Villanova

VILLANOVA LEAD guard Tony Chennault, a Neumann-Goretti product, has decided not to transfer after all. Chennault came to the Main Line last offseason after spending 2 years at Wake Forest, where he started as a sophomore. He became eligible to play immediately when the NCAA granted him a hardship waiver, since he made the move to be closer to his ailing mother. Then last May, his older brother/mentor was killed in a still-unsolved shooting incident. When Chennault struggled with his game in the first half of the season, coach Jay Wright said that he thought the tragedy was a factor.

Dana Smith Farrell uses such adjectives as fresh and approachable to describe Avenue Kitchen , the restaurant that she and her brother, Gregory, opened Monday at 789 Lancaster Ave. in Villanova (610-525-3950). The bar/restaurant occupies a portion of the space previously occupied by Maia and Mixx in the center behind the Villanova post office. The look is timelessly classic bistro, with angled mirrors high on the walls, whitewashed bricks, reclaimed tables and chairs, and neutral, leather-and-velvet banquettes.

Two-time champion Cristie Kerr shot a 5-under 66 to take a 2-stroke lead over second-ranked Stacy Lewis and Suzann Pettersen after the third round of the LPGA Tour's Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va. Kerr made six birdies to reach 10-under 203. Lewis shot a 69, and Pettersen had a 68.   LACROSSE: Syracuse beat host Villanova, 13-9, to win its fourth straight Big East men's title. The Orange never trailed, but the Wildcats scored four straight goals in the second half to pull within two in the fourth quarter.

La Salle sophomore guard D.J. Peterson has reversed fields. After earlier stating his intention to transfer to be closer to home, the Burnsville, Minn., native has reconsidered and will remain with the Explorers. "D.J. is close to his family and has missed them during his long absences from home," coach John Giannini said in a statement. "He also is close to his La Salle teammates. After deciding to transfer, he spoke with his parents and teammates and has since decided to stay at La Salle.

ON SATURDAY afternoon at Franklin Field, Villanova's women did something they haven't been able to do in 16 years. Or really even tried to do. They won the 4 x 800 meters at the Penn Relays Carnival, an event they won nine times from 1979-97. But they hadn't entered it since the late 1990s, because coach Gina Procaccio didn't feel she had a foursome capable of competing. It also marked the first time the Wildcats - who took the distance medley Thursday for the second April in a row, the first time they'd repeated in that since 1994-95 - have won multiple times here since 1997 as well.

PENN STATE hadn't won the distance medley relay at the Penn Relays since 1959. So what took so long? Yesterday at the Carnival, the Nittany Lions broke Yale's record for longest span between victories in this event. The Bulldogs won the first one, in 1915, then didn't win again until 1961. That's also their last one. When the Nits won here 54 years ago (to go with wins in 1920, '28 and '48), their time was 9 minutes, 58.2 seconds. This time, they did slightly better. Robby Creese came up with a closing 3:58.9 in the 1,600 meters, to give PSU a 9:24.68 - which broke a program record that had stood since 1980 - and a 2.12-second win over Villanova, which snuck past Oregon for second.

Penn State is more than a three-hour ride from Franklin Field, but the Nittany Lions like to think of the Penn Relays as a home game for their track team, especially those runners who have been competing at the carnival since high school. The Lions certainly felt right at home Friday. They received a gutty 1,600-meter anchor leg from sophomore Robby Creese and picked up a hard-earned victory over Villanova and Oregon in the men's distance medley relay, their first win in the event since 1959.

WE'LL NEVER know what might have happened had Villanova's women maybe had some fresher legs to run in yesterday afternoon's 4 x 1,500-meter race at the Penn Relays. But the Wildcats used three of the same people - all underclassmen - who had helped them win the distance medley relay for the second straight year the day before, an event that Michigan and Oregon elected to skip. So naturally, it came down to those three teams. And in the end, Michigan and Oregon had just a little bit more, even though anchor Emily Lipari did about all she could to at least give Villanova a chance.