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Leonel Manzano received his initiation into world-class running last summer. The 5-5, 125-pound senior at Texas was about 30 meters into a first-round heat in the 1,500 meters at the world championships in Osaka, Japan, when an elbow was planted in his chest. Welcome to the big time, kid.

“Running against the best people in the world, they’re not going to let you get an inch,” says Manzano, who finished 13th and did not advance. “I went in there with no experience at that level. I’m trying to fight these guys, and they’re like, ‘What are you doing?’ It seemed like I was thrown in the back.

“In high school and college, you don’t see that kind of aggression. It was an awesome experience. What better timing, the year before the Olympics and trials. It was something I really needed.”

Manzano, 23, who was born in Mexico, arrived in the USA at age 4 and became a citizen in 2004, will be a favorite in the 1,500 at the NCAA championships June 11-14 in Des Moines. The surprise winner as a freshman in 2005, he’s seeking bookend titles.

“That would be a great way to finish my career at UT,” he says.
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He might also be one of the few collegians to make the U.S. Olympic team when he runs the 1,500 at the trials June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore. He was second at the USA Championships last year and third in 2006.

Manzano ran his 1,500 best of 3 minutes, 35.29 seconds, equivalent to a 3:52 mile, in last year’s U.S. final. “He’s quite gifted in the sense of racing,” says Jason Vigilante, an assistant to Texas coach Bubba Thornton, the 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic coach, and Manzano’s coach for four years. “Winning is most important to him. Times don’t mean a lot to him. He will always give 100% to complete the race as well as he can regardless of his physical condition. Coupled with that, the pace never seems to bother him.”

Manzano is known for his ability to kick off a fast or slow pace. He came from the back of the pack to win his NCAA 1,500 title. He blew away competitors with his finishes on anchor legs in the Texas and Penn relays.

“He’s got natural foot speed and the ability to change paces,” Vigilante says. “There’s so much to him. Everything about him is a delight. He’s such a nice young man, respectful and honest. I’m blessed to have the opportunity to work with him every day.”

Manzano, who ran a 4:06 mile as a high school junior, began running in middle school. His father, Jesus, operates a rock-crushing machine at a road materials plant. His mother, Maria, is a part-time maid. They weren’t initially enthused with his new activity.

“My parents came here to have a better life and give us more opportunities to succeed,” says Manzano, the oldest of four children, who has done landscaping work for a relative. “They were and still are all about hard work: Go out, get yourself a job. I had a job at 12.

“My parents probably had a third- or fourth-grade education back in Mexico. They had no idea what going to college or playing a sport was. To this day I have a lot of family in the same situation. With me running, they’ve figured out there’s more than just breaking your back with hard labor all the time.”

His parents are now fans. Their biggest contribution to his success is the way they raised him.

“Leo takes pride in everything he does,” Vigilante says. “Here’s a guy who didn’t start learning English until he was 4, and his GPA is important to him. All his professors will tell you how conscientious he is. He doesn’t like to be known just as, the running competitor.”

Manzano, who needs nine credits to graduate and is scheduled to get them in the fall, wants to continue running and plans to stay in Austin to be coached by Vigilante.

“I love this town,” Manzano says. “The group of guys I’m with here can take my training to the next level. We have great facilities. Coach Vigilante is very knowledgeable and always has something prepared. What better place.”

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Spring is when most gardeners get injured — and not because of slippery soils or tool malfunctions. It’s because they get the notion to “pop out for a few minutes,” then come to their senses after six hours bending and hauling and pruning, only to realize they’ve overdone it.

Here are some quick tips for getting your garden into spring shape without sabotaging your own.

Stretch before, during and after you go out. Legs, hips, arms and torso all will be worked in the garden, so get your parts ready to go.

Break up activities by moving to something different every 30 minutes. If you’re pruning, try clearing off the debris every half hour to give your body something else to do. Don’t forget to go back to what you were doing to finish the job.

Pick one chore to do per day for the first couple of weeks. It’s not a race; it’s a marathon; that’s why pacing yourself is important.

If using loppers, hold your elbows closer in to the body and try not to reach out to lop something. Extending your arms with loppers stresses the shoulders, but if you can get closer to the plant and keep your elbows tucked, you’ll take the pressure off that vulnerable area.

Get pruners sharpened to help you avoid having to squeeze really hard to cut things. Hands are easily aggravated by compressing dull pruners or by using pruners on woody material that’s too large for them.

