Sporting Kansas City will look to rebound from their CONCACAF Champions League humiliation, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's LA Galaxy take aim at Vancouver on Friday, before impressive debutant Alejandro Pozuelo and Toronto FC face Chicago on Saturday.

SKC feeling the highs and lows

For a few days this week Sporting Kansas City took on the nickname "Scoring Kansas City." Only Los Angeles FC have scored more goals than Sporting KC this season in MLS, 14 to 11, with LAFC having played a game more.

Peter Vermes' team was flying high after a 7-1 win over the Montreal Impact and actually had MLS fans optimistic they could get a result in Monterrey in their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal first leg.

But the 5-0 bludgeoning they took from the Rayados on Thursday night will leave many wondering how SKC's mental state will be heading to FC Cincinnati on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN). As good as they were against Montreal, they were equally bad against the Liga MX side, who dragged SKC around the field for 90 minutes in what was the latest chapter in MLS' embarrassing CCL history.

As for Cincinnati, all things considered, the new kids on the block have enjoyed a very good start, and since Vermes fielded his starters in Monterrey, Cincy is likely to face the reserves on Sunday.

But news of Fanendo Adi's suspension is an unwelcome distraction and Sporting KC would like nothing more than to take out their frustrations on the MLS newbies.

TGI ... Z?

The MLS weekend begins with a rare Friday night appearance for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy, effectively transforming all of those annoying "TGIF!" greetings you'll hear in the office into "TGIZ" -- Thank God It's Zlatan.

In his first game back from injury last week, the Swedish striker scored twice against the Portland Timbers, both via the penalty spot with the second in "Panenka" style. While it was not the hat trick that members of the Ibrahimovic family were hoping for, it was a firm reminder that no one can change a game in MLS like the former Manchester United striker.

Next up is a trip across the border to face the Vancouver Whitecaps (10 p.m. ET, ESPN +) at BC Place, where Ibrahimovic is expected to play, despite it being a turf field. The Canadian outfit feel like they have the solution to neutralise the 37-year-old, with Caps defender Doneil Henry saying: "If we defend as a unit, we won't be penetrated."

It's an interesting take, considering Henry was on the field last September when Ibrahimovic banged in two goals, including this screamer, when the Vancouver defense red-carpeted a path to goal. But that was last season's dysfunctional Whitecaps side; the defense is slightly better (seven goals conceded in four games), so maybe Henry is onto something.

Or maybe not. Issuing a challenge to Ibrahimovic, even if Henry probably didn't mean to make it sound like a challenge, is just the fuel the big guy needs to bag another brace.

Seba who?

Outside of THAT performance from Ibrahimovic last spring against LAFC, you would be hard-pressed to find a better MLS debut in the past year than the one served up Toronto FC's Alejandro Pozuelo on Friday in the 4-0 win against New York City FC.

The Spanish midfielder was exceptional, setting up Jozy Altidore with an impeccable pass for TFC's opener before scoring a "Panenka" penalty of his own, followed by a Messi-esque chip for his second of the night.

It took some doing to pry Pozuelo away from Belgian side Genk, but now that he is in the fold and already connecting with Altidore, the wailing and gnashing of teeth over Sebastian Giovinco's winter departure has faded from memory. Pozuelo looks like the real deal and his next chance to impress comes on Saturday at home against the Chicago Fire (3 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

Chicago had its own debutant last week in the form of Nico Gaitan, although it was a much more understated second-half substitute appearance. Nevertheless, you don't play for Boca Juniors, Benfica and Atletico Madrid if you don't have quality, and assuming Fire boss Veljko Paunovic plays to Gaitan's strengths and puts him at No. 10, Chicago has the right playmaker to counter TFC's newfound attack.

WATERBURY, Vt. – One of the rising stars of Northeast late model racing is joining the American-Canadian Tour full-time this season.

Massachusetts native Ryan Kuhn has filed a full-season ACT Late Model Tour entry will run the full 10-race schedule throughout New England and Canada.

Kuhn was last year’s Seekonk Speedway late model champion, earning the title at age 17. He also made ACT starts at three different tracks and finished in the top-12 in all of them.

Most recently, Kuhn took 10th place in the Commonwealth Classic 65 at Virginia’s Richmond Raceway to open the season.

Now 18, Kuhn is making the jump to the ACT Late Model Tour in his No. 72MA Everett’s Auto Parts Chevrolet.

He’ll be going up against some stout competition in his first full year, including multi-time champions Scott Payea and Wayne Helliwell Jr., established frontrunners Jimmy Hebert and Rich Dubeau, and fellow upstarts like sophomores Dylan Payea and Christopher Pelkey.

