Becca

Chris Robinson could see the kid was an athlete. Naturally, he pictured her with a lacrosse stick.It was winter of the 1995-96 school year. Halfway through her freshman year, the kid had transferred to Mount Hebron from High Point High School in Prince George's County. She was good enough to make the varsity basketball team."She was quick and had some good athletic ability," said Robinson, who was beginning his first season as coach of the highly-successful Vikings girls lacrosse team."So I pursued her," he said, by trying to whet her interest in lacrosse.

For Becca Meyers, every sound heard, every syllable spoken, seems a small miracle.The Timonium toddler lived in silence for the first two years of her life. Her parents' conversation, her siblings' laughter -- even the wail of a fire engine -- were shut out by profound deafness.It wasn't until a controversial electronic device was implanted deep inside her ear that she began to hear -- and then to talk, laugh and sing. Since early last year, when Becca's cochlear implant was activated, her vocabulary has grown from simple words such as "home," "up" and "off" to multisyllabic icons including "McDonald's" and "Nintendo."

Arlington Baptist Eagles1997 record: 7-10Coach: Liz ByersTop players: Rachel Hamilton, Sr., OH; Darla Heller, Sr., OH; Jocelyn Johnson, Jr., OH; Julie Barber, Jr., S; Valerie Jones, Fr., SOutlook: Byers has a number of good players returning from the team that finished second in the regular season in the Association of Independent Schools B Division. The Eagles have a strong nucleus fueled by a good mix of experience and depth. They also lost only one starter from last year and should challenge for the B Division title this season.

Becca ArmigerCentennialfield hockeyArmiger had 26 saves in the Class 3A state final double-overtime victory over No. 2 Fallston (1-0). The senior goalie recorded seven saves in a state semifinal shutout of Magruder (1-0).

"I can't believe this," said Centennial goalie Becca Armiger said. "We've had such a rocky year. But it's all coming together when it should and when it matters."The Eagles, who began the season 0-2, defeated Magruder, 1-0, yesterday in a class 3A state semifinal game at Goucher College. No. 15 Centennial (9-4-2) will meet No. 2 Fallston (16-0) Saturday at 2 p.m. for the title. Fallston is 46-0-2 over the past three years.Though Fallston is formidable, it will be facing a Centennial team that finally is playing up to its expectations.

Luck gets an assist in No. 3 Centennial's first regional field hockey championship in a dozen years.The Eagles (14-0) seemed a step slow the entire game but still managed to edge an aggressive South Carroll squad, 1-0, in the Class 3A North regional title game yesterday at Centennial."

Luck gets an assist in No. 3 Centennial's first regional field hockey championship in a dozen years.The Eagles (14-0) seemed a step slow the entire game but still managed to edge an aggressive South Carroll squad, 1-0, in the Class 3A North regional title game yesterday at Centennial."

This was no ordinary playoff game for No. 5 Mount Hebron.A win over top-seeded and 14th-ranked Centennial would give the Vikings' seniors a clean sweep of Howard County competition. The Vikings had lost only once to a county foe -- Centennial in 1990.Yesterday, the four-time defending county champs didn't leave the outcome in doubt very long. They jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first 12 minutes and cruised to an 18-7 victory in the Class 3A-4A West regional championship."We needed to get up on them early, because we figured their confidence would go down," said Vikings coach P.J. Kesmodel, whose team won the regular-season meeting 15-10.

Half of Friends' field hockey team had never played an overtime game until yesterday.No. 9 Centennial taught the Quakers a lesson in the importance of marking in the seven-on-a-side overtime period. The Quakers left only one player open, left wing Connie Garrant, but that cost them the game.Garrant connected on a pass from Allison Altscher less than three minutes into the 10-minute sudden-death overtime to lift the Eagles over Friends, 1-0."We had no idea we would play overtime," said Friends coach Carol Samuels, whose Association of Independent Schools league plays overtime only in its season-ending tournament.

When Janine Tucker took over as coach of Johns Hopkins' women's lacrosse team, outgoing coach Sally Anderson gave her some advice about All-America attack player Rebecca Savage."

