Seattle Bowl to make its home in Seahawks Stadium

Seahawks Stadium will be the site of the Seattle Bowl for the next five years as a result of an agreement announced yesterday at the new stadium.

"This cements our longevity here in Seattle," said Jim Haugh, president of Aloha Sports, the company that coordinates the college football bowl game.

This year's game will be Monday, Dec. 30, and will match the No. 3 team from the Mountain West Conference against the No. 5 team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 2:30 p.m. game will be televised on ESPN.

"We lead right into 'Monday Night Football'," Haugh said. "Our ratings should be great in the fourth quarter."

Haugh said the payout to each team this year will be $1 million. Last year, Georgia Tech and Stanford received $750,000 each for playing at Safeco Field in the inaugural Seattle Bowl, which replaced the Aloha Bowl. Georgia Tech beat Stanford 24-17 at Safeco Field.

Torchlight Run tonight

About 3,000 runners are expected to compete in tonight's Torchlight Run at Seafair. The 8K course begins at 6:20 p.m. at the southwest corner of Seattle Center, at 2nd Avenue N. and Denny. Runners will head south on 4th Avenue along the Torchlight Parade route, then pass through Pioneer Square before continuing up the Alaskan Way Viaduct and through the Battery Street Tunnel.

Exiting the tunnel, runners make their way back to the starting point via Dexter and Denny. Late registration begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Seattle Center Pavilion. Entry fee is $25 and includes a T-shirt.

Sammamish rowers win title

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Sammamish Rowing Association team of Cassie Rose, Jenny Cromwell, Kari Stenbakken and Nina Jonas won the junior women's B quad sculls title at the U.S. Rowing National Championship Regatta.

Sammamish finished in 7 minutes, 54.76 seconds. Vesper Boat Club (Pa.) was second in 8:01.70.

Melanie Borger won the 500-meter dash in 1:58.00, almost two seconds ahead of Karyn Freer of Lake Washington Rowing Club.

Notes

• Guard Aaron Brooks of Franklin High had seven points and three assists as the United States junior men's basketball team beat Argentina 75-73 in Venezuela in the world qualifying tournament. The U.S., 3-0 in pool play, qualified for next year's Junior World Championships in Malaysia.

• Kristen Stanley of Gig Harbor beat defending champ Sung Ea Lee on the first playoff hole at Spokane's Manito Golf and Country Club to capture the Washington Junior Golf Association's 16-17-year-old girls championship. They finished 54 holes tied at 4-over-par 220. Lee, from Tacoma, won the Westfield Junior PGA championship last week in Ohio.

Craig Leslie of Spokane won the boys 16-17 title with a 15-under total of 198. Luke Johnson of Federal Way was second at 207. Other winners were Jarin Todd of Woodinville (boys 14-15), Tyler Lynn of Spokane (boys 12-13), Andrew Yun of University Place (boys 8-11), Blair Ressler of Bellingham (girls 14-15), Mackenzie Monaghan of Spokane (girls 12-13), and Michelle Ahn of Tacoma (girls 8-11).

• Sam Burns of Seattle and Andrew Brennan of Valley Forge, Pa., won their men's pair heat in 6:41.57 at the World Under 23 Regatta in Genoa, Italy.

Rowing in the first heat, Burns and Brennan finished 5.06 seconds ahead of the second-place crew from Italy. Yugoslavia was third in 6:50.06. All three crews made it to the semifinals.

• Seattle Synchro scored 87.333 points to finish third in the free team preliminaries at the United Airlines Open Synchronized Swimming Championships in Ypsilanti, Mich. Jennifer Arenz and Sally Winchester of Seattle were fourth in the duet free, and Winchester was fifth in the solo free.