Individual Events

ORLANDO, Fla. - When the media play 20 questions with Michael Phelps, he knows what to expect. What does the world's hottest swimmer, 18 and still growing, have for breakfast to quell his ravenous appetite? How does he feel about his quest to match Mark Spitz's Olympic heroics of 1972, the possibility that Phelps could become only the second athlete to win seven gold medals in a single games? The third recurring question is the one he's not ready to answer: Might he attempt to one-up Spitz and go for gold in not just four, but five individual events?

AUSTIN, Texas - Michael Phelps has been anointed as the athlete to watch at the 2004 Olympics. NBC hopes that his quest to win seven gold medals in Greece will pump up its ratings. Corporate entities from Speedo to AT&T Wireless have signed him to endorsement deals. Anyone interested in swimming or the Olympics wants a piece of Phelps, but that phrase carries a different context for Ian Crocker and Aaron Peirsol. They could be Phelps' best buddies on a relay team - and his biggest enemies in individual events.

The Pentagon decision to suspend security clearance vetting for some defense contractors is likely to have little impact on either the Defense Department or private industry, officials from both said. On Friday, the Defense Security Service stopped paying for the five-year "reinvestigation" of contractors who hold top-secret clearances. The suspension is to continue through the end of the fiscal year in September. The Defense Security Service, which oversees the clearance process for defense employees and contractors, blamed the sequester, the across-the-board spending cuts ordered by Congress.

2 Individual events won by each of the sophomore Lloyd twins, Sarah and Emily, in leading the Severna Park swimming team to the county championship Friday. The Falcons piled up 135 points to 112 by runner-up Broadneck. Sarah established county records in the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 11.34 seconds) and 100 butterfly (56.42), and Emily won the 200 and 50 freestyles.

Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge will be competing on the swimming team at the Olympics in Athens. He may compete for eight gold medals (five individual events and three team relays). If Phelps matches swimmer Mark Spitz's feat of winning seven gold medals at the 1972 Games, he would earn a $1 million bonus from one of his corporate sponsors, Speedo.

0 Local boys teams that won team public school state championships last winter. 2 Individual events that Tim Virostek of Wilde Lake won (800 meters, 1,600 meters) in the Class 3A indoor track state championship meet in February. 59 Deficit Gilman rallied from to win its third straight MIAA team championship last winter, edging out Mount St. Joseph.

The sophomore won three individual events in meet-record time and ran on a winning relay last week to lead the Patriot girls to their first Anne Arundel County track and field championship in 12 years. Franklin set the records in the 100-meter hurdles (14.34 seconds), the 300-meter hurdles (43.1 seconds) and the 400-meter dash (55.99 seconds) and also ran the mile relay. Her 400-meter time broke a record that had stood since 1979. She also set meet records in all three individual events at the Knight's Invite earlier this season and finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays.

BARCELONA, Spain -- A Yugoslav member of the International Olympic Committee said last night that no Yugoslav athletes would participate in the 1992 Summer Olympics if the country's whole Olympic team could not come."

Alexis Hurd, North Carroll SPORT INDOOR TRACK GIRLS STATS -- A freshman, Hurd captured gold medals in the 55-meter dash (7.43 seconds) and 300 (42.57) to help the Panthers beat Liberty and Winters Mill to win the recent county championship meet at Hagerstown Community College. She also won in the long jump (15 feet, 5 inches) at the Frostbite Invite. SIDELINES -- Though Hurd has seemingly burst onto the scene this season, she has been well known in local track circles for several years as a standout member of the Excel Track and Field youth program.

The senior won two individual events in meet-record time and helped two relays to victory in leading the Eagles to their eighth straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference swimming championship. Schaffer won the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 3.82 seconds) for the fourth straight year and finished first in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.42). She also swam the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay and anchored the 200 freestyle relay. Swimming for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, she recently made her first national cut and will swim at the U.S. championships in August in Irvine, Calif.