All Metro

Courtney Tomchik picked up quite a few awards as she left Broadneck a month ago to get ready for a new lacrosse career at the University of Pennsylvania. The three-sport standout was named the Phoebe Kelly Broadneck Athlete of the Year after a first-team All-Metro lacrosse season, a second-team All-Metro field hockey season and an admirable debut on the indoor track team. US Lacrosse twice named her a regional All-American as well as an Academic All-American. Tomchik, 18, will polish off her high school career with an appearance at Saturday's Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic at Towson University.

A two-time All-Metro forward at Arundel, Sheronne Vails has been a dominant inside force since she was a freshman. Few local players can match her 6-foot-4 height or her reach. The senior averages 18.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4.9 blocks as the No. 7 Wildcats head into Friday night's Class 4A regional championship at Meade. Vails is hoping to lead the Wildcats to the state final four for the third time in her career. An Amateur Athletic Union veteran, Vails played last summer with the Fairfax (Va.)

For the third consecutive year, the University of Maryland women's soccer program has landed one of the Baltimore area's top high school players. McDonogh's Ali Andrzejewski, an All-Metro midfielder, has orally committed to play for the Terps next season. A member of the U.S. Youth Soccer Association's national team for her age group, Andrzejewski chose Maryland over the University of Connecticut, among others. "Staying home and playing in front of my family was important to me," Andrzejewski said.

All-Metro defensive back Jason Wingeart of No. 9-ranked Hereford is on crutches after sustaining a hip injury and leaving the game during Thursday's 47-0 win over Chesapeake-BC.His status for the rest of the season won't be known until after a visit to doctors on Wednesday, Bulls coach Steve Turnbaugh said yesterday."Right now, we're looking to replace him," said Turnbaugh of Wingeart, who spent nearly six hours being examined at Franklin Square Hospital Thursday night.Wingeart has been the key player in Hereford's arrival as a Top 15 team over the last two seasons as the Bulls compiled a 17-1 record.

Third-ranked McDonogh's Vinnie Ciarpella is an effective player. And quiet. The senior defender is "so proficient that you might not even notice he's out there," said coach Steve Nichols. Not a flashy player, Ciarpella draws praise, if not attention. "Vinnie played marking back last year, when we needed him to, and unfortunately, you're not going to score a lot of goals or get a lot of credit doing that," said teammate and close friend Jon Cole, a two-time All-Metro midfielder.

His summer coach of the last 10 years says he's "a throwback, old school" type of player and that's only one of the reasons why Mount St. Joseph's All-Metro shortstop Allen Strick is arguably the area's best infielder. Strick, who will take 200 ground balls a day if someone hits them to him, plays the game the way it was meant to be played. He also has a strong arm, good hands, quick bat with power and is a good runner. "Allen reminds me of a lot of the guys I played with, guys who play hard and take infielders out on double plays, are intense and mad when something goes wrong, anxious for the next chance to make it up," said Dean Albany, Baltimore Orioles' part-time scout who has coached Strick on the Maryland Orioles summer team since the latter was 8. "He's a very smart player because he studies the game."

They don't have the swagger one would expect of the metro area's top-ranked girls basketball team. Neither do they possess any highly touted All-Metro players who are being recruited by major Division I colleges.In fact, the Seton Keough Gators don't even have one player whose scoring average is in double figures.But make no mistake.The Gators are the area's No. 1 team, even if they are unlike any of The Sun's top-ranked teams in recent memory.Their demeanor reflects a quiet confidence rather than a swagger.

Carey Fetting-Smith (Midfielder, Bryn Mawr) The All-Metro senior brings superior skills honed as a national Under-21 team member, helping the USA win gold at the Montreal Cup. Allison Higgins (Forward, Roland Park) The smooth All-Metro senior will score critical goals if she recovers from a nagging knee injury. Kelsey Twist (Midfielder, Roland Park) A defensive-minded All-Metro pick, the senior midfielder can dominate the transition game.

Publication dates of high school sections of interest: Wednesday: Spring preview section. March 25: Winter All-Metro section.

Oakland Mills' Brian Howard: The senior linebacker was incorrectly identified in a photograph that appeared with the All-Metro football team in yesterday's edition.