Glenelg

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

Trailing by three goals late in the fourth quarter, there was never a second of doubt for the Glenelg boys lacrosse team in Friday's Class 3A-2A state semifinals game against Kent Island at Annapolis High School. Well, maybe there was a moment or two when it looked like the No. 11 Gladiators' season would come to an end. Then, the experience of reaching the state semifinal in each of the last seven seasons kicked in. Led by junior Nick Forrest, Glenelg scored four goals in the final 2 minutes, 51 seconds to secure a 10-9 victory.

Goals: F-Antinozzi 4, Thrasher, Wolf, White, Baker; G- Z. Wynne 3, N. Wynne 3, Conway, Rollyson, Clifford. Assists: F- Gutermuth, Antinozzi; G- N. Wynne 2, Z. Wynne, Conway, Hofstetter. Saves: F- Abney 9; G- Taylor 11. Half: Tied 4-4

The schedules have been set for this weekend's state boys and girls lacrosse semifinals. Five teams will try to defend their titles: South River, Hereford and Century boys and Century and Fallston girls. The winners will advance to Tuesday's and Wednesday's state title games at UMBC. Friday Class 3A-2A At Franklin C. Milton Wright vs. Century girls, 6 Hereford vs. Century boys, 8 At Annapolis Kent Island vs. Glenelg boys, 6 Queen Anne's vs. Marriotts Ridge girls, 8 Class 2A-1A At Bel Air Fallston vs. Northwestern boys, 6 Loch Raven vs. Winters Mill girls, 8 Saturday Class 4A-3A At Franklin Broadneck vs. Catonsville girls, noon Westminster vs. Churchill boys, 2 At Annapolis South River vs. Howard boys, noon Howard vs. Sherwood girls, 2:30 Class 2A-1A At Bel Air Patterson Mill vs.

No. 2 Glenelg and No. 5 Reservoir are the team leaders heading into today's final rounds of the state wrestling tournament at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House in College Park. Glenelg leads the Class 1A-2A division with 57 points, ahead of Southern-Garrett (54), Rising Sun (39), No. 3 Winters Mill (37) and No. 9 Bel Air (31). In Class 3A-4A, Reservoir has a bigger lead. The Howard County school's 51 points gives it a 10-point edge over Urbana. Reservoir is the only local school in the top five.

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)

When Glenelg's longtime girls soccer coach Dean Sheridan stepped down following last season, the program didn't have to go very far to find his replacement.  For the past six years, Maureen Hammond -- Sheridan's daughter -- has been by his side as an assistant coach. With a young group dominated by underclassmen, this season seemed to be the ideal time for the torch to be passed.  And now, it's Hammond calling the shots and Sheridan by her side as an assistant coach. The Gladiators, who won three state titles and reached the state playoffs a number of other times in Sheridan's time as head coach, are banking on a seamless transition with Hammond now in charge.

Alyssa Parker, Glenelg, field hockey The junior forward dominated on offense all the way to the Class 2A state title game Saturday, dishing out two assists in the No. 1 Gladiators' 2-1 win over then-No. 6 Century at Washington College in Chestertown. A first-team All-Metro selection last season after collecting 26 goals and 24 assists, Parker finished this season with 38 goals and 38 assists to lead Glenelg (19-1) to its first state crown. Parker, who is a member of the AAU Junior Olympic team and National Futures Elite team, also scored a goal in Glenelg's 2-1 state semifinal win over perennial state power Fallston earlier last week.

The Hereford-Glenelg boys lacrosse Class 3A-2A state title game has been postponed to 4 p.m. tomorrow at UMBC due to lightning. The game was originally scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday night, but officials are trying to wait out the weather to finish the South River-Westminster boys lacrosse game that started earlier afternoon. The teams have 2 minutes, 33 seconds left to play and is scheduled to resume at 7:33 p.m. The Severna Park-Westminster girls lacrosse Class 4A-3A state title game has been tentatively scheduled to begin.

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.

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.