"I don't know where you want this discussion to go." Anyone in any relationship has said such words at some point, trying to gauge the safest response, struggling to figure out what the other person wants to hear, wondering if it is better to be elusive than honest. But when that line is spoken by a husband to his wife in David Lindsay-Abaire's 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "Rabbit Hole," it registers with a deep pain. For these characters, every word is a land mine, capable of setting off the most dreadful reactions; every conversation, even on the most mundane of topics, can trigger a dangerous mood.

volleyball Player of the Year Becca Webb, Fallston, hitter Webb came into her own this season and was a major factor in Fallston's run to the Class 3A East regional finals. The senior helped the No. 6 Cougars (17-1) go unbeaten in the regular season, losing only to top-ranked Centennial in the regional final. Playing most of the year with tendonitis in her foot, Webb was often double- and triple-blocked at the net. She still managed 183 kills and a .408 hitting percentage. The main improvement in her game was her ability to place the ball and read defenses.

The second presentation of Colonial Players' 60th anniversary season of plays celebrating love is David Lindsay-Abaire's 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Rabbit Hole, which takes an unflinching look at a couple coping with the accidental death of their 4-year-old son. Rabbit Hole stirs the senses and is enlightening in its portrayal of family members - husband and wife and her sister and mother unable to help each other as they each work alone through...

The Fallston volleyball team has been perfect through the first half of its season. The Cougars were 9-0 through the middle of last week, sweeping each opponent, including defending Class 2A state champion Rising Sun. "I am pleased with the progress the team has made throughout the season," Fallston coach Nicole Hoover said. "They have developed great chemistry on and off the court, which has paid dividends in the victory column." The Cougars have had consistency all over the court. Becca Webb led the team in kills (80)

One of the worst things about any big trouble is the way it isolates us at the precise moment we're most in need of comfort. It matters not one whit if the people sharing our dinner table or office cubicle are going through the identical crisis, because no two traumas are exactly the same. Every loss, every grief is as individual and specifically coded as a set of fingerprints. That's one of the main insights to be gleaned from David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole, which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

When Pikesville's girls lacrosse team began this season, one of the players' goals was to improve enough to draw some attention. The Panthers did just that two weeks ago, when they turned a few heads with a 12-11 win over Hereford, one of Baltimore County's most competitive teams. "We just wanted to be recognized as a program," Panthers junior midfielder Morgan Appel said. "Usually we haven't been competitive and we had never beaten a team like Hereford. It took us awhile to understand that we could do it. Now, we realize we have to play our hardest and we can compete."

15 -- Saves for North Carroll field hockey goalie Becca Markle in her team's 1-0 win over Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Thursday in the Class 3A West title game. The win put the Panthers in the state semifinals for the first time since 1998. 19:08 -- South Carroll senior Lindsay Warfield's winning time in last week's Class 2A West regional cross country meet. 34 -- Shots for Liberty in its Class 2A West boys soccer semifinal against Winters Mill. None of them, however, found the net, and the Lions needed penalty kicks to advance.

BOYS Loyola's Fitzgerald goes out on top Sport Soccer Senior Akira Fitzgerald closed out a fine four-year career with flawless play in goal last week, leading No. 1 Loyola (15-2-6) to a share of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference crown after a 0-0 overtime draw with Mount St. Joseph. The two-year captain, who has twice been selected to the All-Metro team, turned back seven shots against the Gaels in 100 minutes of scoreless play. In the Nov. 1 semifinal win over defending league champ McDonogh - won 4-2 on penalty kicks after the teams were tied at 0-0 through two overtimes - he had nine saves, including a key save in the shootout.

0 Wins for Liberty's football team this season. The Lions have lost three times by six points or less. 2 Goals given up by North Carroll field hockey goalie Becca Markle through the Panthers' first seven games. 46 Consecutive matches won by Liberty's volleyball team after Thursday's 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-23, 15-7 victory over Westminster. 1979 The last time Westminster began the football season 4-0 before matching that mark with Friday's 27-25 win over Urbana.

Summer has a way of transforming the most nondescript places into something special -- even the small parking lot of Dumbarton Middle School in Rodgers Forge. Over the years, this place has become a destination for countless high school kids who use their vacation to learn to drive. Adults appreciate this summer place because it provides the essentials for teenage instruction: It's safely removed from peers and virtually indestructible. Last week, it bore witness to the education of Becca Hindman.