Remember, if you bend over to weed or clean out a garden, stand up often to stretch your back and legs. We can’t have gardeners hobbling back into houses, bent over in pain, unable to straighten up, moaning or crying out. It just gives gardening a bad name and frightens small children.

Carol O’Meara is with the Colorado State University Extension office at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. Contact her at 303-678-6238 or by e-mailing comeara@bouldercounty.org. Colorado State University Extension, together with Boulder County Parks and Open Space, provides unbiased, research-based information about consumer and family issues, horticulture, natural resources, agriculture and 4-H youth development. For more information contact Extension at 9595 Nelson Rd., Box B, Longmont, (303) 678-6238, or visit the website at coopext.colostate.edu/boulder.

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The European Union’s longest-running fight with Microsoft Corp. neared an end Wednesday as regulators imposed a record $1.3 billion fine on the world’s largest software company for failing to fully comply with a 2004 antitrust order.

Microsoft has not decided whether to appeal the penalty, which amounts to a fraction of the $14.07 billion it earned in fiscal 2007. In all, the company has been fined just under $2.4 billion by European antitrust regulators over the years.

Barring an appeal, the fine shuts the door on an investigation into Microsoft’s behavior that was triggered by a 1998 complaint by Sun Microsystems Inc. It alleged Microsoft was refusing to supply information that servers need to work with its market-dominating Windows operating system.

Microsoft eventually made the information available to rivals, but the EU said it charged “unreasonable prices” until last October.

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Microsoft now appears to have finally complied with the 2004 EU antitrust order. But she warned that the company was not yet in the clear because the EU last month launched new probes into its Office software and Windows’ Internet browser.

The fine was handed down as Microsoft pursues its biggest acquisition to date, but Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the research group Directions on Microsoft, said it would have no effect on the software maker’s bid for Web portal operator Yahoo Inc.

“This is a fine for past behavior,” said Rosoff, unrelated to Microsoft’s offer for Yahoo, which was valued at $44.6 billion in early February.

Kroes also was skeptical over Microsoft’s announcement last week that it was further expanding its efforts to make its software work better with rival technologies. A news release, she said, “does not necessarily equal a change in business practice.”

“Talk is cheap. Flouting the rules is expensive,” she said.

Wednesday’s penalty far outweighs the next biggest fine _ $613 million imposed on Microsoft for using its role as the world’s leading supplier of desktop software to elbow into new markets for workgroup servers and media players.

Fines _ which can hit as much as 10 percent of company’s global yearly revenue _ are paid into the EU budget which pays out farm subsidies and research grants. The European Commission claims antitrust fines ultimately help reduce the financial burden on European taxpayers.

Microsoft earned $14.07 billion on $51.12 billion in worldwide sales during its last fiscal year that ended June 30.

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PEORIA, Ariz. There can be too much of a good thing when it comes to left-handed pitching.

That’s the argument the Mariners made on Sunday in justifying their decision to make a fifth starter out of Miguel Batista, their team leader with 16 wins in 2007.

Besides giving them an option they can use out of their bullpen in weeks when the No. 5 starter is skipped, bumping Batista back and putting Carlos Silva third moves Jarrod Washburn into the No. 4 slot and slightly away from fellow lefty and No. 1 arm Erik Bedard.

The notion of “splitting up the left-handers” in a rotation didn’t start with this latest Mariners move. As coveted as lefties are, a theory has long held that trying to pitch them back-to-back can be a recipe for disaster.

“I know last year when we had our two lefties together, the results were not very good,” manager John McLaren said of the 11 outings in which Horacio Ramirez and Washburn were pitched on consecutive days. “And when we split them up, Washburn definitely benefited from it.”

Washburn took a statistical beating on days he followed Ramirez to the mound.

Some will argue that Washburn had already begun to slow down before the pairing with Ramirez first began in late July. He had failed to last five innings in half of his June starts and was winless in two previous outings before first following Ramirez in a July 24 outing.

But the raw numbers suggest putting the lefties together didn’t help Washburn’s cause.

Washburn went 1-8 with a 5.52 earned-run average in those 11 starts. In his 21 other outings, he was 9-7 with a 3.76 ERA.

“It was obvious to me that it wasn’t working too well,” Washburn said on Sunday.

As if to back that up, he went out the final two starts of 2007, after Ramirez had been pulled from the rotation, and went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings.

“The hitters get into a rhythm,” Washburn said. “They see the same type of pitcher two nights in a row.”

While not all left-handers are created equal, the general consensus is that it’s tougher for hitters to key in on a southpaw if preceded by a right-handed arm. For right-handed platoon hitters, consecutive lefties often means they’ll get to play two nights in a row and have the timing of their swing better honed.

