Sports

The U.S. Olympic swimming trials are underway in Omaha, Nebraska, and several North Carolinians have already qualified for the Olympic team headed to London this summer. Among the competitors in the trials' final days will be Raleigh's Erika Braun. She's one of only four swimmers in the country age 40 or older to qualify for the trials.

The Olympic Table Tennis trials were held in Cary over the weekend. The sport’s premier event provided plenty of drama.

Dave DeWitt: Like every sport, table tennis has its quirks and traditions. What’s obvious right away to anyone new to the elite level of table tennis is, these athletes are loud. Each player has his or her own personal word or phrase they like to shout. For American Ariel Hsing, that word is “sa.” It must have worked, because Hsing won the first Olympic team slot.

The North American Olympic Qualifying Tournament in table tennis is being held in Cary this weekend. The event features world-class athletes trying to make their Olympic dreams come true.

Dave DeWitt: Table tennis is a wildly popular sport in Asia and eastern Europe. In the United States, the sport is growing, but with little to no chance of winning Olympic medals this year in London, just making the North American team is the goal.

Tomorrow marks Opening Day throughout much of professional baseball. And a couple of minor league teams in North Carolina are throwing out the first pitch.

North Carolina fell to Kansas last night in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Tar Heels kept it close for most of the game, trading leads until the last few minutes. James Michael McAdoo came off the bench to lead Carolina with 15 points. After the game, visibly crushed senior Tyler Zeller described the moment the Heels realized the game was over.