Former Canes track star Lauryn Williams, who won a silver medal in 2004, finished fourth in the Olympics in the 100 meter dash.

She was the fastest American woman in the race.

In fact, she was the fastest woman in the world not counting the island nation of Jamaica, which is now the sprinting capital of the planet.

 Jamaican won the men's and women's 100-meter dashes.

Speedy wide receiver Travis Benjamin continues to be the hit of camp.

Speaking of the benjamins, Canes first baseman Yonder Alonso signed with the Reds as expected, taking Cincinnati right up until the deadline before annoucing that he was taking their 4-year, $4.55 million offer, including a $2 million bonus.

Alonso made a great deal coming out of Coral Gables High School, turning down a $200,000 pro offer to play 3 years of college ball at UM, earning enough money this past to become a millionaire.

Congrats to Yonder, who will get an invitation to spring training in 2009.

Meanwhile, Miami Braddock High School infielder Harold Martinez turned down a pro offer to attend UM. Hopefully he can have a huge career with the Canes and strike it rich just like Alonso. 

Four surprises for the Canes this fall:

1- Freshman WR Travis Benjamin has shown incredible speed, taking 1-yard throws and converting them to 60-yard TDs.

2 -  Sophomore FS JoJo Nicholas has elevated past veterans to become a starter.

3 - Freshman FB John Calhoun has been impressive battling junior-college transfer Pat Hill. 

4 - DE Steven Wesley has taken advantage of injuries at the position.

Four disappointments for the Canes this fall:

1 - DE Allen Bailey's injury. The redshirt freshman is - by all accounts - a stud. Hopefully he can return for the opener.

2 - Kicker Jake Wieclaw, who had a record-setting prep career in Illinois, was supposed to contriubte immediately as a freshman but is apparently losing his battle vs. sophomore Matt Bosher.

3 - Brandon Washington did not make the grade and has to go to prep school. Hopefully, the Canes will get him in school in January because they need offensive lineman.

4 - Randy Shannon, maybe. I will be upset if Shannon does not play Brandon Harris and DeMarcus Van Dyke at corner, Sean Spence and Arthur Brown at linebacker, Marcus Forston, Allen Bailey and Adewale Ojomo on the D-line, Aldarius Johnson, Travis Benjamin and Richard Gordon at receiver/tight end. None of those talents are currently listed at first-team  

As the start of the Canes' football season inches closer, the team has a big scrimmage tonight.

One of the interesting position battles to watch is at safety. Sophomore JoJo Nicolas is a surprise starter at one safety spot, leap-frogging veterans Lovon Ponder and Randy Phillips. The other starter is talented but injury-prone Anthony Reddick, who, hopefully, is finally healthy.

Two other safeties to watch are Jared Campbell - brother of ex-Canes DE Calais - and Ryan Hill, who played corner in high school and wide receiver in his first two years at UM.

At cornerback, freshman phenom Brandon Harris is still not on the two-deep and last year's star freshman DeMarcus Van Dyke is on the second team. That must change. Those are the Canes' top two talents on the corner with current starter Chavez Grant excellent as a nickel. (Bruce Johnson is the other current starter and Carlos Armour is also second team.)

At linebacker, Colin McCarthy and Darryl Sharpton are starters as expected. I want to see freshman Sean Spence elevated to starter status soon. Veteran Glenn Cook currently holds the spot.

- In academic news, it looks like safety Joe Wylie will be admitted to UM. But fellow freshman DB C.J. Odom has left prep school and may never get to UM at all.

The good news is that OT Brandon Washington and LB Zach Kane are doing well at prep school. Hopefully, they will arrive at UM in the spring and be ready to contribute at 2009 spring practice. 

With Friday's deadline looming, Canes first baseman Yonder Alonso - the Reds' first-round pick - is still not signed.

Alonso has registered for classes and said he is prepared to return for his senior year at Miami unless the Reds improve their offer.

It is an obvious attempt by Alonso to get leverage with the Reds in the negotiations. Alonso will almost surely sign before the deadline. If he doesn't, it will be great for the Canes, who would return the best hitter in college baseball.

But if I am Alonso, I sign. As a senior, if he returned for his senior season, he would have no leverage at all and would also risk injury.

In Canes football news:

- Watch for freshman wide receiver Travis Benjamin, who ran a blistering-fast 4.26 in the 40. He thus earned the title of fastest Canes recruit and rivals veteran WR Sam Shields as the fastest player on the team. Besides straight-line speed, Benjamin has the moves and is being called "electrifying."

- Another blazing-fast freshman receiver is Davon Johnson, who ran a 4.32. The Canes are young at receiver but also incredibly talented.

- Same thing at cornerback, where freshman Brandon Harris ran a 4.47. He has a good shot at winning the starter CB spot opposite speedy sophomore DeMarcus Van Dyke. Few - if any - college teams have two young corners as good as those two.

- Another player to watch is freshman defensive end Marcus Robinson, who will be used as third-down pass-rusher. Robinson is scary-fast for a DE with a 4.56 timing. He is perfect for the situational-rusher role.

- The Canes are still waiting to get three recruits cleared academically - defensive lineman Jeremy Lewis, linebacker Brandon Marti and safety Joe Wylie. The biggest need is to get Lewis in camp, because the Canes are short of depth on the defensive line.

- The Canes lost offensive guard Chris Barney for 4 to 6 weeks with an unspecified injury.

Barney, a former Miami Northwestern star, is a fourth-year junior who has been a major disappointment so far, registering little playing time in his college career.

He was having his best camp until the injury, but the fact is that the Canes are set at guard with starters Orlando Franklin and Joey Figueroa and backups Harland Gunn and A.J. Trump.

