Sports briefs

Arena football

RUSH TO FINAL: At San Jose, Calif., Matt D'Orazio threw six touchdown passes — five to Bobby Sippio — to help the Chicago Rush advance to the ArenaBowl with a 59-56 victory over the San Jose SaberCats on Saturday in the American Conference title game.

In the ArenaBowl next Sunday in Las Vegas, the Rush will face the winner of today's National Conference championship game between Orlando and Dallas.

"I'm so proud of this team," Rush coach Mike Hohensee. "Nobody gave us a chance at the middle of the season, but we regrouped and started playing like the talented football team I know we are."

D'Orazio was 21-of-36 for 219 yards, and Sippio finished with seven catches for 78 yards. Mark Grieb was 28-of-36 for 314 yards and five touchdowns for the SaberCats, and Marquis Floyd had 10 catches for 116 yards and a TD.

Auto racing

RAIN HELPS HELIO: At Watkins Glen, N.Y., Helio Castroneves had to work hard to win the pole for the inaugural Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix last fall. Rain made it a lot easier the second time around.

Showers and a crowded schedule on track at Watkins Glen International forced the IRL to cancel qualifying Saturday for the Indy Grand Prix. That gave Castroneves the No. 1 starting slot for today's race because he posted the fastest lap in the first two rounds of practice.

"We proved that we're really fast. It's just a shame we couldn't go a little bit more, but we're satisfied," said Castroneves, who had a fast lap Friday of 133.792 mph over the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. That was just off the track record of 133.806 mph he set last September in bumping Scott Dixon off the pole during a six-car shootout.

"It's always nice to keep going and show that you have even more speed," Castroneves said. "But I'll take it anytime it comes."

Starting alongside Castroneves on the front row will be fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan, and lurking in the second row will be Marco Andretti, who was third fastest of the 19 cars that will start the race.

Track

5,000 RECORD SET: At New York, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia set the world record in the women's 5,000 meters in 14 minutes, 24.53 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix on Saturday.

Defar easily outpaced the field to break the mark of 14:24.68, set by Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse in 2004. Workitu Ayanu of Ethiopia was second to Defar in 14:50.51.