Double Dutch

Black Lightning, Owen Brown Middle School's 10-member girls' double Dutch jump rope team, has struck, winning a trophy at the state's first double Dutch competition.The bad news is that because some of the seventh-grader team members could not afford the $65 each to advance to the World Double Dutch Invitational Championship, the team will not compete in it Thursday at the University of Maryland College Park. The deadline to register was June 5."That's the unfortunate part of it," said Ameedah Abdullah, the girls' coach.

Email rec sports copy to howardcountysports@patuxent.com by 9 a.m. on Monday. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Track and Field Ellicott City resident Anthony (Ace) Valentine won three national championships and set an all-time national record this past weekend at the USA Track and Field National Championships held in Greensboro, NC from July 23-28. For the eight and under participants, Ace (8 years old)

Deanna Espeut, 12, jumped between the two circling jump-ropes, being careful not to step on them, while rope turner Ave Danzy yelled: "Keep your feet up!"But as soon as her 12-year-old teammate gave the tip, Deanna stepped on the rope, which meant she had to start over again.The girls are members of Black Lightning, an 11-member double Dutch jump-rope club formed in October at Owen Brown Middle School."I used to watch my sister [double Dutch]," said Kendra Walters, of Black Lightning. "It's fun, and something to do for a sport."

Here's something you don't see everyday: a woman who is not afraid to combine her black-and-cream sundress with accessories in a color that doesn't match anything -- but themselves. Too many of us would have taken this dress and worn it with black shoes and neutral jewelry. True, if the shoes were gorgeous, no style-seeker would have complained. But pairing cream and black with a cool blue, as Holly Barzyk did at Pazo restaurant, makes people notice. Such color courage is the mark of a true fashionista.

EIGHT teen-agers from Harvester Baptist Church returned recently from a week in Canada, where they visited and worked with missionaries in three cities."

Email rec sports copy to howardcountysports@patuxent.com by 9 a.m. on Monday. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Track and Field Ellicott City resident Anthony (Ace) Valentine won three national championships and set an all-time national record this past weekend at the USA Track and Field National Championships held in Greensboro, NC from July 23-28. For the eight and under participants, Ace (8 years old)

Gail HodgesSchool: Atholton High School.Hometown: Fulton.Age: 18.Sports have always played a big part in Gail's life. This year, she led the school's cross country team, which won the regional championship, as well as the school's indoor track team.While she enjoys running, outside of school she's well known for her other sport: jumping rope. She's reigned as the Canadian Open Double Dutch Champion and the Maryland Double Dutch Champion. She placed seventh in the World Double Dutch competition and was a runner-up in the Eastern Regional All-Around Competition.

Competing against more than 1,100 other rope jumpers, the Howard County-based Kangaroo Kids recently brought home 18 medals from the recent U.S. National Jump Rope Championship.The rope jumpers won four gold medals, seven silver medals, seven bronze medals and placed 27 times in the top 10 for all events in a championship held June 28-30 at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla.The competition will be shown on ESPN Aug. 24.Kangaroo Kids is a 16-year-old organization based in Simpsonville near Columbia.

RESIDENTS OF Vantage House joined members of the Howard County branch of the American Association of University Women to model spring fashions Saturday.This is the fourth year the annual show has been held at the Town Center retirement community.Serving as models were Vantage House residents Adro Puma and Dot Uhlmann. Escorting them were Starley Alford and George Hartmann, who also reside at Vantage House.Also modeling were Peg O'Rourke, a Harper's Choice resident who serves as branch president; AAUW members Mary Befacchia, Angela Beltram, Carol McAuliffe and Helen Mennitto; and nonmembers Krislin Nalwalk and Donna Olsen.

CLEMENS CROSSING resident Amanda Ramsey returned from Disney World last week with two medals for jumping rope.She was one of 14 Howard County athletes who competed in the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Federation National Championship. Amanda won a gold medal in the girls' individual speed category for 12- to 14-year-olds.She reports that her speed, measured on one foot, was 148 jumps a minute.Amanda also won a silver medal for girls' individual freestyle in the same age group.Amanda's mother signed her up for Kangaroo Kids, Howard County's jump rope group, when Amanda was in first grade.

