Athetlics: Ledwith takes US collegiate bronze
Tuesday November 25 2008
ATHLETICS: Young Meath athlete Andrew Ledwith, from Kildalkey, won a bronze medal at the US collegiate NCAA National Cross-Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana yesterday.
Ledwith, a product of the Fr Murphy's Club, is in his senior year with New York college Iona, with whom he won a NCAA silver team medal last year, when he was 10th in the U-23 race at the European Cross-Countries.
But having been Iona's third scorer in 33rd place a year ago, Ledwith has made a huge leap in class, yesterday finishing third in 29 minutes 25 seconds, behind Oregan's winner Galen Rupp (29:04) and Liberty's Samuel Chelanga (29:08).
There was a top-20 finish too for West Waterford's David McCarthy who came home in 19th in 29:55, which bodes well as he is only in his second year at Providence College.
Flintoff: IPL will improve our skills
CRICKET: Andrew Flintoff has made an urgent plea for England's players to be allowed time to experience the Indian Premier League and help sharpen their skills for the next World Cup.
England are still in talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the release of players for next year's IPL tournament, which runs from April 10 to May 29, in return for India's top players featuring in the England Premier League, starting in 2010.
The Lancashire all-rounder would be regarded as one of the hottest properties if England chose to release their players to allow them play in the world's most lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
But the 30-year-old believes there would be other benefits to members of England's squad competing in the IPL by helping to develop skills which could be vital to a successful World Cup campaign in 2011, which is being staged in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
"We have a Twenty20 World Cup coming up and a lot more one-day international cricket and if the lads get a chance to go, it will help them," he said.
Jets end Titans' unbeaten run
GRIDIRON: The New York Jets ended Tennessee's unbeaten start to the season with a 34-13 win in Nashville on Sunday.
The Titans, the NFL's last undefeated team, had won 10 straight games before the loss, while the Jets (8-3) notched their fifth consecutive win.
Elsewhere, Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns as the New York Giants ended Arizona's seven-game home winning streak with a 37-29 victory. At Kansas City, the Buffalo Bills pounced on five Chiefs' turnovers in a 54-31 win.
