Cowherd's rant misses the point
Taylor's Tech commitment likely, if not imminent
Doug Doughty

As Greg Roberts is my witness, I have not listened to ESPN Radio co-host Colin Cowherd for three to four months.

I would go out of the way to listen to Cowherd’s predecessor, Tony Kornheiser, but now I’m more likely to crank up the XM radio in search of Sporting News radio and its midday co-host, Tony Bruno.

(To be honest with you, Bruno isn’t as funny as I remembered him from his days on ESPN radio with Chuck Wilson, who now does a show for the major-league baseball station on XM.)

While Kornheiser regularly demonstrated that he didn’t know a lot about sports, at least he admitted it. My chief criticism of Cowherd, aside from the fact that he’s a know-it-all, is that so much of his shtick comes across as forced.

I wasn’t listening earlier this week when he trashed Virginia’s football program, but my older son, a junior at Cave Spring High School, got hold of a transcript from a Virginia Tech fan in one of his classes.

Cowherd has been talking up his rankings of the top 10 football states and had the following comments when a caller suggested Virginia should be on the list, given the interest in Virginia Tech and UVa football.

“UVa football is the softest bunch of creampuff, bow-tie wearing, brie-cheese-eating, ascot-wearing wussies I have ever seen in my life,” Cowherd said. “There’s not a softer bunch of cookie-dough-eating wienies than the UVa football program.

“Those guys wear makeup to games. That is the biggest bunch of fru fru, daiquiri-drinking, non-alcohol-beer-chugging wienies I have ever seen in my life. Dude, do you know what the most popular drink [is] at UVa football tailgating? Zima! Unbelievable.

“Dude, under soft, they have a Cavalier football logo in the dictionary. You talk about soft … the second UVa is ever forced to compete, they would roll up in the fetal position against VT. If you want to argue VT, I will listen to you. Virginia? They wear suits to games.

“I ought to punch UVa people in the neck. Don’t ever come on my show and brag about your football.”

THE FIRST TRACE I got of Cowherd’s comments was when Kris Wright of the sabre.com sent me an e-mail and asked for contact information for Roberts, who does a drive-time talk show on ESPN Radio’s Roanoke affiliate.

I later talked to Roberts, who said he had asked Cowherd to appear on his show and had received an e-mail from Cowherd, who said he had two sick children and couldn’t make it this week. (If anybody else had two sick children, Cowherd would have blasted them.).

My observation to Roberts, who did not disagree with me, was that while there may be some areas in which UVa football can be criticized legitimately, Cowherd’s cricitism reflected a stereotype that, for the most part, no longer applies.

Cowherd’s comments sounded like something that he had written at home late some night, overpreparing for a day when he might be able to throw them into his broadcast in an affected voice that can be very nauseating.

I understand that Cowherd made some additional comments, in which he questioned whether Virginia had ever won a big game. If you’re talking about a national-championship game, or an ACC-championship game (there has only been one) or a BCS bowl, that’s a legitimate question.

How many teams have won one of those games? Virginia’s biggest win was probably its 1995 upset of Florida State, which till that point had not lost an ACC game, but the Cavaliers can’t live off that win forever. When they beat FSU again this year, the Seminoles weren’t too long removed from a No. 1 ranking, but FSU’s subsequent crash took away some of UVa’s luster.

And, if you want, you could also make a case that Virginia rolled up “in the fetal position” this past season in its 52-14 home loss to Virginia Tech, which might have given Cowherd considerable ammunition for his rant, except that he seemed more interested in the stereotypes.

If you look at the UVa student section during games, you don’t see many of the button-down shirts, ties and khaki shorts that might have been popular during the 1980s. It’s mostly the orange T-shirts that head coach Al Groh has tried to make popular.

I’ve jumped on Groh for his knee-jerk approach to redshirting and others have criticized him for failing to make the most of celebrated recruiting classes, but nobody can accuse him of perpetuating the aristrocratic side of UVa football games. Quite simply, Cowherd’s picture of UVa football was not taken during the digital age.

