Atholton

The sophomore captured the individual girls title at the District V Golf Championships Friday at Fairway Hills Golf Club in Columbia, shooting an even-par 70 to edge Arundel's Elyse Smidinger by one stroke. After watching Smidinger score an eagle on the final hole, Nguyen went on to sink a six-foot birdie putt to win the title. Last year, Nguyen finished second to Smidinger at the district and state tournament. In addition to capturing the district title on Friday, Nguyen also won her second straight Howard County championship.

Glenelg (16-4) had 16 hits and routed visiting Long Reach, 15-0, in a Class 2A South regional baseball first-round game Friday. The No. 6 Gladiators' Tyler Hoeflich pitched four shutout innings and allowed only two hits. Logan Dubbe had three hits, including a triple his first at bat that drove in his team's first two runs. Hoeflich also had two doubles and four RBIs. No. 8 Patterson Mill 4, North East 1: Matt Golczewski worked seven innings and struck out eight for the visiting Huskies (17-4)

Upon reading articles in the Baltimore Sun and the Howard County Times (Aug. 18, "Practice violation costs Atholton first game of 2011"), the thought occurred to me that nobody from Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association has commented on the situation. This was one 7-on-7 football practice that was inadvertently held less than one week prior to the time when no violation would have occurred. Further, as far as the kids, families and coaches were aware of at the time, no violation had occurred.

Boys lacrosse Standings (as of May 8) Glenelg, 11-0 league, 13-1 overall Marriotts Ridge, 10-1, 12-2 Howard, 9-2, 10-4 Atholton, 7-4, 9-5 Centennial, 7-4, 7-5 Mt. Hebron, 7-4, 7-7 Wilde Lake, 4-7, 7-7 Reservoir, 4-7, 5-9 River Hill, 4-7, 5-9 Hammond, 2-9, 2-9 Oakland Mills, 1-10, 2-12 Long Reach, 0-11, 2-11 Glenelg Country*, 1-9, 2-9 Chapelgate#, 5-7, 6-8...

The first priority for No. 2 River Hill in Friday night's Class 3A East regional football game against Atholton was to get off to a good start. Three weeks ago, the Hawks saw the No. 15 Raiders complete two long passes to jump out to a two-touchdown lead, but not this time. Nick Bonhag and Brent Kluge scored in the first seven minutes as the host Hawks got the jump on Atholton offensively and their defense played its usual stingy role en route to a 30-3 victory. This is the fifth straight regional championship for the Hawks, who won their 40th straight game.

Et cetera Atholton combo guard Stephenson commits to VMI Atholton combo guard Gavin Stephenson committed to Virginia Military Institute on Monday. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard averaged 23 points for the Raiders as a senior. Stephenson, who was also recruited by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Robert Morris and Louisiana-Monroe, took an official visit to VMI this month and picked up an offer from the Keydets last week. "I was stressing, actually stressing for weeks and months," Stephenson said Monday.

Kyle Schmitt knows a thing or two about Division I walk-ons. The Atholton coach and former Maryland offensive lineman was a Terps grad assistant when his younger brother Dewey came to College Park. The 6-foot, 236-pound athlete played five positions in high school and didn't appear to have a clear-cut path to playing time at Maryland. But the younger Schmitt was a scout-team all-star during his freshman year, and the following fall he emerged as the Terps' starting long snapper - a role he never relinquished during the remainder of his college career.

The No. 4 Atholton baseball team's bats came alive late in the game to secure a 6-4 win over Marriotts Ridge in a Howard County league game Friday afternoon. Marriotts Ridge starter Ethan Rice had retired nine out of 10 batters and had a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, as the Mustangs (11-6) tried to secure their second victory over the Raiders (16-3) this season. "He was doing a great job placing his pitches and keeping us off balance," Raiders coach Kevin Kelly said.

Greg Whittington scored a game-high 30 points to power No. 9 Oakland Mills past visiting Atholton, 63-43, on Wednesday. The Scorpions stayed perfect at 8-0 and the Raiders fell to 3-5. Oakland Mills built a 29-19 halftime lead. No. 5 Milford Mill 76, Catonsville 55: Isaiah McCray scored 14 points to lead the host Millers (4-0) past the Comets. Milford jumped out to a 24-10 lead after the first quarter. The Millers played an uptempo game, pressing their opponent and scoring in transition.

Boys lacrosse Standings (as of April 30) LeagueOverall SchoolW L W L Glenelg, 9-0, 11-1 Marriotts Ridge, 8-1, 10-2 Howard, 7-2, 8-4 Atholton, 6-3, 8-4 Centennial, 6-3, 6-4 Mt. Hebron, 6-3, 6-4 Wilde Lake, 3-6, 6-6 Reservoir, 3-6, 4-8 River Hill, 3-6, 4-8 Hammond, 2-7, 2-7 Oakland Mills, 1-8, 2-10 Long Reach, 0-9, 2-9 Glenelg Country*, 1-7, 2-7 Chapelgate#, 5-5,...

Et cetera Atholton combo guard Stephenson commits to VMI Atholton combo guard Gavin Stephenson committed to Virginia Military Institute on Monday. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard averaged 23 points for the Raiders as a senior. Stephenson, who was also recruited by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Robert Morris and Louisiana-Monroe, took an official visit to VMI this month and picked up an offer from the Keydets last week. "I was stressing, actually stressing for weeks and months," Stephenson said Monday.

River Hill moved into the Top 15 this week, bringing the number of ranked Howard County baseball teams to three. "I'm telling you, Howard County baseball can compete with anybody this season," said River Hill coach Wes McCoy, whose team is 6-1. "In the past, it's always been Anne Arundel schools and Hereford schools -- and the privates -- who always dominate with the good baseball reputations. "But this year and last year, in particular, Howard teams are playing very good baseball and it is exciting for the kids.

Reservoir senior pitcher Lee Lawler had the game in his hands on Tuesday afternoon, and he wasn't going to let anyone take it from him. That included Atholton. Trailing 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, Atholton put two runners on against Lawler with no outs, prompting Reservoir coach Adam Leader to come out and talk things over with Lawler. "I didn't want (Leader) to come out. I wanted him to go back in [the dugout]," Lawler said. "I didn't like how I started off, throwing ball four (to Andrew McLellan)

In the Washington Nationals' dugout Saturday morning, manager Davey Johnson explained his contingency plans at shortstop. If Ian Desmond suffered any kind of long-term injury, he said, Danny Espinosa would become the regular shortstop. If Desmond simply required a day off, he would keep Espinosa at second. And short? "I'd play Lombo there," Johnson said. A reporter playfully reminded Johnson that he had been saying Steve Lombardozzi had not been assured a spot on the team yet. "You guys are sneaky," Johnson replied.

Franklin senior pitcher Matt Goodman and his new catcher, junior Jackson Thornton, worked together for two months in anticipation of this baseball season. Wednesday afternoon at Atholton, everyone saw how the hard work paid off. With Thornton calling the pitches, Goodman threw a two-hit shutout as the Indians defeated the No. 7 Raiders, 6-0, in the season-opener for both teams. In the process Goodman matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. "It feels great to come out here and beat a team of this quality," said Goodman, who was 4-2 with a 2.18 ERA last season.