UT's Fisher impressive at NCAA meet

11/24/2009

TERRA HAUTE, Ind. - University of Toledo sophomore Ari Fisher finished 43rd at the NCAA cross country championships Monday at the La Vern Gibson championship course at Indiana State.

Fisher's performance left her three spots shy of earning All-American honors and was the second-best by a UT runner at the national meet since Brianna Shook placed 24th in 2002.

Fisher completed the 6K course in a time of 20:47.0. Illinois senior Angela Bizzarri won the individual title in 19:46.8.

"In high school, Ari never even made it to the state tournament, and now she is legitimately one of the top runners in the country," UT coach Kevin Hadsell said. "I'm very proud of her, and I know that she is able to accomplish a lot more than she already has. Now, our next goal is to qualify the team to compete here in 2010."

PHILADELPHIA - A former national Golden Gloves boxing champion died two days after collapsing following a bout in Philadelphia.

Boxing promoter Dominic Pesoli said 25-year-old Francisco Rodriguez died Sunday night after losing a USBA super bantamweight bout against Teon Kennedy on Friday night.

Rodriguez was 14-2 going into the bout against Kennedy for the vacant USBA super bantamweight title. Rodriguez was a national Golden Gloves champion in 2001.

LONDON - Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first ever loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by mixing a hard forehand with a solid backhand to keep Nadal running all over the hard court at the O2 Arena.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - Shaquille O'Neal returned to practice with the Cavaliers yesterday and is hopeful he can play at Detroit tomorrow.

O'Neal missed five games after he tried blocking a dunk by Miami's Michael Beasley on Nov. 12. He called the injury a strained rotator cuff.