Duke Suspends Lacrosse Team Amid Investigation

Duke’s lacrosse team will not play again this season until school administrators learn more about allegations that several team members raped an exotic dancer at an off-campus party, the school said Tuesday.

President Richard Brodhead decided to suspend the team from play “until there is a clearer resolution of the legal situation involving team members,” the university said.

The case has roiled the campus, raised racial tensions and heightened antagonism between some of the affluent students at Duke, which costs about $43,000 a year, and some poor residents of Durham.

A woman told police she and another dancer were hired to perform March 13 at a private party in an off-campus home. The woman, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was pulled into a bathroom, beaten, choked and raped by three men.

No one has been charged.

Armed with a judge’s order, police took DNA samples with a cheek swab from 46 of the lacrosse team’s 47 players last week.

The 47th player, the only African American member of the team, did not have to provide DNA because the woman said her attackers were white.

“I needed to have the information about who will be charged,” Dist. Atty. Mike Nifong said. “I feel pretty confident that a rape occurred.”

Nifong said the team members are standing together and refusing to talk with investigators, and he warned he may bring aiding-and-abetting charges against some.

Angry over the team members’ silence and the university’s handling of the case, Durham residents have demonstrated in the last few days.

They rallied outside the house where the alleged attack occurred, and gathered outside of Duke Provost Peter Lange’s home, where they banged on pots and pans until he emerged to answer questions.

TENNIS

Roddick Struggles but

Finally Defeats Greul

Andy Roddick defeated qualifier Simon Greul, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Seeded fourth, Roddick needed four match points to finish off Greul.

Roddick will play 11th-seeded David Ferrer, who beat No. 29 Olivier Rochus, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 7-5.

No. 1 Roger Federer took 58 minutes to eliminate unseeded Dmitry Tursunov, 6-3, 6-3.

He will play No. 9 James Blake, who rallied past No. 32 Juan Ignacio Chela, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

OLYMPICS

USOC Appoints Ctvrtlik

to Vice President’s Post

Bob Ctvrtlik, a gold-medal-winning volleyball player who in recent years has been a leading voice for U.S. interests in international sports, on Tuesday was appointed vice president, international, of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Ctvrtlik, 42, a Newport Beach businessman who is on the USOC board of directors and a member of the International Olympic Committee, is now in line as a possible successor to USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth, whose term ends in two years.

The announcement comes just weeks after the appointment of a new USOC staff director for international affairs, Robert Fasulo.

“For the last 10 years, I’ve worked side by side with people throughout the Olympic movement,” Ctvrtlik said in a phone interview. “I believe I share the same passion and the same ideals with many of those people and I hope the sporting movement and the sporting world will view this as the USOC reaching out.”

He played in three Olympics, winning gold in Seoul in 1988.

*

-- Alan Abrahamson

AUTO RACING

Gordon Fined $10,000

for Shoving Kenseth

Jeff Gordon drew a $10,000 fine from NASCAR for his shove of Matt Kenseth after Sunday’s race at Bristol Motorspeedway.

It’s the first time in his career that he has been penalized for his conduct.

He was placed on probation until Aug. 30.

Danica Patrick said the Rahal Letterman Racing team made the right decision in keeping her and teammate Buddy Rice out of Sunday’s season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway after the death of rookie Paul Dana.

“I don’t think you can ever question the decision that your boss makes,” she said.

Patrick and Rice plan to race on Sunday at St. Petersburg in the second IRL IndyCar Series race of the season.

MISCELLANY

Notre Dame Player

to Fight as a Pro

Notre Dame safety and amateur boxer Tom Zbikowski will fight his first pro bout June 10 at Madison Square Garden.

No opponent has yet been named, and the fight will not jeopardize Zbikowski’s NCAA football eligibility, according to his father, Ed Zbikowski.

Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks, safety Tony Franklin and defensive end Vince Reed are no longer members of the team, Coach Al Groh said. He did not give specifics.

Britain’s Colin Montgomerie has withdrawn from the PGA Tour’s BellSouth Classic in Atlanta this week to work on his game before the Masters in Augusta, Ga., which starts April 6.

Chris DiMarco, who skipped the Players Championship last week after suffering a rib injury while skiing, said he’s fully recovered and ready to play in the Masters. DiMarco lost last year’s Masters to Tiger Woods in a playoff.

Woods shot a seven-under 65 during a match among tour professionals who belong to two private clubs in Orlando, Fla.

Michelle Wie has confirmed she will not attempt to qualify for this year’s British Open because of scheduling issues.

For the first time, women will be able to enter regional qualifying for the major, which will be staged at Royal Liverpool from July 20 to 23.

A federal court has rejected appeals from boxing promoter Robert Mitchell and boxer Thomas Williams, who were each convicted in a fight-fixing scheme that included an August 2000 bout at the Paris hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

*

T.J. Simers has the day off.