Gladiators

Strong pitching from Casey Schmidt and Amanda Segrist, along with some clutch hits late in the game, helped the No. 6 Glenelg softball team come away with a 7-1 win over No. 14 Reservoir on Wednesday. For Schmidt and Segrist, it was business as usual. The one run that the impressive tandem allowed was the first they've surrendered in five games together. It's a pitching formula that has been working for the Gladiators (15-2) all season. "At the beginning of each game, we both warm up together," said Segrist, who struck out six of the 10 batters she faced.

One of the ultimate goals for the seniors on the Hereford boys lacrosse team is making their final year the best of all. It's a challenge, considering the lofty standard the No. 5 Bulls have established in recent years, but it's also a task on which they thrive. In Wednesday's Class 3A-2A state championship against No. 10 Glenelg, the Bulls once again displayed their long-standing dominance, coming away with a comfortable 13-3 win over the overmatched Gladiators to add to the state record book.

The gymnasium was rocking at Wilde Lake High on Tuesday night as the Wildecats wrestling team hosted county rival Glenelg, but the Gladiators lived up to their No. 3 ranking and won the match, 41-18. Glenelg (11-2) built the margin on major decisions by John Milani (135 pounds) and Jack Borkowski (145) and pins by Anthony Pagnotta (152), Charles Walls (160), Ryan Fitzgibbons (215) and Nick Caffrey (130). The score, however, didn't really tell the story for either side. Both sides expected more, and despite the loss, Wilde Lake coach Azmar Hagler and his players found much to be proud of. "I feel Glenelg is a very fundamental team, not a better team," said Hagler, whose Wildecats are 8-4. "They countered our attacks very well.

On Senior Day, with the county championship on the line, Glenelg's Leah Allen delivered a performance befitting the reigning Howard County Player of the Year. The senior shortstop hit two home runs and made nine putouts in the field, leading the way to a 6-4 victory over No. 5 Atholton that gave the No. 2 Gladiators sole possession of the county title. "As a team we all knew we had to step up today, and being my last regular season home game, there was definitely a little extra motivation," Allen said.

You've armchair-wrestled them on Saturday nights, now see if you're tough or crazy enough to take them on in real life."American Gladiators," a weekly television show in which 10 professional hunk and hunk-ettes battle amateur challengers, will be in Baltimore Monday looking for victims, er, competitors. The one-hour show, which airs locally on WJZ-TV at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, has developed a cult following in its two-year history.Tryouts for challengers will be held at 5 p.m. at the Baltimore Arena, and the winners will then compete against the actual Gladiators in an Oct. 16 show at the arena.

Maybe it's the competition, or the hint of violence, or the skimpy costumes. Or maybe it's just the novelty for television audiences that have seen everything.Whatever the reason, "American Gladiators," a syndicated program shown by more than 150 stations nationwide -- including WJZ (Channel 13) which broadcasts it at 12:30 p.m. Saturdays -- is drawing more viewers every week who find something special in its peculiar melding of sporting event and game show.Although the show is hardly ready for prime time, its steadily growing ratings, up from 2.8 in September 1989 to 4.9 currently, make it one of the most successful syndicated programs on television after nearly two years on the air.Between 12 million and 15 million people every week watch the show, which is syndicated by the Samuel Goldwyn Co. in Los Angeles.

The "American Gladiators," those muscle-bound warriors in red-white-and-blue spandex tights, have become a familiar sight on television. Maybe a little too familiar. Their successful syndicated TV show is 5 years old, and their ratings last season dipped slightly for the second straight year.They need to recapture America's imagination. They need an exciting new challenge. They need a familiar contender whom viewers might relish seeing tossed around like a rag doll.They need Tonya Harding.

The Gladiators have a new, enthusiastic, young coach, Doug Campbell, who hopes to build a competitive wrestling program at Glenelg.But for now, the young Gladiators may have to take a few lumps, especially against an extremely tough schedule.The Gladiators are no match now with the likes of North Carroll, Linganore, South Carroll, Thomas Johnson, Chopticon and Francis Scott Key.Campbell, 25, will have a major adjustment to make. He has spent the past three seasons as assistant coach at Chichester High in West Chester, Pa. Last year, that team went 14-4 and was the conference champion.

THE CROWD at the Baltimore Arena last night was 400 strong -- literally, 400 strong.They had come, in muscle shirts and spandex pants, with cut biceps and massive quadriceps, to compete for the chance to be slammed into mats and knocked over with sticks.They wanted to be gladiators.More precisely, they wanted to battle the American Gladiators, from the TV show of the same name.The show's concept is simple. Everyday people "fight" the gladiators -- hunks and hunkettes with names like Nitro, Thunder, Blaze and Ice -- in jazzed-up versions of jousting, wrestling and football.