THE RUMOR MAKING the rounds earlier this week was that Tech was about to receive a commitment from the state’s top-rated prospect for 2007, Hampton High School quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

This information came from a good source, who also said that Taylor is likely to graduate from Hampton and enroll in January, information verified at mid-week by Crabbers’ coach Mike Smith.

However, Smith said he didn’t see Taylor committing in the next week and our source has come back and said a Taylor commitment is more likely now in July than June. But, Tech clearly is the team to beat for Taylor, described as a program-turner who is a better prospect out of high school than Marcus Vick.

I HATE TO BRAG on our newspaper, but has any sports department ever devoted as much professional experience (62 years) to the coverage of two soccer games that were as lopsided as the Group AA boys’ soccer quarterfinals this week?

Esteemed colleague Nappy King and I were at the eastern and western reaches of “Timesland” on Wednesday night when Blacksburg won at Abingdon 8-1 before host Jefferson Forest defeated Marion 9-0.

“And, what about the mileage?” said King, who twice drove past the Lynchburg News & Advance in an attempt to file his story.

King will be back in his element today (Friday) at the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame championship, but my soccer portfolio will continue to grow at the Group A girls’ soccer double-header featuring Glenvar, Clarke County, Radford and George Mason.

See you there.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jun 9, 2006

LEADING CANDIDATES: Gene Cross' departure for Notre Dame left Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao with a vacancy on his staff. Don't be surprised if it's filled by American assistant Jason Williford or Providence assistant Bill Courtney, both of whom have roots in this state.

Williford, of course, was an All-Metro forward at Richmond's John Marshall High, from which he graduated in 1991. He then started 83 games at U.Va. for then-coach Jeff Jones. Williford now works for Jones at American.

Courtney, who starred at Bucknell, is a 1988 graduate of Robert E. Lee High in Springfield. When Courtney was a senior, Lee upset JM in the semifinals of the state Group AAA tournament in Richmond. Courtney spent nine seasons as a assistant to Jim Larranaga at George Mason University before taking a job at Providence in June 2005.

In the spring of 2005, Williford, then a Boston University assistant, turned down an offer to become Leitao's director of basketball operations at U.Va. In that position, he would not have been able to work with players during practices or to recruit.

NIGHT AND DAY: U.Va. basketball player Tunji Soroye contracted malaria last summer. The 6-10 Nigerian recovered from the illness, but whatever physical gains Soroye had made in U.Va.'s offseason program were "neutralized by getting sick at the end of the summer," Leitao said recently.

As a sophomore in 2005-06, Soroye was listed at 211 pounds, and his lack of strength hurt him in low-post battles. Now, having trained under strength coach Shaun Brown all spring, Soroye is closer to 230.

"If you were to look at Tunji physically right now, it almost looks like a different person," Leitao said, "and as a result he walks around with a different swagger. I don't even know if he knows what swagger is, but he has a little different view of himself, and that's good."

Soroye started 23 games in 2005-06 and averaged 18.4 minutes, 1.8 points and 3.5 rebounds. He led U.Va. with 37 blocked shots.

ADIOS? Two of U.Va.'s incoming baseball recruits were selected in this week's major-league draft: OF Ryan Kalish, by the Red Sox in the ninth round; and LHP Neal Davis, by the Orioles in the 39th.

Cavaliers coach Brian O'Connor expects Davis to matriculate as planned but knows Kalish may well turn pro. Kalish, a senior at Red Bank Catholic in Jersey, is from a family that roots for the Red Sox. His father, Steve, grew up in Boston, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Other players with ties to U.Va. drafted this week included Anthony Martinez, who spent the past school year at Louisburg College in North Carolina. Martinez, a former two-sport star at Patrick Henry High in Ashland, went to the Orioles in the 11th round.

Martinez, who came to U.Va. on a football scholarship, played for O'Connor during part of the 2005 baseball season.

"I wish he was still here at Virginia, but I'm happy for him," O'Connor said yesterday. "When he joined our team, he hadn't played baseball in over two years. I really feel like this year would have been a really good year for him."

LOCAL CONNECTIONS: In O'Connor's three seasons at U.Va., the Richmond area has not been well-represented in his program. That's going to change.

