College Roundup Friar’s Keith Kelly captures Big East 10,000 meters

By John Manley

Providence’s Keith Kelly ran to victory recently in the men’s 10,000 meters at the Big East Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Villanova. Kelly, a junior from Drogheda, broke the tape in 30 minutes, 5.47 seconds. Notre Dame’s Ryan Shay pushed Kelly down the lane, finishing just over a second later.

Kelly was also fourth in the 5,000 meters, which was won by Georgetown’s Eric Savoth in 14:14.57. Kelly covered the distance in 14:27.14. Providence freshman Dermot Galvin, from Kilrush, Co. Clare, was fifth in 14:36.60, and sophomore Ciaran Lynch from Limerick was 21st in 15:50.78.

Lynch also tried the 3,000 meter steeplechase, running 13th in 9:41.30.

Finally, the Friars’ Larry Morrissey took fourth spot in the 1,500 meters.

The Waterford junior came home in 3:53.14, not far behind the victor, Georgetown’s Sam Gabremariam, who finished in 3:51.04. Georgetown took the team trophy. Providence finished 11th of 13 teams.

Meanwhile, Iona monopolized the men’s 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, occupying four and five of the top six spots in each race, respectively. Vinny Mulvey was hot on the heels of teammate Jay Wassel in the 5,000, gaining second place with a time of 14:50.73 to Wassel’s 14:50.46. Padraic Buckley was sixth in that race, timed in 15:25.26.

Buckley showed better at 10,000 meters with a third-place finish. In at 31:00.8, Buckley wasn’t far off Iona’s Chris Longo, the winner in 30:57.8. Mulvey took fourth place in 31:16.2. Buckley is a senior from Banteer, Co. Cork. Mulvey is a sophomore from Ashbourne, Co. Meath.

Iona placed third in the team standings, which was topped by Manhattan.

Tennis

The University of California’s women’s team advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Division I Championship with victories over Army and Marquette last weekend. The sixth-ranked Golden Bears were 9-0 victors over Army on Saturday, with Claire Curran, a junior from Dublin, clinching the match with her win at fourth singles. Curran defeated Elizabeth Scherer, 6-1, 6-1.

Curran and Anita Kurimay, ranked 33rd nationally in doubles, routed Jennifer Blatty and Betsy Evans at second doubles, 8-0.

Sunday saw Curran, ranked 98th nationally in singles, come away a 6-3, 6-2 winner against Marquette’s Julia Sapozhnikova to help the Golden Bears to a 5-1 triumph over the Warriors, 25th in the rankings. Doubles matches were not played. Next up for California is Pac-10 nemesis Arizona State, which they play on Thursday in Gainesville, Fla.

Harvard’s men were knocked out of postseason action by No. 10 Baylor in Terre Haute, Ind., on Sunday. The 19th-ranked Crimson opened with a 4-2 victory over Notre Dame. Dublin junior Joe Green produced a 6-3, 7-5 victory at fourth singles over Andrew Laflin to clinch the match for Harvard.

On an adjacent court, John Doran (also a Dublin junior), a 6-3 first set winner over Brian Patterson, was involved in a tiebreaker at 5-all. Their match at second singles was abandoned when Green’s victory sealed Notre Dame’s fate. Green also joined Scott Clark to defeat Trent Miller and Javier Taborga, 8-6, at second doubles.

The Baylor match began with Green and Clark prevailing over Pawel Gajdzik and Johannes Michalsky, 8-5, in a second doubles tilt. Doran and Mike Passarella were unable to duplicate the feat at third doubles, falling to Baylor’s Bibza and Williams, 8-6. Doran was ahead in his second singles match against Gajdzik, but this time the match was called when Baylor went up, 4-1. Green was a loser at fourth singles to Jorge Aidrete, 7-6, 6-0.

Crew

Temple’s varsity eight rowed to a first-place finish in the Dad Vail Regatta over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, with a time of 5 minutes, 55.20 seconds. On board for the Owls were Brendan Duke, a senior from Co. Carlow, and Sean Casey, a sophomore from Killarney.

Golf

The University of Toledo men’s golf team took third place in the Fossum Invitational at the Forest Akers Country Club in East Lansing, Mich. Ricky Elliott, a junior from Portrush, Co. Antrim, tied for eighth place with a three-over-par 219 (73-71-75). Tim Rice, a junior from Rosbrien, Co. Limerick, tied for 23rd position at 225 (74-75-76), while Dublin freshman Alan Murray finished with three others at 226 (74-74-78). Illinois’ Larry Nuger ran away with the individual honors. His score of 208 was eight strokes better than the two runners-up.

The University of California posted a fifth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championship at the Broadmoor Country Club in Seattle. The Golden Bears’ Dan Coyle, a senior from Dundalk, tied for 20th place at 10-over 290 (74-74-75-67). That latter score, which was matched by teammate Robert Hamilton, was the second best of the final round. But it was far off the low score of the day. Arizona State’s Paul Casey set an NCAA record with a 10-under-par 60, breaking the mark of 61 previously held by Tiger Woods (although Woods shot 11-under with his number). Casey came from eight shots behind Stanford’s Joel Kribel to manage a two-shot victory with a 72-hole total of 265. Arizona State won the team trophy.