Athletics: Keith Kelly is among four Irish athletes who have qualified for the NCAA American collegiate championships, which begin tomorrow at the University of Oregon. The current NCAA cross country champion, Kelly is the number one seed in tomorrow's 10,000 metres, writes Ian O'Riordan.
The Drogheda runner, who competes for Providence College under Irish coach Ray Treacy, qualified by clocking 28 minutes 32.55 seconds back on April 20th. Only one American student has gone faster this season - Matthew Lane's 28:28.97 - but he is set to concentrate on the 5,000 metres.
Also competing over the four-day championships is Paul Reilly of Galway, also at Providence, who qualified for the 5,000 metres by running a personal best of 13-56.19 on May 19th. A third Providence student, Wicklow's Roisin McGettigan, qualified in the women's 3,000m steeplechase when she ran an Irish record of 10-20.99 at the Albany Spring Classic.
Irish hammer record holder Nicola Coffey, who competes for St John's University, is seeded 19th in her event.
Swimming: Swim Ireland chiefs must plan for the National Championships in July in the knowledge that Olympians such as Chantal Gibney and Emma Robinson will not be available. The top Irish competitors, barring Andrew Bree, will all be competing at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, at the same time, writes Pat Roche.
Irish swimmers who can bolster the appeal of the depleted national deciders have already resumed long-course competitive programmes with distinction in Vienna.
Michael Kelleher of Sunday's Well kick-started his season by trimmming the Irish junior record (28.08 seconds) at 50 metres butterfly. His sister, Lee, clinched an "A" final spot at 200 metres butterfly and promises to fulfil ambitions this season.
Soccer: A series of deadly bombings in Colombia may force the bi-annual Copa America to be relocated to Mexico, Colombian daily El Tiempo reported yesterday.
According to the newspaper, Nicolas Leoz, the Paraguayan president of the South American Football Federation (CSF), thinks it would be prudent to switch the July 11th-29th event to Mexico if a recent series of bomb attacks on Colombia continues.
On May 17th, the day Colombia was named to stage the tournament between Latin American nations, a bomb in Medellin killed eight and wounded 130. Two bombs in Bogota on Friday killed four people and wounded 23.