Two of the Central Region's best juniors - Clover Hill's Sean Tierney and Midlothian's Tyler Wilson - have committed to Virginia.

Both are pitchers. Tierney, a 6-4 left-hander, went 6-3 with a 1.24 ERA in the regular season and was named second-team all-Central Region. He struck out 80 in 561/3 innings.

"He's touched 90, 91 [mph] on the radar gun," Clover Hill coach Tim Lowery said, "but the best thing about him is he mixes up his pitches really well."

Wilson, a 6-1 right-hander, threw a no-hitter against Clover Hill.

"I don't think the '29 Yankees would have hit him that day," Lowery said.

MISSING THE MARK: In February, 24 recruits signed letters of intent to play football at U.Va. Of the group, only 17 or 18 are expected to clear admissions and start classes at Virginia this summer.

The Cavaliers' newcomers are not likely to include George Johnson, which would be a blow to sixth-year coach Al Groh's program. Johnson, a 6-4, 215-pound linebacker from Glassboro, N.J., is one of the most highly regarded members of U.Va.'s recruiting class. He has met NCAA requirements for freshman eligibility but may not satisfy Virginia's standards.

IN THE CREASE: The Baltimore Sun released its All-Metro boys lacrosse teams this week, and three U.Va. recruits were among those honored. Twins Brian and Kevin Carroll, midfielders from Gilman, made the first team and second team, respectively. Severn midfielder Nick Elsmo was a first-team selection.

The Carrolls will enroll at U.Va. this summer. Elsmo is a rising senior at Severn. - Jeff White
 

Lescanec transferring to JMU
Former walk-on, family voice disfavor with Groh's program
By Jerry Miller / Daily Progress staff writer
June 9, 2006

In his first interview since his arrest in early February, Western Albemarle graduate and former Virginia football player Bryan Lescanec told The Daily Progress on Thursday that he will transfer to James Madison University, citing unfair treatment from Virginia coach Al Groh and the UVa athletics department.

“My family and I have agreed we are going to leave UVa with class and dignity,” Lescanec said. “We are extremely disappointed in the way Coach Groh and the athletic administration handled my situation, but we will not publicly badmouth any of them.”

Lescanec, who joined the football program as a recruited walk-on after graduating from Western in 2004, was charged with assault and battery after a university student accused him of forcibly fondling her during a Feb. 1 incident at AJ’s Bar and Grill on Elliewood Avenue.

He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on April 28 and was sentenced to 180 days in jail with 170 suspended on condition of good behavior for the next two years.

Lescanec ended up serving five days at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

“We look at each case individually,” Groh said through a university spokesman. “Anybody who looks at the details of this case can clearly understand the circumstances and our response. We hope Bryan has a great future.”

Lescanec admitted he was wrong for being in the bar because he was underage - 19 at the time - but has maintained his innocence since his arrest early Feb. 1.

“I was out of line for being underage at that bar,” said Lescanec, now 20. “I know bad things can happen to people when they are somewhere they shouldn’t be. I was wrong.

“Unfortunately, I stayed 15 to 20 minutes later after several of my teammates had left. I was accused of something I did not do by this young woman and unfortunately, because there were no witnesses, I could not prove my innocence.”

When reached by phone, Judge Robert Downer, who presided over the case, said he appreciated the fact that Lescanec took responsibility for his actions but said he believed Lescanec deserved jail time.

“He needed to go to jail to understand there are consequences for behavior that is inappropriate,” Downer said. “The sentence was as modest as it was because he accepted responsibility for his behavior.”

As first reported in The Daily Progress on Feb. 2, Lescanec indicated he was not told “firsthand” by Groh he had been dismissed from the program.

Lescanec said he met with Groh that Wednesday morning and was told he was “going to be suspended from the team indefinitely. That’s it.”

After the meeting with Groh, Lescanec said he later read a release online indicating he was dismissed from the team.

His father, West Lescanec, a 1980 graduate of Virginia who lettered in baseball from 1976-1980, said while Bryan was at fault for being at the bar, he did not agree with how UVa handled the situation.