Also, left-handed hitters who face southpaws are often handcuffed by the optical illusion that the ball is coming straight for them when it leaves the pitcher’s hand. That’s a big reason why power hitters, like Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez, can be neutralized by a pitcher throwing from the left side.

But dealing with that illusion would theoretically be easier if they had seen it the previous day, without a right-handed starter in between.

Some in baseball think the theory is overstated. But there are enough believers that it’s almost unheard of for a team to carry three lefties in its rotation fearing that any edge of having a southpaw in the first place would be negated by being forced to pitch some of them back-to-back.

If breaking up the lefties boosts Washburn’s numbers, the team is all for it. Even if it has the end result of making Batista one of the most accomplished fifth starters ever to begin a season.

McLaren said none of the fifth starters he has coached in 20 years of major-league ball brought as much to the table as Batista. It’s almost unheard of for a fifth starter to have led his team in wins the previous year, along with close to 200 innings and at least a league average ERA.

The reason such pitchers rarely go fifth is that the No. 5 guy tends to get skipped when a team has off-days.

McLaren said Batista wouldn’t be skipped in April. But if he does miss a start later on, McLaren won’t hesitate to use the onetime closer out of the bullpen.

That’s an idea the Mariners actually toyed with last spring, when J.J. Putz hurt his elbow. The plan was nixed, but Batista did toss a scoreless inning of relief on his between-starts throwing day to notch a June 10 win at San Diego.

“He’s aboard,” McLaren said of Batista working the bullpen this year. “He’s already volunteered his services.”

It may not come to that if the relievers are rested enough. Or, if the team decides to flip the back of the rotation around some more.

But for now, the temptation to possibly improve Washburn’s numbers and occasionally spell the bullpen was too strong to resist.

Notes

%26#8226; DH Jose Vidro had to be treated with ice packs in the training room after being drilled in the knee area by a Ryan Rowland-Smith pitch during Sunday’s live batting practice. Vidro is listed as day to day.

%26#8226; The team’s pre-warm-up “American Idol” clubhouse ritual took an interesting twist when Belgian-born utility player Brant Ust, a Notre Dame alum, sang a tune by the late Robert Goulet.

%26#8226; Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus, named to the Baseball Hall of Fame last week, arrived at the team’s complex on Sunday to prepare for the start of Cactus League play.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or %26#103;%26#98;%26#97;%26#107;%26#101;%26#114;%26#64;%26#115;%26#101;%26#97;%26#116;%26#116;%26#108;%26#101;%26#116;%26#105;%26#109;%26#101;%26#115;%26#46;%26#99;%26#111;%26#109;

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He was surprised one day when a man cutting him a copy of a key said, “Hey, good season.”

That’s about right. Coming off elbow surgery and playing a new position, Johnson hit .276 for the Braves last year with 10 triples and 16 homers. In his first full season in the majors, having moved to second from the outfield, Johnson was a steady presence in the Braves’ lineup and on the infield.

He hit leadoff for much of the season before Willie Harris got hot. And he spent stretches in a second-base platoon once Yunel Escobar burst onto the scene.

But when the Braves traded Edgar Renteria to Detroit this winter and gave Escobar the everyday job at shortstop, they also showed the confidence they have in Johnson at second base.

“He had a good year last year,” manager Bobby Cox said. “I think he got a little tired toward the end. [But] he had a good solid year.”

Johnson hit .194 (16-for-82) in his last 24 games and says he “definitely” wore down.

He doesn’t think he’ll have the same issue this year, given how different his offseason has been. Last winter, with a new position to learn, he spent three to five days a week at Turner Field, taking groundballs at second base from coach Glenn Hubbard. That started in October. And he did it on top of elbow rehabilitation and regular workouts.

By comparison, this offseason was a breath of fresh air. First off, he married Lauren Thacker, a Georgia Tech grad, and honeymooned in Hawaii.

When they were at home in Roswell, he worked out at the stadium with Hubbard but not as often. His focus was getting comfortable with backhand plays.

Johnson committed 14 errors last year, tied with Jeff Kent for the most in the National League. More than a few came misplaying groundballs to his backhand side. He’s been working to be more aggressive.

“I was waiting on it to get there, like I was playing a ball into a backhand,” Johnson said. “I got lazy; I wasn’t using my feet. Now it’s just practicing busting my butt to get around that ball and get in front of it. Ones I really have to backhand, I think instincts will take over and you’ll make those plays.”

