St. Lawrence University introduced Chuck Leierer as its new offensive line coach on Friday.
He replaces Steve Fountain, who left the school after last season to take an athletic director position at a high school in New Hampshire. Leierer, a 1998 graduate of Hastings College, spent the last two seasons at Luther College as an assistant coach. He also coached at Peru State College and the University of North Dakota.
He inherits a SLU offensive line that returns five starters from last season, including 2008 preseason All-American Tim LaRose and 2007 All-Liberty league honoree Chris Lutgens.
SLU opens the 2008 season on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Johns Hopkins.
AUTO RACING
Carpentier breaks through for Sprint Cup pole
LOUDON, N.H. — Rookie Patrick Carpentier grabbed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The Canadian driver, whose last pole came in a Champ Car in 2004 on the road course in Laguna Seca, Calif., was among the drivers who had to wait out a nearly two-hour rain delay before getting a shot at qualifying for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301.
■ Casey Mears will bid farewell to Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2008 season.
■ Greg Biffle reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing.
■ Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti will start on the front row in the SunTrust Indy Challenge tonight at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va. Kanaan posted a four-lap average of 167.876 mph on the 0.75-mile oval, the shortest run by the series. Andretti's average speed was 167.795 mph.
PRO BASKETBALL
1,000 more seats available for Dome NBA game
SYRACUSE — One On One Basketball, Inc., the company promoting the NBA preseason game between Carmelo Anthony's Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 17 at the Carrier Dome, has decided to release an additional 1,000 preferred lower and second level seats for the event based on early demand.
The tickets are $39.50 and can be obtained on line (www.suathletics.com) or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours. Tickets will also be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, on line at Ticketmaster.com, or by Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone (472-0700).
OLYMPICS
Flanagan, Goucher, Begley qualify for Beijing
EUGENE, Ore. — Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher and Amy Begley have earned spots on the U.S. Olympic team heading to Beijing by finishing in the top three in the women's 10,000 meters at the track and field trials.
Flanagan, who broke the American record in the distance last month, won Friday night's final in 31 minutes, 34.81 seconds. That's a record for Hayward Field, beating a mark established by Mary Decker in 1982.
Goucher was second, and Begley was third, less than 11/2 seconds inside the Olympic qualifying standard.
■ Bryan Volpenhein is pointed toward the Olympics for the third time. So is Paul Teti. And Anna Cummins should be busy in Beijing — she's the only rower competing in two events.
They are all part of the 45-person roster selected to the U.S. Olympic rowing team on Friday. The roster includes 10 former Olympians who have combined for six medals, and 13 crews will represent the U.S in Beijing.
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