“Bryan was wrong for being at the bar underaged,” West Lescanec said. “His mother and I do not condone his behavior at all.

“Furthermore, I am not going to throw sticks and stones at UVa. I do, however, think Groh, [Director of Athletics Craig] Littlepage and [Executive Associate Athletics Director Jon] Oliver were very unfair to Bryan, particularly in light of all of the other disciplinary problems the football program has had within the last couple of years.

“Other players with worse charges were not even suspended, much less dismissed from the team.”

Oliver is out of town dealing with a family matter in Idaho and could not be reached for comment.

When reached by phone Thursday evening, Littlepage explained:

“Every one of our coaches makes the decision about who is on one of his or her teams based on team rules,” Littlepage said. “The coaching staff decides what is good standing with their individual programs.”

Lescanec said both Temple head coach Al Golden and Liberty head coach Danny Rocco, who were both assistant coaches under Groh last season, offered him a chance to play for their respective football programs.

Lescanec was named the 2004 Daily Progress Male Athlete of the Year following his senior year at Western.

A two-sport star, Lescanec holds five Western football records and at least four school baseball records.

He logged three carries for nine yards in his career at Virginia.

 

UVa recruits weighing their options
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
June 9, 2006

After the first round, the Major League Baseball draft is like a drag race.

Teams fly through the rounds, picking players as fast as humanly possible.

That's a good thing for college baseball coaches who patiently wait out the process to see if their recruiting classes will remain intact.

Virginia coach Brian O'Connor would probably place the two-day event on parallel with a root canal, but the third-year skipper knows it could have been worse. Every high school player that has been drafted during the O'Connor era has honored his commitment. So far.

That could change this year. On Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox used a ninth-round pick to draft Ryan Kalish, a center fielder and pitcher from Red Banks, N.J. One day later, the Baltimore Orioles selected Neal Davis, a left-handed pitcher from Maryland, in the 39th round.

While Davis' decision should be easy and involve a dorm room, Kalish will likely have to wait weeks, if not months, to find out what the Red Sox will offer for his services. Major League teams have until the start of classes in August to negotiate a deal with high school players.

The damage could have been worse, but a number of O'Connor's other commitments had high demands.

"There were a number of our recruits who, had they been signable for a less amount of money, would have been drafted or drafted better," O'Connor said. "Those are the kind of kids that we look for and those are the kids that we need to help build our program."

Kalish's demands are simple: he wants first- to second-round money or he will play college baseball in Charlottesville.

"I am going to feel out the process," Kalish said. "They haven't talked money yet, but they know that I'm not going to go for ninth-round money. It would have to be at least second-round money for me to end up signing.

"We will see what they come with, if not UVa is not a bad place."

Kalish, a talented prep quarterback, found out about the Red Sox's move just minutes before his high school graduation when his cell phone rang.

"I had actually told my teachers that I might be getting a call and that I might have to pick it up and they said that it would be fine," Kalish said. "It was actually better that it happened when it did rather than during 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"

Boston officials have said they would try to quickly sign their draft picks, which Kalish eagerly desires - one way or the other.

"I'm hoping it gets resolved for everyone, for myself, for my team," Kalish said. "If [the Red Sox] are going to offer me the kind of money that they possibly could then I wouldn't want to hold back anything that's going on with [Virginia], because I have so much respect for the coaches there."

Unfortunately for O'Connor, it is out of his control.

"It will be a long summer," O'Connor said. "I know Ryan Kalish was projected to go much higher than that, but I am sure there were some signability issues. I think Ryan's a difference maker in our program. That's why we signed him.

"We are just going to hope that he values coming to college prior to going into professional baseball."

Davis' selection came with less fanfare. The accurate hurler - he fanned 112 and walked only 10 in 64.1 innings as a senior - had told teams it would take five zeroes and a comma to get him to pass on the college experience.

Even so, Davis was excited to be taken by the team he grew up rooting for.

"Even if it is the 39th or a first-round pick I think you have got to take it the same because it is an honor to be drafted professionally and have the opportunity to go out and play," said Davis, who went to see the Orioles play Thursday night. "[Baltimore] will probably watch me over the entire summer and see what happens."