Hubbard believes it was more mental.

“He figured it out,” he said. “When you think you’ve got a problem, you’ve got a problem.”

Cox indicated Friday that Johnson is still a guy he’s eyeing for either the leadoff spot or to hit second behind Escobar. Johnson put up a .372 on-base percentage in 306 at-bats in the leadoff spot last year, with 29 extra-base hits.

His patience at the plate backfired a bit late in the season when he got caught taking too many pitches inside for strike three. That’s something he’s concentrated on in spring training.

“I knew that they were coming in and I wasn’t making the adjustment,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing I want to be ready for.”

Johnson celebrated his 26th birthday Friday, with a lot to appreciate from the last year. He has a lot to look forward to as well.

“I want to go out and play really well to where [the Braves know they] made the right decision and they want to keep me around,” Johnson said. “I know more than anybody you don’t just get handed that. You’ve got to go out there and take it. I appreciate the chance to go out and take it.”

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If you’re determined to work your abs, do the bicycle maneuver. In a study commissioned for the American Council on Exercise, researchers at the San Diego State Biomechanics Lab found that the bicycle required constant abdominal stabilization, as well as body rotation, generating the most activity in the obliques.

Here’s how to do it, according to ACE:

1. Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.

2. Put your hands beside your head.

3. Bring your knees up to about 45 degrees.

4. Straighten the left leg out to about a 45-degree angle while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow toward the right knee.

5. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow toward the left knee.

6. Continue alternating sides in a “pedaling” motion for 12-16 reps.

7. Maintain even, relaxed breathing throughout.

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PROVO %26#151; One way or another, it figured to be a historic night at the Marriott Center.

Either BYU was going to extend its homecourt winning streak, and its overall winning streak, or Utah was going to snap both simultaneously before a crowd of 19,460.

In the end, the Cougars escaped with a 67-59 victory over the Utes on Wednesday night to set a new school record for consecutive victories at home with 45 straight, earning their ninth straight win in the process. But to BYU, that wasn’t what really mattered.

“All I know,” said forward Jonathan Tavernari, “is we beat Utah.”

Tavernari scored a game-high 20 points, including five of the Cougars’ final seven in the last 65 seconds of the contest. His jumper from the free-throw line elbow with just over one minute remaining gave BYU a 62-57 edge. Later, he added three free throws to seal the victory.

Unlike last Saturday’s rout of UNLV, the win didn’t come easily.

“We always expect a game like that with Utah,” said senior guard Sam Burgess. “We made enough plays to win. That shows the character of this team, that we know how to win close games.”

“It was two good teams, a lot of players really competing,” said BYU coach Dave Rose. “We made a couple of more plays at the end. It was fun to be a part of. It was a great college basketball game. Every shot was contested, every rebound was contested, every pass was contested.”
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BYU’s biggest lead of the game %26#151; eight points %26#151; came with 23 seconds remaining.

For Utah, Johnnie Bryant led the way with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Lawrence Borha scored 12 and Luke Nevill chipped in 11.

“My team battled out there tonight, and I am very proud of my guys,” said Ute coach Jim Boylen. “BYU is a good team and they have a great coach. They made the plays that they needed to win.”

Cougar guard Lee Cummard turned in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while center Trent Plaisted had nine points. Freshman Jimmer Fredette enjoyed one of the best games of his young collegiate career, scoring 14 points in 22 minutes of play.

Through most of the game, the Cougars and Utes pretty much traded baskets. BYU led almost the entire first half, but Utah hung close. Tavernari scored nine of BYU’s first 13 points, while Bryant came off the bench to nail two 3-pointers for Utah. A putback by Ute Luka Drca tied the game at 24-all with a little more than two minutes remaining in the half.

Moments later, BYU recorded a key four-point play when Tavernari drained a 3-pointer while a foul was called under the basket on Bryant, who shoved Cummard. Cummard hit one of two free throws to give the Cougars a 28-24 edge.

Lawrence Bohra scored to cut the Ute deficit to 28-26, but BYU finished the half by scoring five unanswered points on two free throws by Cummard and Jimmer Fredette’s 3-pointer with 45.8 ticks left on the clock. Collinsworth squandered an opportunity to extend the Cougar lead, but missed two free throws with 22.3 seconds remaining. Still, BYU was staked to a 33-26 advantage at halftime %26#151; its largest lead of the half.

The Utes continued to keep things close in the second half. Drca’s 3- pointer at the 12 minute mark pulled Utah to within one, 39-38. But the Cougars answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Fredette and Tavernari.

