Marc Piscotty, Getty Images

Between Conor Casey, left, and Omar Cummings, the Rapids had the high-scoring front line in the league last season.

The Rapids on Monday learned striker Omar Cummings will miss two to four weeks with a grade II sprain (partial torn ligament) of his right ankle.

Then on Tuesday, they found out his replacement, Caleb Folan, also will miss time to injury. Folan underwent an MRI exam on Monday, and on Tuesday the results showed he has a mild strain of the right groin, the team said.

Folan will miss one to two weeks.

But there’s good news for Colorado. Conor Casey, who has been out of the Rapids lineup for the past six games with a left hamstring strain, had his status upgraded to probable for Saturday’s game at D.C. United.

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For their first full-cycle recruiting efforts, Colorado basketball coaches Tad Boyle and Linda Lappe deserve props for signing players receiving national recognition.

Two Boyle signees from Southern Californian made Rivals.com’s final national top 150: No. 134 Damiene Cain, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound power forward at Harvard Westlake HS in North Hollywood, and No. 146 Spencer Dinwiddie, a 6-4 point guard at Taft HS in Woodland Hills. Both signed in November and will be incoming freshmen this fall.

One of Lappe’s November signees made the prestigious women’s Parade All-America team that will be in the May 15 issue: 6-2 forward Jen Reese of Clackamas, Ore.

Parade is an insert to the Sunday Denver Post.

The death of Belgium’s Wouter Weylandt in Monday’s Giro d’Italia hit home in Colorado. He was the best friend of Tyler Farrar, the sprinting star of Boulder-based Team Garmin-Cervelo. They trained together, and Farrar returned to their base in Belgium Tuesday.

Weylandt’s death put Garmin-Cervelo’s David Millar in the lead heading into Tuesday’s race, but it’s obvious he didn’t feel right about wearing the ceremonial pink jersey. In a statement Monday, Millar said:

“I love cycling, and I’ve always been enchanted by the epic scale of it all; it was why I fell in love with it as a boy. Yet Wouter’s death today goes beyond anything that our sport is supposed to be about; it is a tragedy that we as sportsmen never expect, yet we live with it daily, completely oblivious to the dangers we put ourselves in. This is a sad reminder to us, the racers, what risks we take and what lives we lead.

“Wouter was a sprinter; this means he was one of the most skillful bike-handlers in the peloton. For this to have happened to him shows that we are all at risk every single kilometre we race.

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I just returned from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (Sonny Rolllins, Irma Thomas, Marcia Ball, Henry Butler and Willie Nelson were among the highlights), and you know you’re in the Deep South when you see a local newspaper top its sports section in early May with a college football post-spring national top 25 list.

While acknowledging that he will put out another preseason top 25 after August drills, New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Ted Lewis ranked LSU as his current preseason No. 1, followed in order by Alabama and Oklahoma.

Three 2011 Colorado opponents made his top 12: Oregon (4), Stanford (9) and Arizona State (12). No other Pac-12 schools made Lewis’ top 25.

Oregon (Oct. 22) comes to Folsom Field. The Buffaloes play at Stanford (Oct. 8 ) and at ASU (Oct. 29).

Big Ten-bound Nebraska is No. 16.

In addition to Oklahoma, other Big 12 schools making Lewis’ list are Oklahoma State (5), Texas A&M (14) and Texas (17).

No real new news on DU senior attackman and captain Todd Baxter, who today had X-rays on his right ankle and an MRI on his right knee. The school is only saying that Baxter is questionable for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament opener against Villanova (11-4) at Peter Barton Stadium.

UPDATE: On Twitter this morning, Baxter wrote: “partially torn MCL and high ankle sprain, much pain but ice and rest could keep me in the lineup next week if not this coming weekend.”

That’s obviously good news for the Pios (13-2).

I’ll be at practice Wednesday and update.

Jim Rogash, Getty Images

Rapids defender Marvell Wynne flips in a battle with New England's Chris Tierney on Saturday in Foxboro.

UPDATE: Rapids striker Omar Cummings to miss 2-4 weeks with ankle injury, team said Monday.

Would you peg Rapids chief Gary Smith an optimist? There he was after a relieving scoreless draw with the Revolution in New England on Saturday, sounding pleased.

For a team that shot to the top of the MLS table with three season-opening victories — and a barrage of goals — before falling back to earth as losers of three games in four tries, the Rapids are in solid shape in the MLS West.

Colorado has earned points in its past three games, twice on the road, including a 1-1 draw with Chicago in Commerce City, a 2-1 victory over the Dynamo in Houston and Saturday’s 0-0 tie with the Revs.

Colorado (4-3-2, 14 points) trails conference-leading Los Angeles by just two points, and rival Salt Lake by just one.

And this with a hampering of injuries and missed time.

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Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post

Todd Baxter of the University of Denver lacrosse team.

I spoke with DU senior attackman and team captain Todd Baxter at Sunday night’s NCAA Tournament selection-show gathering. The Pioneers’ second-leading goal scorer (28) and third-leading point producer (46) is scheduled to have X-rays on his right ankle and an MRI on his right knee today. He injured both at the same time with 30 seconds left in Saturday’s ECAC championship-game victory over Fairfield (Conn.), his former team. Baxter, from Eden Prairie, Minn., transferred to DU after his freshman season at Fairfield.

Junior attackman Mark Matthews, DU’s all-time leading scorer who leads the team with 41 goals, dubbed Baxter “the heart and soul” of a team entering its first-ever home NCAA Tournament game on a 10-game winning streak, and a group that has legitimate Final Four dreams. Obviously, it would be a shame if Baxter is ruled out for the season. Although results of his tests have not been completed (or revealed), it’s extremely doubtful he will be able to play in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament opener against Villanova at Peter Barton Stadium.

“Feeling alright,” Baxter said with a grin, while his right leg was braced/bandaged and elevated on a chair. “We’ll determine what degree (the injuries are) and if I can go next week, or in two weeks or in three weeks, or if I’m done for the season . . . I have a great training staff with me right now and I’m pretty optimistic about the whole situation.”

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Tickets go on sale today at 2 p.m. for DU’s first-round NCAA Tournament lacrosse game Sunday against Villanova at Peter Barton Stadium. They are $10 for adults and $5 for children 3-12 and for any college student with a university ID, and available at ticketmaster.com

The game — the first-ever NCAA Tournament contest in the Mountain or Pacific time zone — will begin at 3:15 p.m. and televised live by ESPNU.

DU is the No. 6 overall seed and will host Villanova on Sunday at Peter Barton Stadium (3:15 p.m., ESPNU) in the first NCAA Tournament game in the western United States. Please check our main site for full story — www.denverpost.com/sports — and in Monday’s paper.

I’m at DU’s NCAA Tournament selection-show gathering inside the Ritchie Center right now, some 15 minutes away from learning the Pioneers’ first-round opponent this weekend. I just spoke with coach Bill Tierney and senior attack Todd Baxter, the team’s third-leading scorer.

Baxter, who suffered a leg injury in Saturday’s 11-9 victory over Fairfield in the ECAC championship game, is scheduled to have an MRI performed Monday. So he hasn’t been ruled out for the season just yet, although it doesn’t look good. He is in a knee brace and his ankle is bandaged. What appeared to be just an ankle injury is actually an ankle and knee. Both may be serious, but Baxter and Tierney are holding out hope. Updates to come.