Davis admitted that he had been tracking Virginia and its progress since he first spoke with O'Connor. He also made a bold statement to the coach that has taken UVa to three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.

"I've been following Virginia even since they started talking to me. It is a great fielding team and a great pitching team," Davis said. "It's a shame that they got knocked out, being the host of a regional, but that's one thing I told coach O'Connor.

"I want to come help him win a national championship and help him win the ACC Championship."

UVa's Dixon played with injured thumb
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
June 10, 2006

The hand that Virginia lacrosse fans were most concerned with this spring belonged to Matt Ward. The UVa All-American played with a hairline fracture for the last month of the season.

But there was another hand that should have caused an equal amount of angst - the one belonging to fellow Virginia All-American Kyle Dixon.

The thing is, nobody except Dixon and his teammates knew anything about it.

On Friday, Dixon admitted to playing the final three games of his college career with a left thumb injury.

“I ruptured the ligament, and it pulled a little bone off my thumb bone,” said Dixon, who underwent surgery on Monday.

Dixon said he sustained the injury during a practice heading into Virginia’s NCAA quarterfinal game against Georgetown. UVa went on to defeat the Hoyas, then knocked off Syracuse and Massachusetts to win the school’s fourth NCAA title.

“I actually got a pain shot before the games, so I didn’t feel it much,” Dixon said, “but I always kind of knew it was there. It was a nagging kind of injury. I couldn’t play much defense and push guys out.

“Nobody knew about it, not even the parents [of the players] on the team. We kind of just kept it within the team because if people knew about it they would probably whack on it or go after me on defense.”

Virginia coach Dom Starsia said he tried to protect Dixon as best he could - by playing him a little less than usual, and with the way he positioned the Millersville, Md., native.

“He wasn’t on the wing of the faceoff very much and that was just because I didn’t want him to get whacked,” Starsia said.

Dixon, who scored two goals in the championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, said the injury was a nuisance.

“I kind of had to be tentative,” he said, “but wanted to play hard as well. It was a balance.”

Added Starsia: “He really kind of sucked it up for those last couple of games. We were concerned we might lose him.”

Starsia chuckled as he talked about watching the Virginia-Georgetown television broadcast. Early in the game, Dixon appeared to nonchalantly scoop up a groundball with just one hand.

“The announcers are saying, ‘What a clever play,’” Starsia said, “but he clearly did not want to put the other hand on the stick because he was trying to protect the hand with the [injured] thumb.”

The injury has delayed the start of Dixon’s professional career. Dixon, a 6-foot-4 midfielder who was selected with the second overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse Draft by the Baltimore Bayhawks, will be sidelined to at least early July.

Dixon will wear a soft cast for 10 more days before he is placed in a hard cast for two weeks. After that, he will wear a protective splint beneath his glove when he returns to action.

Dixon didn’t sound discouraged. How could he be after the undefeated season Virginia enjoyed and after getting drafted by his hometown team?

“I’m very excited to play in front of the fans who have always supported me since high school,” he said.

 

Of all Arena's tools, ears count most
U.S. coach Bruce Arena absorbed things he saw, or usually overheard, coaching in college.
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published June 7, 2006

Long before Bruce Arena had established himself as the coach of the U.S. soccer team, before he would lead the Americans with confidence into World Cup competition, he was a young coach at the University of Virginia soaking up knowledge from, of all things, college basketball.

A regular at Cavaliers games, he'd pay special attention to the visiting bench, building an appreciation for the mind of Dean Smith, the midgame tinkering of Bobby Cremins, the wit and banter of Jim Valvano's arguments with officials.

Now, after five national titles at Virginia and more success at the pro and international levels, the 54-year-old draws comparisons to another dynastic college coach.

"I refer to Bruce as the John Wooden of soccer," said Jim Larranaga, who led George Mason to the Final Four this spring and was a young assistant at Virginia from 1979-86. "He was the master. He has his own pyramid of success. He knew everything you needed to know about running a program, and he clearly has a vision of what it takes to be successful."

