NW Briefs: Issaquah cyclist races for diabetes awareness

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Issaquah cyclist Bob Heyer and his all-diabetic team finished second overall Monday in the 24th annual Race Across America (RAAM), completing the 3,043-mile endurance contest from Oceanside, Calif., in five days, 16 hours, four minutes.

Heyer, 41, and the eight-person Team Type 1 — seven men and one woman — finished three minutes behind Team Beaver Creek/Vail, a four-man team. Team Type 1 won the eight-person corporate division in record time.

The goal of Heyer's team, the first all-diabetic RAAM entry, was to raise $1 million in pledges for diabetes research and increase awareness of Type 1 diabetes.

Notes

• The Everett Explosion is one of seven expansion teams scheduled to be added in 2007-08 to the International Basketball League, according to the second-year minor-league pro basketball league's Web site. The IBL now has 24 teams, including six in the Northwest — the Seattle Mountaineers, Tacoma Thunder, Vancouver Volcanoes, Portland Chinooks, Salem Stampede and Eugene Chargers.

• Washington hammer thrower Martin Bingisser has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America third team. The honor is the first for Bingisser, who boasts the rare distinction of earning both athletic and academic All-America honors in the same year.

A first-year UW law student with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, Bingisser maintained a 3.87 undergraduate grade-point average, and holds a 3.72 GPA in his graduate studies at UW's School of Law.

• The Seattle City Tennis Tournament begins today and continues through Sunday at Lower Woodland Park. If rain forces indoor play, matches would be moved to the Amy Yee Tennis Center.

• Erika Korpi of Edmonds-Woodway High School signed a letter of intent to play tennis for Saint Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C.

• Boys diving coach Shauna Kopischka will add girls diving to her duties at Shorecrest and Shorewood high schools, the Shoreline School District announced. Kopischka replaces Keela Carter, who resigned to spend more time with her family.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.