But Utah refused to go away quietly. Bryant nailed a 3-pointer with 5:20 left to make it 54-53 for the Cougars. But BYU, which went to the free throw line 32 times compared to just 10 for Utah, hit 9- of-10 from the charity stripe in the final four minutes.

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If traditional push-ups are fairly routine, try adding triceps push-ups to your repertoire. You’ll significantly engage your triceps in this challenging version.

Get into push-up position, however, place your hands directly below your chest.

With your abs tight, lower yourself toward the floor. Then, push back up to the starting position. Remember to keep your elbows by your side and to allow your chest to descend first and the rest of your body to follow. Do not allow your hips to dip.

Caution: If you have not mastered traditional push-ups on your toes, do not attempt triceps push-ups on your toes. Accomplish them on your knees if you are just beginning and you will progressively be able to perform them on your toes.

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NEW YORK –Day met night on the runway Friday as New York Fashion Week drew to a close.

There were evening touches on daywear, such as a metallic sheen on a tweed suit or a turtleneck worn under a strapless dress, and daytime accents for evening, like a chunky knit cardigan or hunting jacket over a silk dress.

At Ralph Lauren, a fisherman vest with all-over pockets was worn over slim cashmere-herringbone skirt suit, and a flannel plaid shirt was paired with a three-tiered embroidered black skirt.

With Fashion Week winding down, the fashion flock will soon turn to London, Paris and Milan, Italy, to confirm next season’s trends that first made their debut in New York.

RALPH LAUREN

Even with countryside touches, Ralph Lauren presented a fall collection that is still very much for the chic city woman.

There probably aren’t many reasons to pack a sexy cowl-neck gown in bright orange velvet for a weekend at the hunting lodge, but there was a high-neck cocktail dress in green plaid that would be a good candidate for holiday parties whether you’re here or there.

Lauren also was having a buffalo-check moment, using the bold square pattern in combinations of red and black, green and black and purple and black for all sorts of silhouettes, ranging from short jackets with exaggerated necklines to evening gowns.

DONNA KARAN

It’s not always what you see that makes a woman look sexy - it’s often what you don’t. Donna Karan played with the notions of mystery and seduction in her fall collection and the result was a smoldering success.

This show hit on many of the themes that have emerged as trends - mixing casual with dressy, turning coats into the centerpiece of an outfit and finding inspiration in the days between World War I and II. She also used feathers, a surprising hot look, on her shoes.

But somehow it all looked different here.

The very best outfits put shiny pailettes and beads in just the right places on scarf-style tops while the rest was sheer tulle. Karan offered this look both as evening gowns in black and olive, as well as a sophisticated top paired with a languid pair of pajama trousers.

ZAC POSEN

Spider-web, lattice and Little Miss Muffet dresses are the kinds of dramatic clothes that Zac Posen thrives on - and they were the highlight of his fall collection.

For the ordinary woman - one with a slim figure and a fat wallet - there were schoolgirl (and schoolboy) suits, some beaded tuxedo-inspired looks and a lovely loop embroidery coat in navy duchess satin. But it’s the wild stuff that captured the attention of the crowd.

Sitting in one of his strapless “fairy-tale gowns,” which likely had a hoop underneath, would be a challenge unable to be met by most mortals, as would wearing a truly nude (as in see-through) chiffon dress with a feathered cape.

TOMMY HILFIGER

Tommy Hilfiger had Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Helena Christensen in the front row of his fall-collection fashion show, but one wonders if he extended an invitation to Faye Dunaway or Ali McGraw?

Hilfiger said in his notes that the line was done with a sexy Dunaway or fresh-faced McGraw from late 1960s and early ’70s in his mind.

The clothes certainly had references to that era but they weren’t the hippie styles that stylists and editors have gotten used to seeing during New York Fashion Week.

There were jersey tops with wool trousers that were professional with just enough sex appeal, and it was the same story with a red jersey side-button sheath. Hilfiger’s collection will be sold exclusively in Macy’s stores.

CYNTHIA ROWLEY

If you want a sense of Cynthia Rowley’s attitude, witness her descriptions of her fall ‘08 collection: Laissez-faire. One-line story. Free-range.

And while she didn’t send the models down the runway on bicycles as she did for spring, Rowley, known to add a little kitsch, presented a loose and flowing collection with a nod toward Victorian times and Impressionist art.

“My inspiration is the art of silhouette making and charm of delicate pop-up books that were most popular during Victorian times,” she said. “It’s a little bit romantic, a little bit story book.”

