Sports Briefs: May 25 | Lexington Herald Leader

Track and Field

Bolt 'slightly nervous' ahead of season debut in Rome

Jamaica's Usain Bolt, the 100-meter world record-holder, will make his season debut in the Golden Gala meet Thursday in Rome, running his first race since losing to Tyson Gay last August and ending his two-year unbeaten streak.

Bolt said the loss to Gay, a Lexington native, changed "absolutely nothing. ... You lose some and you win some. You never win every race in your entire career. Last season wasn't my best season. It was kind of my season downtime for me. This season is back to business. I want to prove to the world that I'm still the best."

After the loss to Gay, Bolt ended last season early because of back and Achilles' tendon problems.

"For the first time I'm slightly nervous — I haven't run in so long," the Olympic and world champion said. "I'm always calm and relaxed. As I said I'm a little bit nervous, but I know I'm getting in shape. Me and my coach have done a lot of work leading up to this race."

Bolt will face fellow Jamaican and former world record-holder Asafa Powell, as well as European champion Christophe Lemaitre.

NASCAR

Kyle Busch clocks 128 — in 45 mph zone

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was clocked by a North Carolina sheriff's deputy going 128 mph in a 45 mph zone and was cited for careless and reckless driving and speeding, a law enforcement spokesman said Tuesday. Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Darren Campbell said a deputy stopped Busch's 2012 yellow Lexus sports car on a road between Troutman and Mooresville, where the 26-year-old driver lives. It's about 30 miles north of Charlotte.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Busch acknowledged what happened. "I was test-driving a new sports car and I got carried away," Busch said. "I went beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize ... for my lack of judgment."

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Busch would be allowed to race this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He's coming off a second-place finish in Saturday night's All-Star race, and goes into the Coca-Cola 600 ranked third in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

"This is a matter that Kyle will have to handle with the authorities in Iredell County," Tharp said. "Based on what we know right now, this would not impact his status as a NASCAR driver."

Colleges

Three Cats to compete in NCAAs

After helping the No. 10 Kentucky men's tennis team reach the NCAA quarterfinals, senior Brad Cox and juniors Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek will compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, beginning Wednesday in Stanford, Calif.

Both Quigley, ranked sixth nationally, and Musialek's first singles matches are at 1 p.m. EST. Quigley will play No. 72 Mehdi Bouras of UNLV. Musialek, who is ranked 53rd, will play No. 35 Ed Corrie of Texas. Doubles matches start Thursday with Cox and Quigley teaming up to face Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher of Stanford.

UK, U of L players named All-Conference

Kentucky baseball juniors Thomas McCarthy, Alex Meyer and Chad Wright were named All-Southeastern Conference in voting by league coaches. UK's leading hitter and third baseman, McCarthy was named to the first team after batting .371 overall and .411 in conference play. Meyer, a starting pitcher, and Wright, an outfielder from Paducah, were named to the second team.

Louisville sophomore right-hander Justin Amlung and junior Ryan Wright were named to the Big East's All-Conference first team while junior outfielder Stewart Ijames and junior right-hander Tony Zych made the second and third teams, respectively. Amlung (St. Xavier) finished the regular season with a 9-2 record to go with a 2.19 ERA and 73 strikeouts. Wright led the Cardinals in batting (.343) and stolen bases (16). Ijames (Owensboro Catholic) led the Cardinals with 11 home runs and 45 RBI.

■ Western Kentucky senior catcher Matt Rice was named the Capital One Academic All-American of the Year. A mechanical engineering major with a 4.00 GPA, Rice's first-team selection this year improves on his second team selection as a junior. Rice, a Johnson City, Tenn., native, is batting a team-high .352 with 44 runs, 14 doubles, nine home runs and 56 RBI. Rice and teammate Kes Carter, an outfielder, were named to the Sun Belt Conference's first-team All-Conference squad. Tanner Perkins, a starting pitcher, and outfielder Jared Andreoli made the second team. Right-hander Justin Hageman was named the conference's freshman of the year.

No tickets left for UK softball series

The Kentucky softball team's Super Regional matchup with California this weekend at the UK Softball Complex is sold out, the UK ticket office announced. An allotment of more than 1,200 tickets per day were sold and no standing-room only tickets will be sold.

Saturday's game starting at noon will air on ESPNU. Sunday's game at 1 p.m. will be on ESPN. And a third game if necessary at 3:30 p.m. Sunday would be on also be aired on ESPN.

Obituary

Former Murray St. women's coach dies

Jean Smith, who was the women's basketball coach at Murray State when the program joined the Ohio Valley Conference, died. She was 68. A statement from Murray State said Smith died May 17 at the E. Carleton Powell Hospice in Lillington, N.C. Smith coached the Racers for seven seasons, compiling an overall record of 71-119. She was named OVC Coach of the Year for the 1980-81 season.

The last word

During an interview Tuesday, Usain Bolt was wearing a shirt featuring the logo of the Italian soccer federation, which shares his sponsor, and he was asked about his aspirations to become a soccer player when he quits running:

"I'm definitely serious. I'm a football fan for a lot of years now. I think I can do a pretty good job. I could stack up to the (Wayne) Rooneys and so forth."