ALL YOU CAN do is learn from your mistakes. Last Sunday's article on this page about the Kangaroo Kids jump-rope organization contained an editor-injected mistake. Lesson one, reinforced, again: Never assume anything in journalism. Jim McCleary seems as if he's led the 23-year-old Howard County club forever; actually, he and Fulton's Jean Hodges began leading it in 1984. But, to correct the error, Don Disney, who directs the county high schools' athletic programs these days, founded and named the Kangaroo Kids.

WHEN MOST of us think of jump rope, images of energetic children skipping rope on the sidewalk or the playground come to mind. But for members of the Kangaroo Kids, a Howard County precision jump rope team, it means hours of practice in preparation for national and international competitions.Marissa Schwartz, a 17- year-old senior at Wilde Lake High School, practices jumping rope about 14 hours a week. Marissa's dedication to the sport helped her capture a trophy and a title, Grand National Champion, at the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Championships last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The competition will air on ESPN this summer.

RESIDENTS OF Vantage House joined members of the Howard County branch of the American Association of University Women to model spring fashions Saturday.This is the fourth year the annual show has been held at the Town Center retirement community.Serving as models were Vantage House residents Adro Puma and Dot Uhlmann. Escorting them were Starley Alford and George Hartmann, who also reside at Vantage House.Also modeling were Peg O'Rourke, a Harper's Choice resident who serves as branch president; AAUW members Mary Befacchia, Angela Beltram, Carol McAuliffe and Helen Mennitto; and nonmembers Krislin Nalwalk and Donna Olsen.

EIGHT teen-agers from Harvester Baptist Church returned recently from a week in Canada, where they visited and worked with missionaries in three cities."

CLEMENS CROSSING resident Amanda Ramsey returned from Disney World last week with two medals for jumping rope.She was one of 14 Howard County athletes who competed in the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Federation National Championship. Amanda won a gold medal in the girls' individual speed category for 12- to 14-year-olds.She reports that her speed, measured on one foot, was 148 jumps a minute.Amanda also won a silver medal for girls' individual freestyle in the same age group.Amanda's mother signed her up for Kangaroo Kids, Howard County's jump rope group, when Amanda was in first grade.

Competing against more than 1,100 other rope jumpers, the Howard County-based Kangaroo Kids recently brought home 18 medals from the recent U.S. National Jump Rope Championship.The rope jumpers won four gold medals, seven silver medals, seven bronze medals and placed 27 times in the top 10 for all events in a championship held June 28-30 at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla.The competition will be shown on ESPN Aug. 24.Kangaroo Kids is a 16-year-old organization based in Simpsonville near Columbia.

WHEN MOST of us think of jump rope, images of energetic children skipping rope on the sidewalk or the playground come to mind. But for members of the Kangaroo Kids, a Howard County precision jump rope team, it means hours of practice in preparation for national and international competitions.Marissa Schwartz, a 17- year-old senior at Wilde Lake High School, practices jumping rope about 14 hours a week. Marissa's dedication to the sport helped her capture a trophy and a title, Grand National Champion, at the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Championships last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The competition will air on ESPN this summer.

Here's something you don't see everyday: a woman who is not afraid to combine her black-and-cream sundress with accessories in a color that doesn't match anything -- but themselves. Too many of us would have taken this dress and worn it with black shoes and neutral jewelry. True, if the shoes were gorgeous, no style-seeker would have complained. But pairing cream and black with a cool blue, as Holly Barzyk did at Pazo restaurant, makes people notice. Such color courage is the mark of a true fashionista.

Black Lightning, Owen Brown Middle School's 10-member girls' double Dutch jump rope team, has struck, winning a trophy at the state's first double Dutch competition.The bad news is that because some of the seventh-grader team members could not afford the $65 each to advance to the World Double Dutch Invitational Championship, the team will not compete in it Thursday at the University of Maryland College Park. The deadline to register was June 5."That's the unfortunate part of it," said Ameedah Abdullah, the girls' coach.

Deanna Espeut, 12, jumped between the two circling jump-ropes, being careful not to step on them, while rope turner Ave Danzy yelled: "Keep your feet up!"But as soon as her 12-year-old teammate gave the tip, Deanna stepped on the rope, which meant she had to start over again.The girls are members of Black Lightning, an 11-member double Dutch jump-rope club formed in October at Owen Brown Middle School."I used to watch my sister [double Dutch]," said Kendra Walters, of Black Lightning. "It's fun, and something to do for a sport."