According to Kuhn, this competition is what excites him most about joining ACT.

“The American-Canadian Tour is really the best of the best drivers,” Kuhn said. “I think it’s the best competition in Late Model racing on the East Coast, to be honest with you. We wanted to get away from local short track stuff and get into touring series racing, and I’m happy to be running in a full-time touring series in 2019.

“I think it’s a big stepping stone to my dream goal.”

Like the rest of the ACT Late Model Tour, Kuhn will open his point-counting campaign on Sunday, April 14 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway. The track is one of the handful on the schedule where he has prior experience.

Kuhn is optimistic that this experience will help him get off to a strong start in his rookie ACT season.

“I’m excited to get back to Oxford Plains,” he said. “We missed the setup last year, and I think we’re going to change a whole lot in the car for the next show. I’m also looking forward to Thompson. We were stout there last year and honestly had a car to win. Hopefully we can go back to that same equipment and have a shot to win.”

Kuhn will also be visiting multiple ACT tracks for the first time, including Autodrome Chaudiere and Star Speedway.

Despite his success in weekly late model racing and limited Tour racing, he is trying to keep his goals realistic for 2019, while also hoping to exceed them.

“Our main goal is to get rookie of the year,” Kuhn said. “A lot of people out there have the goal to win the championship, and that’s ultimately my goal too, but we’re just out there to do the best we can.

“A top-five in points would be a win for us. If we could do that, it would be awesome.”

Regardless, Kuhn is looking forward to getting behind the wheel with ACT.

He said in a press conference at Richmond Raceway that the ACT late model is his favorite type of car to race, and he doubled down on that sentiment this week.

“They’re just fun to drive,” he remarked. “They’re fun to drive and hard to drive. It really comes down to setup and driver. These style Late Models bring a lot of driver into play, and it’s so much fun just hanging it out there sideways, especially at Richmond.

“Richmond is probably one of the slickest tracks other than Oxford to race on, and it was a lot of fun racing there.”

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Loss of balance is a side effect of ageing – even among athletes. A major new study is being launched to find the best way to preserve it and you can take part

Years of training will have many pay-offs for your long-term wellbeing, including cardiovascular health, muscle strength, bone mineral density and metabolic health that is far superior to that of the general population.

However, even the fittest and fastest masters athletes are apparently not immune to one side-effect of ageing that can negatively impact performance and lifestyle: a loss of balance.

In studies funded by the European Union and the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), a team of researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) found that supreme levels of fitness and physical function were displayed in members of the British Masters Athletics Federation whose ages ranged from 35 to 90.

In some cases, their health parameters were similar to someone 30 years younger. However, Jamie McPhee, professor of musculoskeletal physiology and one of the researchers, says that when it came to tests of balance – which include the ability to stand on one leg, eyes closed – the older athletes achieved no higher score than sedentary people of the same age.

Balance matters not just for performance, but for longevity. According to NHS statistics, falls are among the major causes of debilitating injury as we age with one third of people over the age of 60 and around half of those in their 80s and over falling at least once a year. In their  20s and 30s, most adults can easily stand on one leg, eyes closed, for 30 seconds or longer whereas the average 70-year-old manages only 4-5 seconds.

You might expect the muscle strength and spatial awareness of the masters athletes to offset this sort of decline, but McPhee and his colleagues showed that even highly-trained older athletes could balance for only for around seven seconds, a time that is not significantly better than for the average population.

It confirms that factors other than fitness and strength are involved in our ability to balance and a major new study by the MMU team is set to find out how athletes can maintain and improve their balance powers into later life.

In collaboration with AW, the MMU researchers are looking to recruit a panel of 10 masters athletes to participate in a trial that will help to assess balance status and stem its decline.

It is a unique opportunity that will hopefully provide ground-breaking results that will help you, and others, to develop strategies for balance improvement.

To apply to take part in this important research, please email [email protected]

Get involved

People of all ages can also help with this research by answering these three simple questions. The results from this poll will be shared with Manchester Metropolitan University.

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With top British stars Dina Asher-Smith and Laura Muir already confirmed, as well as other big names, book your Müller Anniversary Games seats now

Tickets to the British Athletics 2019 outdoor event series are now ON SALE.

With another huge year of world-class athletics now in full swing on the back of a memorable indoor season which saw sold out venues and the best-ever medal haul by a Great Britain & Northern Ireland team at the European Indoor Championships, you can secure your seat to see the best athletes in the world right here in the UK – including the best in Britain – this summer.

The first of British Athletics’ outdoor showpiece events will be the Müller Anniversary Games, which takes place over the weekend of July 20-21 at the London Stadium.

