Ndereba Becomes Four-Time Winner

Defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya became the first woman to win a fourth Boston Marathon on Monday, and Ethiopia’s Hailu Negussie won the men’s race to break the Kenyan stranglehold on the world’s oldest annual marathon.

Ndereba fell behind by 80 seconds before pulling away from Ethiopia’s Elfenesh Alemu in the last three miles to win in 2 hours 25 minutes 13 seconds. Negussie finished in 2:11:45 to earn the men’s $100,000 prize in a field of 20,453 in the 109th edition of the race.

Alan Culpepper of Lafayette, Colo., was fourth in 2:13:39 -- the best finish for an American since Dave Gordon was fourth in 1987. Peter Gilmore of San Mateo, Calif., was 10th in 2:17:32, and Ryan Shay of Central Lake, Mich., was 11th in 2:18:17.

“I think it’s the beginning of a positive direction for U.S. distance running,” Culpepper said

Kenya settled for second and third, with Wilson Onsare finishing in 2:12.21 and Benson Cherono finishing in 2:12.48.

Kenyans had won 13 of the previous 14 men’s races, but this year they’ll have to settle for the unprecedented victory by Ndereba, who wound up 1:50 ahead of Alemu. Bruna Genovese of Italy was third in 2:29:51.

Emily Levan of Wiscasset, Maine, was the top American woman, finishing 12th in 2:43:14.

Hockey

Labor talks will resume today between the NHL and the players’ union, a meeting that will influence the agenda for Wednesday’s gathering of the league’s Board of Governors. Both meetings will be held in New York.

Today’s session is expected to revive a concept discussed at an April 4 meeting in which club payrolls would float within a range that would be linked to NHL revenues.

Today’s events will determine how the governors act on key issues such as the entry draft and possible use of replacement players if a new labor agreement isn’t forged by September. The entry draft is a thorny issue because phenom Sidney Crosby will be the big prize; sources said the NHL may implement a system that would give every club a shot at the top pick but give a greater mathematical chance to clubs that didn’t make the playoffs in 2003-04.

Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief legal officer, said in an e-mail that the sale of the Mighty Ducks from the Walt Disney Co. to Henry and Susan Samueli is proceeding “apace” but won’t be on Wednesday’s agenda.

Horse Racing

In a meet marked by record rainfall and controversies involving drugs, remarks by trainer Jeff Mullins and the fallout regarding Sweet Catomine’s subpar performance in the Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita showed declines in total mutuel handle and on-track attendance for its winter-spring season.

The track was down about 3% in handle and 9% in attendance from the 2003-04 season, but the numbers improved with better weather during the final seven weeks.

According to Ron Charles, executive director of Magna Entertainment in California, Santa Anita was up 2% to 3% in handle and attendance was about even from March 3 through Monday.

“Barring all the rain, I thought it was a fairly successful meet,” Charles said. “We had three days with over 30,000 [fans on-site] for the first time in a long, long time.

“We had to go 25 days without turf racing because of the weather, and those are our larger races, which generate the most handle.”

Shadow Of Illinois, the longest shot in the field at 7-1, won the final stakes race of the meet, the $107,000 San Simeon Handicap, by a length over 5-2 favorite Geronimo.

Mark Guidry rode the 5-year-old Illinois Storm gelding for owners Dave and Ella Sivage and trainer Anthony Saavedra.

Miscellany

Matt Doherty was hired as Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball coach, two years after resigning as coach of North Carolina. Doherty, 43, replaces the fired Sidney Green.

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World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will undergo minor back surgery this week, again postponing his title defense against Hasim Rahman.

The tentative date for Klitschko-Rahman had been July 23. Klitschko now hopes to face Rahman in September, adviser Shelly Finkel said.