Latvia’s Jeļena Prokopčuka took fifth place among women runners in the ING New York City Marathon, according to official results. She finished the Nov. 7 race in a time of 2:26:51, almost four minutes behind winner Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain.

This was the first time the 28-year-old Prokopčuka participated in the New York marathon. Her personal best, 2:24:01, came in the 2003 London marathon.

In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Prokopčuka finished seventh overall in the women’s 10,000-meter race.

More than 30,000 runners participated in the New York marathon.

A memorial fund has been established to aid the family of Sergei Zholtok, the Rīga-born professional hockey player who died unexpectedly Nov. 3 while playing in Minsk, Belarus.

The 31-year-old Zholtok, whose last appearance in the National Hockey League was with the Nashville Predators, was diagnosed with a heart ailment last year. He collapsed shortly after removing himself from a game between Rīga 2000 and the Dinamo team of Belarus. Zholtok was playing for the Latvian team while NHL labor negotiations continue, which had prevented him from pursuing a new contract as a free agent.

The Sergei Zholtok Memorial Fund, set up through The Kids First Fund of Milwaukee, Wis., will benefit the education of Zholtok’s sons, Edgar and Nikita, as well as other family needs, said Jay Sorensen, president of Kids First. Zholtok was an honorary director of the charity, which aids abused children in Latvia.

The fund will be open through Dec. 31 and donations are not tax deductible, Sorensen said.

Checks must be made out to “KFF Sergei Zholtok Memorial Fund” and mailed to KFF Sergei Zholtok Memorial Fund, c/o Kids First Fund, 1916 E. Kensington Blvd., Shorewood, WI 53211, USA. Wire transfers should be sent to KFF Sergei Zholtok Memorial Fund, c/o Wells Fargo Bank, account no. 631-503-0830, bank routing code 075-911-988. Donations may also be made at any Wells Fargo branch.

An American missionary found murdered Nov. 1 in his Rīga apartment had been living in Latvia for two years and worked for Campus Crusade for Christ, The Christian Post newspaper reported Nov. 6.

The missionary, who was found with a knife in his chest and strangulation marks around his neck, still has not been identified pending notification of next of kin, according to Latvian media reports.

However, two suspects—a Latvian soldier and an unemployed man—have been arrested, the LETA news agency reported Nov. 5.

LETA cited police sources in detailing the crime. The missionary apparently let the two young men into his apartment. They tied him up and robbed him of LVL 1,000, two portable computers and other valuables. Realizing the missionary could identify them, they killed him.

LETA also reported the soldier had been undergoing psychiatric evaluation in a Rīga hospital, from which he fled Oct. 26.