Arena was at Virginia from 1978-95, and as luck would have it, his office was next to the visiting basketball locker room. What he couldn't glean from watching during games, he could pick up by eavesdropping at halftime. The roots of Arena's motivational skills came from listening to Mike Krzyzewski and Lefty Driesell through an air-conditioning vent, acquiring their best secrets through surreptitious osmosis.

"He was always one to sit and observe practice, to absorb as much as he possibly could," said Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage, a basketball assistant from 1976-82. "He used every possible means to learn how successful coaches handled their teams. He'll tell you that coaching isn't specific to a sport; it's leadership, it's a high level of personal interaction."

Arena helped Virginia basketball as well, working with center Ralph Sampson on the best angles for blocking shots, applying soccer strategies where it might seem foreign. He was a regular in pickup basketball games among Virginia's young coaches, who included Dave Odom and Geno Auriemma. Littlepage offers a quick scouting report, knowing Arena was really the one picking up little things from those around him.

"He was very good inbounding the ball, good at setting screens, a good scorekeeper," he recalls with a laugh. "Some guys were there to stay in shape, some for a good time, some playing as though they were looking for a tryout. Bruce was always there to study people."

After winning national titles at Virginia in 1989 and from 1991-94, Arena went to D.C. United in 1996, winning MLS Cups his first two seasons. After the U.S. national team went 0-3 in the 1998 World Cup, he took over as coach. In 2002, his U.S. team reached the quarterfinals, and he has since amassed more international wins than any coach in U.S. history.

What hasn't changed since the early Virginia days, his coaching friends say, is a trademark confidence, an attitude that quickly permeates to his players regardless of expectations on his teams. Another brash, outspoken coach has a respect for what Arena is attempting this month in Germany, and for his swagger.

"Imagine if a guy from Yugoslavia came over here and was at a clinic with Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, John Wooden and Red Auerbach," Auriemma, a Virginia women's basketball assistant from 1981-85, told the Hartford Courant. "And the guy from Yugoslavia comes in and goes, "Hey, you know you guys have been doing this all wrong. Let me show you how to do it.'

"Ultimately, that's what teaching and coaching is all about, is the force of your personality. You hate to put it in bad ways, but that's how dictators become who they are. I saw pictures of him on TV and the only thing bigger than his personality and his level of confidence is the amount of pasta he's eating."

Asked for a moment what typifies Arena's boundless self-assuredness, Littlepage points to the 1991 NCAA championships, held in Tampa at USF. Top-ranked Virginia and Santa Clara were deadlocked in a scoreless tie through 90 minutes of regulation and four overtimes, and through all that plus deciding penalty kicks, Arena never flinched.

"I was with that team the whole weekend, and I never sensed there was doubt they were going to win," he said. "Everything about him portrayed a guy who knew he was going to win. A guy with that confidence, who can instill that confidence in those around him, he can make them achieve at levels that might not seem possible."

Larranaga's friendship with Arena continued with Larranaga at George Mason, in Washington, Arena coaching D.C. United; their wives were frequent running partners. The couples talked about their futures one night, and Larranaga is still struck by the clarity with which Arena envisioned his.

"He said his goal was to coach our national team, to get it to the point where it could compete for a World Cup," Larranaga said. "I asked him how realistic it was. I don't think he answered my question."

Arena's success can transcend his sport, and the respect from fellow coaches can draw parallels to Wooden and other national coaches who believe they're capable of anything. When Larranaga saw Miracle, the Kurt Russell movie about the U.S. gold-medal hockey team from the 1980 Olympics, one thought came to his mind.

"As I watched that, I thought of Bruce," he said. "I said to myself, "I wonder who will play the role of Bruce when they make a movie about him in the World Cup?' "

* * *

MEET BRUCE ARENA

AGE: 54

BORN: Brooklyn, N.Y.

LIVES: Fairfax, Va.

U.S. SOCCER: Named coach after 1998 World Cup. Won the 2002 and 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup titles, and led the United States to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. The Americans reached their highest-ever international ranking of fourth in April and are now fifth.

BACKGROUND: Coached 18 seasons at Virginia, winning five national titles between 1989 and 1994. Moved to MLS in 1996 and guided D.C. United to the league's first two championships, then lost to former assistant Bob Bradley's Chicago Fire in the 1998 final.

