they started.

Karen Mann, 41, of Ringgold, Ga., captured top honors in the women's competition, posting a time of 1:54:32.7.

Besides Lopez, three local-area runners won their 10km run age groups.

Sherman Rouse, 59, Lyle placed first in the men's 50-and-over division (55:39.9) and 23rd overall, while Mark Moreland, 48, Dallesport, was the top finisher in the men's 40-49 class (48:23.1) and 11th overall.

In the women's field, Kate Stevenson, 31, White Salmon, was first in the 30-39 category (55:52.2) and fifth among 46 finishers.

Blowout:

Dale Cook led a 1-2-3 Hood River sweep, edging Bruce Peterson to win last Saturday's Gorge Games Blowout, a 17-mile race on the Columbia River from Stevenson to Hood River.

Both Cook and Peterson sailed windsurfers, as did fourth-place finisher Anil Rajani.

Kiteboard specialist Cory Roeseler was third as the first of his kind to cross the finish line.

All told, 77 of 114 competitors completed the race, which helped kick off the 2004 Gorge Games.

Cook finished 32 seconds ahead of Peterson in a winning time of 1 hour, 11 minutes, 49 seconds.

Roeseler's kiteboard division-best time was 1:14.10.

Renee Hanks captured the honors in the women's field and placed 28th overall, riding her kiteboard from start to finish in 1:36.44.

Christine Gray was the top female windsurfer in a time of 2:41.19, which was good for 54th in overall standings.

Mountain Biking:

Lars Sternberg of Bellingham eked out a one-minute victory over Antoine Chesaux of Hood River in last Sunday's Post Canyon Freeride.

Sternberg was the best of 19 riders, finishing the best-of-three-runs event penalty free with an elapsed time of 1 hour, 5 minutes.

Jake Felt, The Dalles, Johnny Griffith, Stevenson, and Dave Rocker, Hood River, rounded out the top five.

Skating:

First place in the Gorge Games Skateboard Giant Slalom went to Kenny "Nature Boy" Mollica last Saturday on the Columbia River Gorge Historic Highway course near Mosier.

Rat "Golden Boy" Sult was the winner of the Street Luge Challenge that followed.