Leading off today: Lopez Lomong has gone from the Lost Boys of Sudan to the front of the U.S. delegation at the Beijing Olympics. The 2003 Tully High graduate was selected today to serve as the flagbearer for the United States team during the opening ceremonies.

   The 1,500 meters runner earned the honor in a vote of U.S. team captains 13 months after becoming a U.S. citizen.

   Lomong, 23, was born in Sudan, separated from his parents at age 6 and escaped to a refugee camp in Kenya. He was brought to Central New York in 2001 as part of a program to relocate lost children from war-torn Sudan.

   Queens DA called upon to investigate: Lawyers for Christ the King boys basketball coach Bob Oliva and James Carlino, the man who accused him of sexual abuse, both want Queens District Attorney Richard Brown to investigate.

   Letters exchanged by the sides say it is important for Brown's office to review the case. Oliva maintains he has been falsely accused of sexually abusing Carlino more than 30 years ago, The Daily News reported.

   In a July 9 letter to Oliva's lawyer Lloyd Thompson, the paper said, Florida attorney John Klawikofsky, representaing Carlino, suggested that the coach may have abused other children while employed at CTK, though the letter does not offers details.

   In a response last week that was also sent to the DA, school president Michael Michel Klawikofsky challenged the accuser to produce for Brown "all of the information in your possession pertaining to students, past or present, at Christ the King."

   The DA was not available for comment.

   Greece changes eligibility standard: Athletes in Greece's four high schools will face tougher eligibility standards this year under a policy that the board of education is expected to ratify next week, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.

   Under the new plan, a single failing average in any class during the season would put an athlete on probation. Two failing grades would limit the athlete to participating only in practices, and three failing grades would prevent them from even trying out for a team.

   Affected athletes will be required to join academic intervention programs and boost their grades. Grades

will be reviewed every five weeks.

   The previous policy sidelined players if their overall grade point average dipped below 2.0, leading to instances in which some athletes played their entire senior year but ended up ineligible to graduate.

   Big plans at John Jay: Voters in the Katonah-Lewisboro school district will decide in December whether to support a $5.5 million renovation of five existing athletic fields and the construction of two new fields on John Jay school grounds.

   The project would be in addition to the proposed construction of two new fields across the street from the high school. The board of education voted in July to ask voters to approve about $5.5 million for the new fields project. About half of that money would come from a bond issue, and another $2.2 million would be taken from the repair reserve.

   According to The Journal News, residents and school officials have long complained about the condition of the fields at John Jay, which in some cases has required busing athletes to distant playing fields.

   Port Richmond coach loses lawsuit: Port Richmond boys track and cross country coach Barry Bastian, 58, has lost his federal discrimination lawsuit over his 2003 firing.

   Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Crotty rejected Bastian's race and age discrimination lawsuit last week, The Daily News reported. The ruling said school officials had good reason to fire the 26-year veteran.

   Bastian alleged he was underpaid, his teams were underfunded and that he was unjustly fired. He also challenged his 2006 reassignment to a non-teaching position after teaching health and phys ed for 31 years.

   "The obvious explanation is that (Bastian's) termination had nothing to do with funding and everything to do with his unprofessional behavior and failure to abide by applicable rules and regulations," Crotty wrote, acknowledging eight letters of reprimand Bastian received in the six years leading up to his being replaced as a coach.

   City attorneys contended the coach failed to supervise his runners, entered an academically ineligible student at a meet and allowed another to compete under a fellow student's name.

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