The center is Xavier Shannon with Trump serving as a swing man. And the three-man tackle rotation is made up of Jason Fox on the left, Reggie Youngblood on the right and Chris Rutledge as the swing man.

The Canes are (almost) back.

At Randy Shannon's press conference today, he revealed some tidbits:

- Khalil Jones, while unproductive so far as a wide receiver, is a team leader. All the other young WRs go to Jones with questions, according to Shannon.

- WR Sam Shields is still a question mark. He is the fastest player on the team but has major character issues.

- RBs Javarris James (220) and Graig Cooper (205) are bigger and faster this year. Shannon thinks the added size will keep them healthy.

- Shannon said he is not concerned about DL depth - but I am. Only one DE has experience (Eric Moncur). The other starter should be excellent if he is healthy - Allen Bailey. And I have hope Ojomo will be a good pass-rushing end. At DT, the Canes have 3 vets in Dixon, Hendricks and Joseph. Their excellent recruiting class will come into play here as 3 freshmen DTs will get their chances, most notably Marcus Forston.

In ex-Canes news, Bears kick-returner Devin Hester just got himself set for life with a 4-year, $30 million contract, including $15 million guaranteed.

Also, Giants rookie safety Kenny Phillips has been the hit of camp - literally. He bloodied up a receiver and knocked out a running back in "non contact" drills. He is also wearing the No. 21 made famous by the  late, great Sean Taylor. Go get 'em KP.  

Good news: Canes defensive end Allen Bailey is expected to be ready for the start of the season despite his pectoral injury. The redshirt freshman is headed for a big season if he stays healthy and keeps improving.

Canes Coach Randy Shannon also said recently that he expects to play two  quarterbacks this year. 

That makes sense. Look for redshirt freshman Robert Marve to get the start, and true rookie Jacory Harris to get some action and be ready when needed. Both are outstanding prospects - as good as any freshmen QBs in the nation.

In other Canes news, the U picked up a committment from a 6-3, 195-pound Georgia cornerback. Since he does not have blazing speed, he might end up at safety.

It was no shock at all to see ex-Canes tight end Jeremy Shockey traded by the NFL champion New York Giants. But what is interesting is to see him join another ex-Canes star in New Orleans - lniebacker Jonathan Vilma, who was also traded out of New York (the Jets) this offseason.

There could  have been another prominent ex-Cane on the Saints roster, but linebacker Dan Morgan retired in May after a series of concussions. We wish Dan the best.

Two younger ex-Canes will try to make the Saints this year - defensive lineman Orien Harris and tight end/special teams guy Buck Ortega.

Meanwhile, at the annual ESPYs awards show, which was aired Sunday night, it was great to see ex-Canes tight end Kevin Everett walk out and receive his courage award. Everett was nearly paralyzed during an NFL game last season.

As for the current Canes team, they are getting ready for camp next month. Second-year head coach Randy Shannon announced he will restore the names on the back of the  Canes' jerseys - they should have never been taken off!

Shannon also said that seven Canes have been elected to serve as team leaders, keeping the rest of the guys in check. The seven are:

LT Jason Fox, WR Khalil Jones, DE Eric Moncur, DT Dwayne Hendricks, LB Glenn Cook, LB Colin McCarthy and CB Chavez Grant.

Fox is no surprise - he's the best player on the team. Moncur is the best defensive lineman. McCarthy is an emerging star at linebacker. Cook is a sixth-year veteran, so he is no surprise, either.

The other three are a bit surprising. Jones, while a senior, has been a massive underachiever given his size and speed. Hendricks, another senior, has been a career backup except for a start here or there. And Grant, while a nice nickel back, is only a junior and not yet a starter.

Ideally, you'd like a quarterback to be on that list, but the Canes' QBs are all freshmen, which is the major concern with this team.

You'd also like a running back, but Miami's top two guys are in an even battle.

And you'd also like a safety to quarterback the deep defense. But with Kenny Phillips leaving early for the NFL, there might be a leadership void there. You would certainly like to see Anthony Reddick, Lovon Ponder or Randy Phillips emerge as a leader of the secondary.

Again, most of the natural leaders on the team are young and will be great soon - quarterbacks Robert Marve and Jacory Harris, defensive tackle Marcus Forston, cornerback Brandon Harris, linebacker Sean Spence come to mind right away.

After Jason Michaels hit a game-winning homer for the Pirates Saturday night (read post below), another ex-Hurricane came through Sunday.

That would be Pat "The Bat" Burrell, who broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 8th with a three-run blast that gave the Phillies a huge win going in to the All-Star break. Had he not hit that homer, the Phils would probably be in second place now instead of first.

But enough about baseball. Here's some news on the Canes football team, which begins training camp in August.

Freshman LB Antonio Harper has not been accepted academically and it looks like he will have to go to prep school this year. He could be a Cane next season, but for right now, it looks like he's out.

Fortunately, the Canes are super deep at linebacker, so it is not a big problem for the team.

Three more Canes freshmen still have academic issues - safety C.J. Odom and offensive linemen Brandon Washington and Ben Jones. The Canes only signed two o-linemen, so if Washington and/or Jones can't get it, that will hurt. 

Fascinating Cane vs. Cane matchup  late Saturday night as the Pirates' outfielder Jason Michael faced Cards relief pitcher Chris Perez in the bottom of the 10th inning.

The Cards led, 11-10, with a runner on first and one out. A double play would have won it for the Cards. But instead, Perez served up a game-winning, walk-off, two-run homer to Michael, who slugged it to left-center.

That capped the Pirates' comeback from a 10-4 deficit in the 8th inning. Amazing.