June 20, 2002--Earlier this week, Anna Smashnova became the first Israeli woman to be seeded at Wimbledon. She enters the prestigious British tourney seeded 15th. She opens up against Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia.

June 20, 2002--Senior Molly Lederman of New Jewish High School in Waltham, MA took 2nd place with a leap of 12-8.25 in the pole vault at the Adidas National Track & Field Championships last weekend in Raleigh, NC. Lederman, headed to Yale University in the Fall, has held the indoor national high school record off and on throughout her career.

June 18, 2002--This week, Ori Ichaki, an athletic 6-5 swingman from Herzliya, Israel, signed to play with Clemson next year. Ichaki becomes the first Jewish impact player in the ACC since Duke's Bob Fleischer, an All-ACC center from 1971-75. We'll have more on Ichaki in the coming days!

June 16, 2002--AA 1B Yaron Peters bashed the game-winning 2 run HR (29th on the season) in the Gamecocks' 10-8 win over Nebraska in College World Series action today. Elsewhere in Omaha, Texas RF Matt Rosenberg went 1-3 in his team's 2-1 win over Rice yesterday. Also on the diamond, Shawn Green tied a major league record Friday and Saturday with HRs in 4 straight at-bats. He now has 20 HRs and has raised his batting average over .280 for the first time this season (currently .289).

June 16, 2002--Israeli Anna Smashnova won the Wien Energie Grand Prix yesterday and is ranked 17th in the new WTA rankings released today. This is the highest ever ranking for an Israeli Tennis player (Amos Mansdorf was #18 in 1987).

June 16, 2002--Dana Rosenblatt will next fight June 28th against Juan Carlos Viloria (23-16-1) at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. In other boxing news, June 20th marks the next bout for up-and-coming Israeli Jr. Middleweight Yuri Foreman (4-0). He'll battle Michael Corleone in Glen Burnie, MD.

June 16, 2002--Jeff Agoos, a starter on the US World Cup squad for the first time, will miss 4-6 weeks with a calf injury.

June 13, 2002--Adam Schandler's debut, Coaching Ira, follows Ira Korbman, a down-on-life dentist who reluctantly agrees to coach his local USY basketball team. Find out more at AdamDShandler.com.

June 11, 2002--Yalie Craig Breslow, LHP, was picked up in last week's MLB draft by the Brewers with the 769th pick overall.

June 11, 2002--Zhanna Pintusevich-Block has now won her only two races this season after overcoming a slow start at the Athens Grand Prix to win the 100m in 11.02, the 4th fastest time in the world this year.

June 8, 2002--In a race won in world record time, Deena Drossin finished 6th with a time of 32:08, 1:39 behind the winner, in today's New York Mini, a 10K race through NYC's Central Park. In other Drossin news, Deena graces the current issue of Track & Field News Magazine.

June 4, 2002--Mass. native Mark Rosen was picked in the 5th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks today. The LHP has signed with the University of Miami and now must decide whether to play collegiately and pursue a degree or sign with the defending world champs. Elsewhere, the Braves drafted South Carolina 1B Yaron Peters in the 10th round, while UNC OF Adam Greenberg went to the Cubs with the 273rd pick overall.

June 3, 2002--Israeli Yaniv Green has still not decided on college (or which) in the US or pro ball in Israel. Green has already taken official trips to California, UCLA and Connecticut. "They were all very good trips" Green said. "I enjoyed meeting the coaches and talking to them about their schools and their teams."

June 2, 2002--Josh Oppenheimer, formerly of Delaware, has been named an assistant coach at DePaul University. Oppenheimer is graduate of a Northern Arizona, where he averaged 17.5 ppg over his three seasons.

May 28, 2002--Last week, Williams College senior Josh Lefkowitz became the first Eph to win the Div III singles tennis title. The senior from New York was named ITA National Player of the Year and finished an outstanding career that also saw him named All-America honors all 4 years and lead Williams to 3 NCAA team titles, including the last two in a row.

May 27, 2002--One day after setting the MLB record with 7 HRs in 3 games, Shawn Green homered again today to make it 10 HRs in 7 games (and 13 HRs on the season) and in that time, has raised his average 50 points to.282.

May 27, 2002--Anna Smashnova became the first Israeli Woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam event by being named the 21st seed in this year's French Open. She begins on the red clay tomorrow morning versus Italian Francesca Schiavone. Also representing Israel at Roland Garros are Harel Levy and Amir Hadad.

May 23, 2002--Shawn Green, the Dodgers RF who had been mired in a slump for much of the season, broke out today with 4 HRs, a double and a single to set the MLB record for most total bases with 19.He finished 6-6 with 6 runs scored and 7 RBIs.

May 21, 2002--Seniors-to-be Shay Doron and Harrison Schaen are the top Jewish HS female and male hoopsters, respectively, in the US. The 6-8 Californian Schaen recently visited Arizona and Stanford and will soon visit Ivy powers Princeton and Penn. Doron, a 5-9 SG, was recently listed among USA Today's top 12 girls players in the class of 2003.

