College Roundup: Iona’s Connolly runs to victory in New York Relays 1,500

Connolly’s winning time of 3:45.88 qualified him for the NCAA Regionals, to be held at the same location May 27-28.
The Vanderbilt Relays found Southern Illinois junior Joe Byrne winning the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. His winning time of 9:07.17 smashed the Vanderbilt Stadium record by more than two seconds. His nearest pursuer needed an additional 25 seconds to reach the tape. Byrne, from Downpatrick, Co. Down, qualified for the NCAA Regionals with his effort.
Western Kentucky’s Aisling Maunsell, a Cork sophomore, was second in the women’s 400 at Vanderbilt. She finished in 57.85. Alabama-Huntsville’s Shuneil Gadson won the race in 56.90.
De Paul’s Richard Byrne, a sophomore from Dublin, finished second in the men’s 1,500 meters at the Central Collegiate Championships. Byrne, with a 4:09.22 clocking, was nipped by Illinois’ Brian Brodeur, who got home in 4:09.07.

TENNIS
Notre Dame won the Big East Men’s Tennis Championship with victories over St. John’s and Rutgers. Sophomore Barry King, a Dubliner, was perfect in his appearances. He defeated St. John’s Boris Chiporukha at third singles, 6-2, 6-2, and was paired with Ryan Keckley at second doubles, where they were ahead, 6-4, when the match was abandoned as the Fighting Irish had clinched the doubles point. Notre Dame won the match, 4-1. The finals found Notre Dame defeating Rutgers, 4-0, for the title. King was first to finish in singles play, defeating Matthew Fawcett, 6-1, 6-0. King and Keckley were 8-2 winners over Fawcett and Jonathan Wanano in the second doubles position.
Concord University’s Mark O’Neill shared honors as top men’s tennis player in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association. O’Neill, a junior from Dublin, went undefeated in singles during the regular season. He shared top billing with Charleston’s Adam Flintoff.
William & Mary benefited from superb doubles play by the tandem of Colin O’Brien and Alex Fish as they swept to the Colonial Athletic Assn. championship. O’Brien, a sophomore from Dublin, and Fish defeated Delaware’s Sammy Carl and Philip Wayne, 8-2, in first-round action. O’Brien also expedited the Tribe’s 4-0 victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win at second singles over Adam Liebman. The next victim was Old Dominion, 4-2, with O’Brien and Fish hammering Juliano Cirimbelli and Adriano Mello, 8-2. O’Brien came up short in his singles outing against Henrique Cancado, 6-3, 6-4. The Tribe took the title with a 4-2 win over top seed Virginia Commonwealth. O’Brien and Fish came back from a 6-4 tiebreak deficit, saving a total of six match points, to defeat Sergi Arumi and Francesc Lleal, 9-8 (14). O’Brien’s singles match was still in progress when the Tribe clinched on another court. O’Brien also earned All-CAA second team honors.
Harvard won the Ivy League Women’s Championship with a 6-1 victory over Brown. Dublin sophomore Elsa O’Riain earned a victory at second singles over Daisy Ames, 6-1, 6-4, and teamed with Stephanie Schnitter at second doubles to post an 8-5 win over Anita Ivancevic and Michelle Pautler. The Crimson reached the finals by defeating Yale, 6-1. O’Riain and Schnitter contributed to the win by prevailing over Rashmee Patil and Reshmi Srinath, 8-5. O’Riain, who has been limited to doubles play through the spring as she recovers from an injury, tried Aimee Kim at third singles, but was defeated, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
California’s Conor Niland recorded three victories to advance to the semifinal round of the Pac-10 Conference Men’s Tennis Championships, where he was then eliminated. The Limerick junior began with a triumph over Washington’s Daniel Chu, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. He followed by plowing through UCLA’s Philipp Gruendler, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Southern Cal’s Kaes Van’t Hof, 6-1, 6-1. Niland then lost to Washington’s Alex Vlaski, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
San Diego’s Emma Murphy, a junior from Cork, had an easy go at first singles as the Toreros lost to San Diego State, 4-3. Murphy defeated Alesya Vidov, 6-0, 6-0.
Georgia Southern got past the first round of the Southern Conference tourney by knocking out Western Carolina, 4-0. GSU’s Ciara Finucane, a sophomore from Dublin, was victorious at second singles over Katherine Ptak, 6-1, 6-0. Finucane and Szilvia Zsakay also prevailed at first doubles over Ptak and Tricia Hanson, 8-2. GSU was then reminded of how the other half lives when they came out on the short end of a 4-0 verdict against College of Charleston in the next round. Finucane lost her match to Gabriela Moreira, 6-0, 6-3.
Indiana’s Dara McLoughlin contributed to the Hoosiers’ 6-1 victory over Michigan State by joining Michael McCarthy at third doubles, where they handled Cameron Marshall and Adam Monich, 8-5. McLoughlin is a freshman from Dublin.