PLAYER: Was an All-American in lacrosse and soccer, playing at Nassau Community College and Cornell, where he graduated in 1973. Played one season of pro lacrosse and one of pro soccer before entering coaching.



 

Document in Duke case: Dancer lacked signs of physical trauma
BY DAVID PERLMUTT
Charlotte Observer

Doctors and nurses who examined an exotic dancer hours after she reported being raped by three Duke University lacrosse players found vaginal swelling but no other signs of physical trauma, according to court documents filed Thursday.

The report from a nurse, training to be a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner at Duke Medical Center, said she found swelling or redness. The only other signs of trauma were two minor cuts, defense lawyers said in sworn statements.

The statements represent the first details of what doctors and nurses found when they examined the dancer. The examination came hours after the woman told police she was dragged into a bathroom by three players at a team party in mid-March and was raped, sodomized and choked for 30 minutes.

The complete medical report of the examination was included in the filing, but sealed. A few excerpts were made public.

The lawyers say that lead Durham police investigator Benjamin Himan withheld medical evidence and information from interviews that could have cast doubt on the woman's story.

Himan submitted a probable cause affidavit that medical evidence showed the victim had physical signs consistent with being raped. The affidavit was used a week after the incident to persuade a judge to order DNA samples from 46 players and allow photographs to be taken of their torsos.

The sexual assault nurse's report "contains no opinion or conclusion that (the woman) had signs, symptoms and injuries consistent with being raped and sexually assaulted," according to the filing. It's not clear whether sexual assault nurses are required or expected to give those opinions, but they can.

The statements were filed by lawyers Kirk Osborn of Chapel Hill and Ernest Conner of Greenville, who represent Reade Seligmann, one of three players indicted in the case.

Seligmann and teammates David Evans and Collin Finnerty have all proclaimed their innocence.

The lawyers contend that Himan, in a March 20 statement, reported the woman told him she'd been hit, kicked and strangled. But he "omitted" findings by a doctor who examined the woman that she had no "neck, back, chest or abdominal tenderness."

Himan, they say, also left out statements from the nurse that the woman told her she wasn't choked and that no "condoms, fingers or foreign objects were used the during the alleged sexual attack."

Doctors, the defense lawyers contend, reported the woman complained of a "vaginal assault," but no other type of assault. The nurse reported that the woman's head, neck, nose, throat, mouth, chest, breasts and "upper and lower extremities" were normal, despite the woman's complaints of tenderness over her body, the statement said.

Sexual assault nurses can often determine whether sex occurred, but establishing whether a woman was raped is difficult.

Theresa George, coordinator of Presbyterian Hospital's Forensic Nurse Examiner Program, said there's greater potential for injury with a rape than with consensual sex. However, she said, it's often impossible to tell just from physical findings whether the sex was consensual.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has said repeatedly he is pursuing the case because the medical evidence is consistent with a rape.

Nifong and Himan couldn't be reached Thursday.

The filings point out that the woman changed her story to police and hospital workers several times: After initially telling police she had been raped, she recanted, saying that no one forced her to have sex. She later told the nurse she had been raped.

Defense lawyers also accuse Himan of withholding information about an encounter the woman said she had before going to the lacrosse party.

It involved a couple in a hotel room, and she told Himan she used a vibrator. That, the statement said, "clearly could have caused signs or symptoms of vaginal penetration."

Osborn declined to comment on the documents. His filings also included notes from an interview Himan conducted with Roberts, the other dancer. Roberts told him she thought the woman's allegations were "a crock."

She also told Himan she was with the woman for all but five minutes that night, the statement said.

However, in interviews with media outlets, Roberts has changed her story, saying she initially doubted the woman's story, but now believes something happened to the woman in the house.

Roberts' earlier statement to Himan didn't make it into his affidavit, the lawyers contend.

"These discovery materials reveal that the lead investigator possessed relevant impeaching information ... and this information was intentionally, deliberately and/or recklessly omitted from the investigator's probable cause affidavit," the documents said.