Founded in 2013 as a legacy to the unforgettable 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is a world-leading meeting which continues to attract the biggest and best track and field stars, with the likes of Usain Bolt, Sir Mo Farah, Laura Muir and Dina Asher-Smith all regularly competing at the event over the years.

The 2019 edition promises to light up the summer once more and showcase the world’s best athletes in the world’s best athletics stadium.

Having enjoyed incredibly successful years respectively in 2018, both Muir and Asher-Smith have confirmed they will be present this summer.

Fresh from winning double European indoor gold in Glasgow to be the first athlete in history to do the ‘double-double’ over 1500m and 3000m at the championships, Muir will head into the outdoor season in buoyant mood and confident of more success on the back of the last two years.

An event which holds a great deal of significance to the Scot following her memorable British record run over 1500m back in 2016, Muir will return to the London Stadium once again this summer to take on the world’s best middle-distance athletes.

It’s a meeting which has a habit of producing record-breaking performances, with American Keni Harrison memorably running 12.20 to set new world standards in the 100m hurdles three years ago. Last year, world records were also set at the London Stadium by Kare Adenegan in the women’s T34 100m (16.80) and Sophie Hahn (25.93) in the T37/38 200m respectively.

Meanwhile, for Asher-Smith the meeting will serve as a key event of her summer as the 23-year-old bids to make a name for herself once again at this October’s IAAF World Championships in Doha.

A triple European champion last summer in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, the eyes of the world will be on Dina in her home city come the 2019 edition of the Müller Anniversary Games, with her event due to be confirmed in due course.

It will be a showpiece occasion well worth watching and ticket prices are set to encourage families. With the brilliant performances and a live band supporting athlete introductions, everything looks set for yet another thrilling occasion which showcases the world’s best and inspires the next generation.

Tickets for British Athletics’ 2019 outdoor season are now on general sale via theticketfactory.com/british-athletics

English National under-20 cross country champion now targets his dad’s track times

Athletics is a family affair for Rory Leonard and after racing for Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, the English National under-20 champion now hopes to follow in his father’s fast footsteps over the summer.

The 18-year-old has made great strides under the guidance of his coach and dad Tony, himself a former British international, while he also benefits from the support and advice of his mum Sharon, who won English Schools and National cross-country medals as an under-20.

Both parents honed their running at the University of Arkansas, which is where Leonard junior will also be heading in August once he completes his A-Level studies in business and sociology.

“I’m drawing off a wealth of knowledge,” Rory says of his parents’ influence. “There’s so much experience between the both of them.

“It was pretty meteoric the way that I went from nowhere to running at a good standard. I credit my dad 100% for that.”

Tony’s top times include 13:35 for 5km and 28:08 for 10km on the roads and Rory reveals how a written record of his father’s achievements has provided some specific aims for the summer season.

“My big targets this year are to run the times that my dad ran at my age,” says the Morpeth athlete, who currently has PBs of 3:50.14 for 1500m and 8:18.80 for 3000m.

“His times are in a book from one of the old coaches at Arkansas – he tries to keep that reasonably secret as he doesn’t want me to chase him down too early! But I know his times and I’m going to get those knocked off hopefully as quickly as possible, so I can get the bragging rights!”

He adds: “The times are 3:45 for 1500m, 8:08 for 3km and about 14:04/5 for 5km. He also ran some ridiculous mile time. There’s going to be a Leeds BMC invitational race where they will be holding a sub-4 attempt and my dad ran 4:02 for the mile – I think it’s a bit of a long shot but you know what, if he ran it, I’m going to give it a go!”

Rory switched football for running in 2015 and last year achieved a breakthrough under-17 Inter-Counties cross-country win before a summer which included a ninth-place finish in the 3000m at the European Under-18 Championships in Gyor.

After being disappointed which his performance at the European Cross in Tilburg in December, Leonard bounced back to win the Northern title at Pontefract before storming to English National success in Leeds and then securing silver at the Inter-Counties and World Cross trials in Loughborough, despite almost losing a shoe.

At the global event in Denmark, Rory placed 37th in the under-20 men’s 8km – finishing as the fourth European athlete and second British runner.

“It was the hardest race of my life but easily the best,” he told AW in Aarhus. “That was so satisfying because I’ve been unlucky in GB vests twice now. The first time I didn’t run well, the second time I had shoe issues.”

Tonbridge’s men and Leeds’ women will defend their titles at Sutton Park on Saturday

The Leeds women’s team and Tonbridge’s men’s squad will be defending their ERRA National 6- and 12-Stage Road Relays titles at Sutton Park on Saturday (April 6), but runaway Midland women’s winners Birchfield could mount a challenge, as will four-time Midland men’s winners Bristol & West.

