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Category: Swimming

Club Wolverine In California

After three-plus weeks of grueling training at altitude in Colorado Springs, Michael Phelps and the rest of the Club Wolverine swimmers are in northern California this weekend for the Santa Clara Grand Prix.

It's the second-to-last big meet before the Olympic trials in late June, and the field is pretty stacked. Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin are the headliners in Santa Clara, where Phelps is scheduled to swim in five events: 100 free, 100 fly, 100/200 back, 200/400 IM.

Also competing from the Club Wolverine training group are Olympic hopefuls Erik Vendt, Peter Vanderkaay, Davis Tarwater, and Kaitlin Sandeno, as well as a big group of U-M swimmiers.

Add another concern to the list...

So let's add another thing that can go wrong for the Olympics: human rights protests, doping violations, bad water/food/bathroom facilities, possibility of terrorism and now....earthquakes! Beijing is on an earthquake-prone area, and there was a terrible tremor today in another part of China. Sadly, thousands may be injured or killed.

Category: Track and field

Sell Wins USA 25K Championships

The third time was just as charming for Brian Sell. The ace of the Hansons-Brooks team in Rochester Hills won the USA 25K championships Saturday monring at the River Bank Run in Grand Rapids. That's three wins the last three times he has entered the race (2005, '07, '08) and Saturday's winning time (1:15:08) was right about where he'd hoped to be.

Sell, who picked up a $6,000 check for the victory, won by more than a minute over early-race leader Wellay Weldegiyorgis of Ethiopia and nearly two full minutes ahead of 2006 USA 25K champ Fernando Cabada (Boulder, Colo.).

Sell's Hansons teammates Todd Snyder (1:17:14) and Mike Morgan (1:17:21) were third and fourth, while Milford native Tommy Greenless was fifth in 1:18:25.

Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.) won the women's 25K title, while Rockford native Kalin Ritzenhein, the wife of top U.S. marathoner Dathan Ritzenhein, finished fifth. Carl Rundell (Birmingham, Mich.) won the USA Masters 25K Championships in 1:21:28, while Kathy Wolski (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the women's masters title.

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Category: Track and field

Ritz To Rest As Olympic Prep Nears

Rockford's Dathan Ritzenhein won't be defending his title next week at the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York. He'll skip the event to rest a nagging foot injury and focus on getting 100 percent healthy -- no easy task given Ritz's history -- for this summer's marathon training segment for the Beijing Olympics. He'll also run the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene in late June, but he reiterated Thursday on a conference call that he fully intends to run the marathon in Beijing.

He's actually back home in Michigan this weekend for the annual River Bank Run. His wife, Kalin, will compete in the 25K main event Saturday. A handful of the Hansons-Brooks runners from Rochester, including defending champ and fellow Olympic marathon qualifier Brian Sell, headline the men's field. Sell's the favorite, but watch out for teammates Todd Snyder (Ann Arbor) and Mike Morgan this weekend.

Ruggiero on hockey residency roster; Flanagan sets record

Lots of stuff going on, so bear with me on the dot.dot.dot treatment:

- Angela Ruggiero, of Harper Woods, is part of U.S. Hockey's residency roster. The women will train from September through April 2009.

- Runner Shalane Flanagan made quite the debut at 10,000 meters over the weekend, setting a new American record. Flanagan ran 17 seconds faster than the old U.S. mark. She's under the Olympic "A" standard, and is the fastest in the world in 2008.

Category: Basketball

So sayeth DWade

The brass of USA Basketball has openly wondered if Dwyane Wade is going to be healthy enough to play in Beijing. Wade has been struggling with knee and shoulder injuries for a year. He stopped playing for the Heat months ago, hoping to get his body in gear for the Olympics.

Wade was on TNT last night, and here's what he said about his fitness: "My body will be good. Next week I start working out with my trainer, Tim Grover in Chicago. My trainers from Miami all come down and we all get to work on my body. I'm trying to get as healthy this year as I've ever been in my life. They Olympics are very important, not only for me but for the USA ... I'm 100 percent in, unless somebody else tells me that I can't play."

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Category: Controversy

One world, one pipe dream

Actually, the theme is "One World One Dream" but that headline seems more applicable right now. The global torch relay quickly became a caravan of chaos with protests at nearly every turn. Now, it's back in Asia, and prepping for an ascent of Mt. Everest.

CNN has a crew there to document the journey, but check out the latest heavy-handed attempt to control what the rest of the world sees and hears. Protests punishable by death? Wow.

Category: Basketball

Everything counts in basketball team selection

The 2008 NBA playoffs mean more than just some games played for the Larry O'Brien trophy. The USA Basketball honchos are watching carefully, to see how the players in the pool are faring.

A few initial impressions they could have: Chris Paul and Deron Williams have increased their stock. Paul especially, as he's been amazing in the playoffs for the Hornets.

Tayshaun Prince has also helped his long-shot chances, as he's been wonderful on both ends for the Pistons. Chauncey Billups is a wash so far, as he's not set the world on fire, but USA Basketball loves his leadership and long-ball shooting.

Team USA will reconvene at the end of June to make the final cuts for the Beijing roster.

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100 days out -- plenty of time to protest Beijing Olympics

Another countdown begins Wednesday (it's already Wednesday in China right now) -- 100 days until the Beijing Olympics get under way with Opening Ceremonies on 8-8-08 (at eight seconds after 8:08 p.m. local time, no less).

Although politics continue to dominate the discourse surrounding the 2008 Summer Games, expect things to die down a little the next month with the torch relay returning to mainland China and largely out of the public eye.

There will be plenty more written and said this summer when the international media turns its focus toward Beijing once again in the immediate run-up to the Olympics.

Category: Paralympics

Iraq War amputee to compete in swim event at EMU

If you're looking for inspiration, here's an event you should consider this weekend: Members of the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team -- there's 38 in all -- will be in the pool at Eastern Michigan University, competing in the Greater Toledo Aquatic Club's Disability Open on Saturday and Sunday.

Clinton Township's Cheryl Angelelli, who earlier this month qualified for her third Paralympics, and 17-year-old Elizabeth Stone (Grand Rapids), will be there, too.

So will U.S. Army 1st Lt. Melissa Stockwell, the first female amputee of the Iraq War, who also qualified for the Beijing Paralympics. Four years ago, and just three weeks into her Iraq deployment, Stockwell lost her left leg when her Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in the streets of Baghdad. But as she says now, she has done more without a leg than she ever did with two.

There will be two sessions Saturday (9-11:30 a.m. and 5-7:30 p.m.) and one Sunday (9-11:30 a.m.). Go check it out.