Since girls soccer began in Howard County, Oakland Mills has never lost to Glenelg, but the Scorpions came close yesterday.With less than three minutes to play in regulation, Lauren McHargue booted a perfect direct kick from 35 yards out to give the Scorpions a 2-2 tie. That's where the game ended after double overtime.The tie marked the first time the host Gladiators (6-3 overall, 2-2-1 league) had even managed to tie Oakland Mills (5-3-1, 2-2-1)."It's better than a loss definitely," said Scorpions striker Ginny Dye. "But it's a little bit disappointing, because we were hoping to come away with a win. We feel pretty good that we came back and tied it up. That shows a lot of heart on our part."

Glenelg senior shortstop Leah Allen has to go way back to recall her first memory with a bat in her hand. When she was 2 years old, Allen would go to the backyard with her father, Harold, and play with a Wiffle ball and bat. She signed up for an organized softball league as soon as she was old enough. A four-year starter, two-year captain and returning All-Metro first-team selection, Allen is the do-it-all catalyst who has led the No. 2 Gladiators to an 9-0 record so far this season.

Glenelg guard Emily Russo scored her 1,000th career point earlier this month, and that will stand as the highlight of her basketball season because the 2011-12 All-Metro first-team selection suffered a season-ending knee injury - a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn meniscus - in a game against Mount Hebron on Dec. 17. She has scheduled surgery for Friday and will miss lacrosse season, too. A three-sport standout, Russo was also an All-Metro...

This fall, Glenelg (17-1) went into the field hockey season without Alyssa Parker, one of just two girls to ever finish a high school career in the nation with more than 100 goals and 100 assists, and captain Mary Kate Olson. Together they accounted for most of Glenelg's scoring in back-to-back championships over the past two years, whether it was scoring the goals or assisting on others. In the Class 2A title game Saturday, five different players scored as the Gladiators continued their run by winning a third straight title, 5-1, over Poolesville.

With his team trailing by two games at River Hill on Thursday, Glenelg coach Don Beall pulled his players aside for a quick history lesson. The year was 2006, and Glenelg trailed River Hill, 2-0, before beating the odds to win in five sets. "They were up 24-14 (in the third game) and we came back to beat them and then won," said Beall, whose 10th ranked team repeated the feat on Thursday to knock off No. 4 River Hill, 20-25, 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, 15-10. "I brought that whole scenario up in the huddle and the kids responded and played looser those last three games," Beall said.

When it comes to the playoffs, the Glenelg boys lacrosse team has that been-there-before way about doing things . More proof came in Wednesday's Class 3A-2A South region title game as the No. 10 Gladiators had all the answers against Howard County rival and No. 15 Marriots Ridge. All-Metro senior attackman Nick Wynne scored four goals and added two assists, goalie Landry Marshall finished with nine saves to lead Glenelg to an 11-6 win against the Mustangs at Western Regional Park.

There are two years that Josh Hatmaker will never forget when it comes to Glenelg lacrosse -- 1997 and 2007. As a senior defenseman in 1997, the Gladiators reached the state championship game but were unable to bring home the title. In 2007 -- his third year as head coach -- they finally broke through with the program's first title in their fifth championship game appearance. Winning state championships has now become a familiar trend at Glenelg under Hatmaker.  The No. 9 Gladiators (8-1)

There were no more miracles for Liberty yesterday in the state Class 2A, Region I boys soccer tournament at Middletown.The fourth-seeded Lions ran into a highly skilled Glenelg team and were outplayed most of the game before falling, 1-0, in the championship match.Liberty (7-6-1) had knocked off top-seeded Middletown, 3-1, Boys soccerWednesday and was hoping to conquer second-seeded and sixth-ranked Glenelg (11-2-1) last night.But none of the magic was left from Wednesday night, leaving Glenelg in command of the championship match.

Glenelg volleyball coach Marlene Janis said she sensed a certain confidence about the Gladiators when they took the floor to begin their season Thursday against North Carroll.The Gladiators needed just over an hour to dispatch the Panthers, 15-8, 15-9, 18-16, a three-game sweep that fulfilled Janis' expectations and raised her players' hopes for what they envision as a comeback season of major proportions.Glenelg (1-0) hardly looked like the team that went 6-9 last fall and seemed to get caught up in a five-game marathon every night.

Glenelg coach Josh Hatmaker didn't have to give his team a motivational speech at halftime of his team's game at Marriotts Ridge. They knew what they had to do. "We knew we had to get the ball to our big guns, and they had to put it in the net," Hatmaker said. "We also had to play a more physical game. " The tenth-ranked Gladiators (3-0, 3-0) did that and more to blow open up a halftime tie and defeat the neighborhood-rival Mustangs, 9-4, Friday night. Brothers Nick and Mikey Wynne each scored a hat trick to pace Glenelg.

The hole Largo dug in its Class 2A South regional semifinal game at Glenelg on Wednesday night was just too deep to climb out of. There would be no come-from-behind victory like the one the Lions enjoyed against Oakland Mills on Monday night, as the No. 6 Gladiators cruised to a 75-45 victory. Glenelg will host Calvert in the regional final Friday at 7 p.m. The Gladiators focused on setting the tone in the first few minutes of Wednesday's semifial, pushing the ball on offense or kicking it out for a 3-point attempt, all the while playing smothering defense.