William Seiferth hit four two-run homers Wednesday to power visiting Glenelg Country School past Baltimore Lutheran, 13-4. The Dragons (15-2, 12-2 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference), who lost their first two games, haven't lost since March 22. Seiferth went 4-for-4 with four home runs, eight RBIs and an intentional walk. Jack Dougherty also hit a home run for Glenelg Country. The Quakers fell to 5-10 and 3-9. River Hill 5, No. 2 Oakland Mills 3: Shortly after No. 9 Atholton (11-2)

This time, the No. 2 Glenelg softball team didn't wait until the seventh inning to issue the knockout blow against No. 12 Howard. Mandy Bendix and Faith Kujawa each delivered a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday, breaking open a tie game and providing the deciding runs in a 6-3 victory that keeps the Gladiators undefeated this spring. The win also secured Glenelg (13-0, 16-0) a season sweep of Howard (9-4, 11-5), having come back to win the first meeting over the Lions back in March by scoring four times in the top of the seventh.

The senior All-Metro shortstop led the No. 2 Gladiators (13-0) to three victories over ranked Howard County teams last week, going 6-for-10 with an inside-the-park home run. In a 5-4 win over then-No. 6 Hammond on April 15, Allen was 1-for-3 and had a stolen base. She was 3-for-4 with a stolen base in a 3-2 victory over then-No. 15 Mount Hebron last Wednesday. In a 4-1 win over then-No. 12 River Hill last Friday, she went 2-for-3 with a single and an RBI on the inside-the-park home run. Allen, last season's Howard County Player of the Year, leads the Gladiators in batting average (.522)

Chachi Kelehan's open-net goal with 38 seconds left to play gave the Mount Hebron girls lacrosse team the cushion it needed to hold off Glenelg, 8-6, in a game played at Cedar Lane Park. Kelehan got the shot when Glenelg goalkeeper Megan Taylor (15 saves) came out of the goal circle to double-team on defense. Jen Giles put No. 6 Mount Hebron on the scoreboard six seconds after the game began. "That startled us for a second," Taylor said. Giles quickly added a second score, but the Vikings were never able to get more than a two-goal advantage.

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 was the big winner in the wrestling tri-meet at Reservoir on Tuesday night, as the No. 15 Gladiators (5-0) beat No.8 Reservoir (3-2), 38-24, and Atholton, 69-6. "We knew Reservoir would be very good," Glenelg coach Chris Rosas said. "But we had guys step up. " Reservoir took an early lead with Troy Kilcarr (113) and Mason Kilcarr (132) winning with pins and their brother, Trent Kilcarr, taking an 8-2 decision. But Glenelg fought back; among those stepping up were Austin Pagnotta with a pin (1:17)

Ginger Kincaid Glenelg It took 34 years of coaching for Kincaid to raise a championship trophy at Glenelg. But once she got that first one, there has been no stopping her. Kincaid coached the Gladiators to a third straight Class 2A state championship and a 17-1 record this season. They finished 18-1 and 19-1 during the past two championship seasons, respectively. This season, Kincaid had one of her best coaching performances, finding a way to absorb the losses of two-time All-Metro Player of the Year Alyssa Parker (114 goals, 108 assists in her career)

It's the same quick release and precise aim for Mikey Wynne this season. What's new, however, is the standout attackman's uniform. After two seasons at Glenelg, the junior transferred to St. Paul's last summer and has led the No. 4 Crusaders to a 6-0 record so far this spring. Wynne scored two goals and added three assists as St. Paul's defeated visiting Fallston, 17-8, on Tuesday. The Crusaders host Cape Henlopen (Del.) on Thursday at 4 p.m. The decision to leave Glenelg was difficult for Wynne, who has 30 goals and nine assists for St. Paul's this season.

The sirens blared and lights danced as a line of fire trucks rolled up a brief stretch of Interstate 83 before taking Mount Carmel Road on the way to Hereford High School. School buses and cars followed close behind to form a lengthy caravan that made a ruckus. Horns honked, arms flailed out bus windows, and there was hooting and hollering and ear-to-ear grins. It may have stirred the tiny town of Parkton, but there was no need for alarm. On that night last May, the Hereford boys lacrosse team won yet another state championship.