SAN DIEGO SPORTS ET CETERA : In Motion Wants to Run New Edition of Marathon

The race known for the past two years as the San Diego International Marathon, which lost its Los Angeles-based organizer last week, apparently will have a new leader.

In Motion Inc., a San Diego-based race management company, said Thursday it will apply to the city to conduct this year’s event, which is scheduled for Dec. 9. In Motion President Lynn Flanagan said the company will seek to work with several local groups, including the San Diego Track Club.

Flanagan said plans are in the preliminary stages but the city has asked that the course be changed from last year, when the race began and ended on East Mission Bay Drive. The change is needed, Flanagan said, to allow for improved access to the Mission Bay Park area during the event.

The B&P; Group of Los Angeles, which had conducted the race the past two years, pulled out last week because it said it could not agree on a contract with the city.

BASEBALL

SDSU catcher Eric Christopherson was named to Baseball America’s third All-American team. Christopherson batted .349 for the Western Athletic Conference champions, drove in 46 runs and scored 48 more.

TRACK AND FIELD

SDSU’s Pat Thiss failed to qualify for the finals in the hammer throw at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Thiss’ best of 191-feet-2 was 18 inches behind final qualifier Pat Kalaher of Dartmouth. Scott McGee of Oregon was the top qualifier at 217-5. In the women’s 100-meter hurdles, SDSU’s Darla Vaughn failed to advance when she finished sixth in her heat in 13.83 seconds. Tananjalyn Stanley of LSU was the fastest qualifier in 13.04.

SOCCER

The San Diego Nomads will play host to the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks at Southwestern College Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Blackhawks lead the Western Soccer League in points (44), victories (they are 6-1) and are tied for the league lead in goals with 17; they are first in the North Division. The Nomads (4-5, 35) are second in the South behind Real Santa Barbara (5-2, 37 points). In the season’s first meeting, the Blackhawks won, 2-1, in overtime.