Sports in Brief: Rachel Alexandra will skip Belmont

Preakness winner

Rachel Alexandra

will not run in the Belmont Stakes, opening the way for jockey

Calvin Borel

to return to Kentucky Derby winner

Mine That Bird

in his quest for a personal Triple Crown.

Jess Jackson, Rachel Alexandra's co-owner, said yesterday the spectacular filly "deserves a well-earned vacation." Jackson said she simply needed a rest after running - and winning - four graded stakes races since March 14, including a dominating victory in the Kentucky Oaks.

The NCAA told Kentucky basketball coach

John Calipari

he must participate in next week's hearing on alleged major violations at Memphis even though he is not considered "at risk" in the probe.

Calipari will join the hearing by phone from China, where he will be on a previously scheduled trip.

Holy Family hired Mark Miller as its women's basketball coach to succeed Mike McLaughlin, who was hired by Penn last month. Miller has coached in Division III at Norwich in Vermont the previous three seasons.

Penn junior Anna Aagenes set a personal best with the second-best time in the history of the Penn women's track and field program as she qualified for the finals of the 800 meters in the NCAA East Regional championships last night in Greensboro, N.C.

Aagenes reached the East Regional finals with her record time of 2 minutes, 7.40 seconds. Senior Leah Brogan finished 18th in the 5,000 meters.

Cornell midfielder Max Seibald, who led the Big Red to the Division I lacrosse title game, won the Tewaaraton Award from a field of 68 nominees as the top player in the college game.

A federal judge in Minneapolis denied a request by the NFL Players Association to put the suspensions of five players on hold while the case over use of a banned substance is being appealed.

NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler said this did not mean the players would miss any games at the start of the 2009 season because there could be action at the appellate-court level before the season starts.

Elsewhere. Defensive tackle Israel Idonije has agreed to a two-year contract extension that keeps him with the Chicago Bears through 2011. Free agent linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa agreed to a one-year contract with the Bears after leading the St. Louis Rams in tackles four of the last six seasons. . . . Jon Jansen, 33, signed a one-year deal with Detroit. He was a fixture on the Washington Redskins offensive line for much of the last decade before the team cut him earlier in the day. . . . Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka is free on bond after being accused of fighting with his wife over his Facebook activity, police in suburban Gwinnett County said yesterday.

Suspended NASCAR driver

Jeremy Mayfield

must wait until next week for a judge to rule whether his May 9 suspension for a failed drug test should be overturned.

Mayfield filed a lawsuit in Charlotte challenging the indefinite suspension, saying NASCAR did not follow its drug-testing policies and left the driver with no way to prove his innocence.

All 10 Formula One teams met yesterday's deadline to enter cars for the 2010 season, ending a threatened pullout by Ferrari and others in a dispute over a planned budget cap.