Sports briefs for March 28, 2005

Monday, March 28, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

Rebels one shot back in Tucson

An opening-round 11-under-par 277 on Sunday at the National Invitational Tournament being played at OMNI Tucson National (par 72, 7,094 yards) left the UNLV men's golf team trailing TCU by just one shot.

TCU (276, 12 under) and UNLV were the only two teams to shoot double-digit under-par scores during the first round.

Individually, the Rebels received strong rounds from Ryan Keeney and Travis Whisman, who are in a six-way tie for second place after shooting 5-under 67s.

New Mexico scores upset

The 35th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team lost in Mountain West Conference play for the first time this spring as No. 48 New Mexico upset the Lady Rebels 4-3 Sunday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

UNLV (9-6 overall, 2-1 MWC) lost for the first time this season to a team ranked outside of the nation's top 25.

Relay teams lead the way at nationals

UNLV posted its third honorable mention All-America relay swim on Saturday to help the Rebels finish in 24th place at the 2005 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.

Rebels Joe Bartoch, Brandon Nelms, Jonathan Hugo, and Michael Day teamed up to swim a time of 3:01.13. It was the third Rebels relay to score at this year's championship, a new school record.

Day just missed out on a individual All-America honor in the 200 fly, as he finished 17th with a time of 1:46.40, just 16 hundredths of a second out of a spot in the scoring sessions on Saturday night.

Irishman could be stripped of gold medal

The International Equestrian Federation recommended Sunday that Irish showjumper Cian O'Connor lose his Olympic gold medal because his horse tested positive for banned substances.

FEI spokeswoman Muriel Faienza said the organization's judicial committee ordered O'Connor's disqualification after an 11-hour hearing in Zurich, Switzerland.

The final decision to strip O'Connor of his medal lies with the International Olympic Committee, which usually follows the recommendations of individual sports' governing bodies.

O'Connor failed to defend himself against charges that his victory was tainted because his horse tested positive.

-- Sun wire services