PROJECT RUNWAY

For Victoria Beckham, there was a clear winner at the “Project Runway” show. But she wasn’t telling who.

Beckham is a guest judge for the two-part finale, which airs Feb. 27 and March 5.

“That one person really made me smile,” Beckham said. “Everything I saw, I would wear myself.”

Five remaining contestants presented collections Friday to a celebrity-studded audience. Only three collections will be televised, but producers want to avoid giving a hint of who the finalists are.

Christian Siriano, the contestant fans love to hate, was a tent favorite with an avant-garde collection playing with feathers, oversized ruffles and curvy blazers with wide shoulders and flared hips.

Rami Kashou focused on beautiful dresses, using softly layered draping, ruffles and a checkerboard weave. Jillian Lewis showed standout coats - one with a wide collar in metallic herringbone, and another with cut-outs in the elbows and a ruffled hem showing a peek of red.

Chris March went for high drama with velvet, beading and brocade. And Kathleen “Sweet P” Vaughn had a very wearable collection, playing with trends seen elsewhere this Fashion Week of mustard yellow, purple and exposed zippers.

CARMEN MARC VALVO

Those bra straps were supposed to be showing at Friday’s Carmen Marc Valvo show. Valvo, besides previewing his fall collection, used New York Fashion Week as a platform to launch his lingerie line being done in collaboration with Cosabella.

On some outfits, undergarments peeked out - from the top of a strapless dress or underneath a suit jacket, for example. For other looks, Valvo was merely inspired by delicate underpinnings. A red-and-blue cocktail dress had a corset-style silhouette and a long, fluid gown made of gray cashmere flannel had a lace inset around the hips.

Feathers had their place in this collection, as they’ve had in many others over the past eight days of seasonal previews. Valvo’s use of feathers, however, was more restrained, adding a hint of extra luxury instead of screaming it.

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NEW YORK –For Victoria Beckham, there was a clear winner at the “Project Runway” show Friday at New York Fashion Week. But she wasn’t telling who.

Beckham is a guest judge for the two-part finale, which airs Feb. 27 and March 5.

“That one person really made me smile,” Beckham said. “Everything I saw, I would wear myself.”

Five remaining contestants presented collections Friday to a celebrity-studded audience at the Bryant Park tents. There was some reality show synergy in the front row with Tyson Beckford and Nikki Taylor of “Make Me a Supermodel,” Padma Lakshmi and Ted Allen from “Top Chef,” and a few former competitors from “America’s Next Top Model” on the runway.

Several “Project Runway” contestants choked up at the sight of the overflowing audience. Only three collections will be televised on Bravo, but producers want to avoid giving a hint of who the finalists are.

Christian Siriano, the contestant fans love to hate, was a tent favorite with an avant-garde collection playing with feathers, oversized ruffles and curvy blazers with wide shoulders and flared hips.

Rami Kashou focused on beautiful dresses, using softly layered draping, ruffles and a checkerboard weave. Models were styled as goddesses for the collection he said “celebrates women.”

Jillian Lewis showed standout coats - one with a wide collar in metallic herringbone, and another with cut-outs in the elbows and a ruffled hem showing a peek of red.

Chris March, the costume designer and fan favorite, went for high drama with velvet, beading and brocade. He also showed his sense of humor with his use of a hair-like fringe and a flowing halter dress embossed with the image of the Mona Lisa.

Kathleen “Sweet P” Vaughn had a very wearable collection, playing with trends seen elsewhere this Fashion Week of mustard yellow, purple and exposed zippers. A green-gold tiered dress and long coat were standouts.

“It’s going to be very, very hard for us to judge them today,” said host Heidi Klum.

The last contestant to be “aufed” by Klum, Ricky Lizalde, said he was rooting for Jillian and Rami. “I think both of their crafts were up to par,” he said. He didn’t comment on Christian, a vocal critic of his.

Lizalde, who is probably best known for his frequent crying, said he felt good about how he was portrayed.

“I wasn’t a jerk. It was a little tough watching myself cry every week, but once I got over that and realized I wear my heart on my sleeve, I was OK with it,” he said.

The winner of “Project Runway” gets $100,000, a car, an editorial feature in ELLE magazine and the opportunity to sell a line on Bluefly.com. An extra challenge, “Sew Not Over,” will be judged by fans online and shown on Feb. 21 through March 6.

Outside the tents, a fan approached the show’s fashion guru, Tim Gunn, with his own signature line: “Did they make it work?”

He smiled and answered, “Yes.”

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