GOLF
Every stroke counted as South Alabama eked out a one-stroke victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Championship at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Pacing the Jaguars was Johnny Caldwell, a freshman from Clandeboye, Co. Down. He finished third overall, with a 1-under-par 215 (71-74-70), three strokes shy of Arkansas-Little Rock?s Patrick Sullivan, the champion.
Wingate’s Lorcan Morris, a junior from Swords, Co. Dublin, shared runner-up honors in the South Atlantic Conference Championship at Lake Hickory Country Club in Hickory, N.C. He shot 217 (72-75-70), which was one stroke over par and two behind Presbyterian College’s Hugh Morrison, the champion. Wingate finished sixth in the eight-team field.
Five-over-par 221 (77-72-72) was good enough to earn Kent State’s Tara Delaney a piece of third place in the Lady Buckeye at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. The County Carlow freshman came in seven strokes off the winning score posted by Ohio State’s Lindsay Knowlton. Kent sophomore Karen Delaney, Tara’s sister, finished amid a pack in 46th position at 241 (78-77-86). Notre Dame’s Suzie Hayes, a junior from Dublin, finished joint 57th at 244 (83-78-83). Michigan State won the 15-team tournament, with Kent placing fourth and Notre Dame seventh.
Minnesota’s Niall Turner, a sophomore from Cork, occupied eighth place at the end of the Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue’s Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind. At 2-over-par 218 (69-79-70), Turner was 11 strokes removed from Purdue’s Johan Edin, the medalist. The Gophers tied for sixth place.
Pfeiffer freshman Nikki Taggart took ninth place in the Carolina-Virginia Athletic Conference Women’s Championship at Hartsville Country Club in Hartsville, S.C. The Belfast resident shot 80, 87 and 78 to finish 14 strokes behind winning teammate Fiona Hindshaw and help Pfeiffer garner the team title.
Toledo’s Ciaran McAleavey tied for 18th place in the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate on Firestone Country Club’s North Course in Akron, Ohio. The Banbridge, Co. Down, freshman shot 225 (74-75-76) for 54 holes, which was nine strokes over par and 15 off the winning number posted by a trio of golfers. Toledo won the team scramble.
The Southern Conference Championship found the East Tennessee duo of Cian McNamara and Gareth Shaw placing in the top 20. McNamara, a Limerick freshman, came in seven strokes over par at 223 (74-75-74), good for joint 11th, while teammate Gareth Shaw, a freshman from Lisburn, Co. Antrim, shared 20th place, carding 226 (76-75-75). ETSU’s Rhys Davies was a 10-stroke winner with his 208, which helped the Bucs to the team title.
Francis Marion’s Aengus McAllister finished 22nd in the Peach Belt Conference Championship at Southbridge, Ga. The Dublin junior finished 14 strokes over par at 230 (79-77-74), which left a 25-stroke gap between himself and South Carolina-Aiken’s Dane Burkhart, the medallist. Aiken copped the team crown, with Marion back in fifth place.
St. Louis University’s Barry O’Neill shared 58th position in the Conference-USA Championship at Grand Bear Golf Club in Gulfport, Miss. A junior from Waterford, O’Neill’s 236 (78-80-78) was 20 strokes over par and 27 off the winning number.