Leeds’ men dominated the Northern relays, with Emile Cairess quickest on the long stage and Phil Sesemann best on the short stage, and they could be stronger at Sutton Park.

Aldershot’s men won the Southern relay in a close contest while Highgate were runners-up in the men’s national race in 2018 and then second in the Southern relays this year and will also be stronger at Sutton Park.

Bristol were narrow winners of the Midlands title over Birchfield and Notts.

Leeds’ women were narrowly headed in the Northern relays by Rotherham, with Claire Duck and Bronwen Owen second and third best on the long stage behind Jess Judd.

Southern women’s winners were Herne Hill, with Katie Snowden quickest on the short leg.

Aldershot’s women won the national contest seven times in eight years and while other commitments have left them short in the past couple of years they are hopeful of an improvement on their fourth place in the Southern relays.

The races will be held over the same 5.38-mile (8.96km) and 3.165-mile (5.14km) legs as last year, with the men running alternate long and short and the women having long legs on the first and fourth stages and short for the others.

With Scottish and Welsh clubs competing, the first three teams irrespective of country of origin will again receive overall medals, as will the first three English clubs.

The team for Swansea is set to include Dewi Griffiths.

Timetable

11:00 Young athletes’ 5km races
12:00 Men (6×5.38M and 6×3.165M alternating)
12:20 Women (2×5.38M on legs 1 and 4, 4×3.165M on the rest)

A look ahead to the Greater Manchester Marathon, Carlsbad 5000, Prague and Berlin half marathons and more

Matt Clowes (pictured above) and Jenny Spink will start favourites for Sunday’s Asics Manchester Marathon, where up to 20,000 runners are expected to take part.

Spink of Bristol & West, who ran her PB of 2:36 in Valencia last year, ran a 75-minute half in Granollers recently and aside from her, the women’s race looks fairly open.

Hungary’s Fanny Gyurko, who has run 2:39, Wakefield’s Julie Briscoe, who clocked 76 minutes at this spring’s Barcelona Half Marathon, and Riverside St Neots’ 2:45 runner Jo O’Regan are among a few around that level.

Cardiff’s Clowes will be looking to build on his recent runner-up spot in Reading (64:03) and he is set to be joined on the start line by Aaron Richmond of Bideford, who ran a 2:23 marathon last year, plus Gareth Raven, who returns to the distance after a few years with a good M40 time possible.

Britain’s Charlotte Arter, Jenny Nesbitt, Alice Wright and Jake Heyward are among the entries for Sunday’s Carlsbad 5000 in California.

USA’s Edward Cheserek and Hassan Mead, plus David Bett of Kenya, are also in the men’s field, while the women’s line-up includes Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi and USA’s Danielle Shanahan.

At Saturday’s Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon, Fancy Chemutai, the second fastest woman in history with 64:52, headlines another quality women’s field.

Compatriot Caroline Kipkirui, European 10,000m champion Lonah Salpeter and Kenya’s Lucy Cheruiyot also line up with sub-68 PBs.

Kenya’s Stephen Kiprop is one of eight sub-60-minute men in the field and arrives in flying form after clocking the sixth fastest time in history of 58:42 in UAE in February.

Benard Kimeli will be hard pushed to defend his title, with yet another Kenyan Mangata Ndiwa (59:07) second quickest in the race. Andamlek Belihu (59:18) heads the Ethiopian charge, while Norway’s Sondre Moen, the third fastest European in history with his 59:48, is also in the field.

The NN Marathon Rotterdam on Sunday features Ethiopia’s Valencia Marathon champion Ashete Bekele Dido, plus European champion Sara Moreira of Portugal and former European 5000m and 10,000m champion Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey.

On the men’s side, Kenya’s Marius Kipserem returns to defend the title he won in 2016, looking to hold off six sub-2:06 runners.

Siffan Hassan says she’s in shape to attack the world record at the Generali Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday. Joyciline Jepkosgei currently holds the mark with 64:51 from Valencia in 2017, whereas Hassan ran a European record 65:15 in Copenhagen last year.

At the Vienna City Marathon on Sunday, Tadesse Abraham of Switzerland is aiming to break Mo Farah’s European record of 2:05:11. Abraham’s PB is 2:06:40 and he faces opposition from Robert Chemosin and Kenneth Keter of Kenya.

Meanwhile, at the BMAF 10km Championships in Blyth on Sunday, last year’s overall winner Nick Jones is back to defend his M40 title.

On the women’s side, 2016 Olympic marathon representative Alyson Dixon, running in the W40 category, will be tough to beat.

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