May 15, 2002--Israeli Yaniv Green's upcoming visit to the US will include stops at UCLA and Cal, as well as his originally scheduled trip to UConn. Green told The News-Times (CT), "I'm not really sure where I'm going to play next year. I may stay here [Israel] and play in my country or I may go to the US and play in college."

May 10, 2002--Israeli Anna Smashnova advanced to the semifinals of the German Open today with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Daniela Hantuchova. Smashnova, now ranked 34 in the WTA, will face 5th ranked Serena Williams in the semifinals tomorrow.

May 8, 2002--Though he may not be in this position long, Sage Rosenfels, as the only returning QB on Washington's roster, goes into the upcoming training camp with a shot at the starting job.

May 6, 2002--This past weekend, Deena Drossin smashed the American record in the 10,000m with a time of 30:50.32. The time represented the 24th best ever and the #2 time this year. In other Drossin news, she has announced plans to run in the Chicago Marathon on October 13, where she is expected to challenge Joan Benoit-Samuelson's American record.

May 5, 2002--Salisbury School's Mark Rosen, a Randolph, MA native, is among the top 50 pro prospects in next month's MLB amateur draft. The 5-11 LHP has already committed to play collegiately at Miami, but if he is drafted as highly as expected, he will most likely bypass college for a shot at the pros.

May 3, 2002--Craig Weinstein, who hails from Harvard-Westlake HS in N. Hollywood, CA, has announced he will attend and play basketball at American University in Washington, DC next year. The 6'0" PG averaged 13 points and 6 assists as a senior.

April 30, 2002--The University of Connecticut is actively pursuing Yaniv Green, a 6-8 235 lb forward who is scheduled to take the SAT May 5th.

April 22, 2002--US National Soccer coach named defenseman Jeff Agoos of the MLS's San Jose Earthquakes to the World Cup Squad today.

April 18, 2002--The first ever California Jewish High School basketball all-star game will be Sunday, April 21 in Moorpark, CA. It will feature 20 players representing each of the 5 Jewish schools in Southern California.

April 14, 2002--5'9" junior guard Shay Doron of Great Neck, NY (via Ramat-Hasharon, Israel) was named to Parade Magazine's prestigious girl's basketball All-American squad (4th team). Doron was also named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of New York after leading famed Christ the King High School (Middle Village, NY) to the state finals and a national ranking of 24 in the USA Today poll. Doron has already drawn interest from many colleges, including UConn, Tennessee, and Boston College. The last Jewish players to be named to the girls' Parade All-American squad were Jamila Wideman of Amherst Regional High School (MA) in 1993 and Anita Kaplan of Delmar High School (NY) in 1991.

April 10, 2002--The US Basketball Writers' Association announced the election of Mel Greenberg, longtime women's basketball writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, to its Hall of Fame.

April 10, 2002--Josh Pastner, who has been involved with the Arizona basketball program since joining the team as a walk-on in 1996, was named the Wildcats' assistant coach today.

April 9, 2002--Deena Drossin set a new 5K road race world record by running a 14:54 at the Carlsbad 5000. Said Drossin, "I knew that it would take a hard race to win with this incredible field, that a record would be set...and that the crowd would not leave disappointed."

April 8, 2002--In Moscow, Vered Borochovksy shaved 0.07 off her own Israli record to win the bronze medal in the 50m butterfly at the world short course swimming championships over the weekend. Also in Moscow, Israeli Anya Gostomelski placed 8th in the 200m backstroke while Borochovsky qualified in the 4th spot for the 100m butterfly.

April 4, 2002--The president of the Jordanian Football Association, Prince Ali, has requested that FIFA ban Israel from competing in international soccer competitions. FIFA has not yet commented.

April 4, 2002--Israel's Vered Borochovsky swam the fastest heat time and will swim in lane 4 in the 50m butterfly short course championships held in Moscow April 5.

April 4, 2002--Dunwoody, GA's Sada Jacobson won a bronze medal at the Junior/Cadet World Championships yesterday. Her sister Emily finished 8th.

March 31, 2002--Tamir Goodman, who left the Towson Tigers in mid-December has been scouted by Israeli giant Maccabi Tel Aviv. There is no truth to the rumor, however, that the team has signed the Baltimore native.

March 24, 2002--Deena Drossin finished 2nd yesterday in the long course at the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland. Drossin led the US team to a 2nd place finish which was their best place since 1992.

March 24, 2002--Last week, Hapoel Tel Aviv lost 2-0 in AC Milan in UEFA Quarterfinal action and thus lost the overall competition on by an aggregate 2-1 score. It was the best ever performance by an Israeli soccer team.

March 24, 2002--Despite a since-dismissed protest, Israelis Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski edged out a Russian couple to win the bronze medal at the recently completed world figure skating championships in Nagano, Japan. In the women's competition, American Sasha Cohen finished 4th, while Sarah Hughes did not compete.