Ivy League

WASHINGTON -- Do African immigrants make the smartest Americans? The question may sound outlandish, but if you were judging by statistics alone, you could find plenty of evidence to back it up. In a side-by-side comparison of 2000 census data by sociologists including John R. Logan at the State University of New York, Albany, black immigrants from Africa averaged the highest educational attainment of any population group in the country, including whites...

Erica Holland was in sixth grade when she asked a minority-program coordinator at Annapolis Middle School whether she knew of any good math camps. "That's the only time a kid has ever asked if [she] could spend the summer doing math," said Shanita Spencer, now an AVID instructor at Annapolis High School. Though she was living in subsidized housing, Holland had set her sights on an Ivy League education and decided that she needed to improve her math skills. "Ever since I was young, I knew education was key to getting out," said Holland, now 18. That drive and determination attracted not one but two mentors who helped steer Holland into a program that helps minorities obtain financial aid at prep schools and navigate college applications.

Four days before the NCAA Division I tournament's 16-team bracket is unveiled, this much seems clear. Only two of nine at-large spots appear to be open, and those selections could hinge heavily on the results of this week's America East and Colonial Athletic Association conference tournaments, plus the fates of a couple of bubble teams from the Ivy League and a Patriot League also-ran. The NCAA lacrosse committee will examine the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a system based on the record of a team's opponents and the record of the opponents' opponents.

COLLEGE PARK -- Acceptance letters went out this month to high school seniors who will make up a college freshman class with average test scores in the top 5 percent and enough advanced courses that their grade point average exceeds 4.0.The 700 students will not be attending an Ivy League school. They will be enrolled in the highly competitive Honors Program at the University of Maryland, College Park.With the high cost of private schools driving more top-flight students to state universities, virtually all major public schools are responding with programs to challenge the best and the brightest.

0 Times more than the champion was invited to the NCAA tournament from the Ivy League.2 Big Ten teams with 8-10 league records invited to the tournament, Indiana in 1990 and Wisconsin in 1994.3 Mid-American Conference teams invited to last year's tournament, the most in league history.4 Times the Atlantic Coast Conference received fewer than five bids since 1980, most recently in 1995. 9 Big Ten teams with .500 records or better in the league that didn't get invited during the 1990s.Pub Date: 2/26/99

When does a Princeton degree work against you? When you're playing in the International Basketball League, and your teammates and opponents are more desperate than you to survive.Steve Goodrich wants to play in the NBA, just like every other member of the BayRunners. But he's actually at a competitive disadvantage, knowing that if he gets turned out on the street, it probably will be Wall Street."You can't approach it like, `I had a bad day today. Maybe I should go call Merrill Lynch and get out of here,' " Goodrich said before scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds last night in the BayRunners' 82-72 loss to Trenton.

Fourth-ranked Duke scored 13 straight goals in just over 21 minutes of the second half on the way to a 22-6 drubbing of No. 11 Penn State in men's lacrosse yesterday in Durham, N.C.T. J. Durnan and Jared Frood each had five goals for the Blue Devils, whose total was a season high. It also was Duke's largest margin of victory since the first game of last season, when it defeated Butler, 20-5.Duke led 8-5 at halftime before Chris Kakel's goal just 15 seconds into the third period jump-started the Blue Devils' scoring spree.

The most interesting statistic to come out of last Friday's game between Yale and Princeton was not the final score, though the 60-58 double-overtime victory for the Bulldogs over the visiting Tigers was certainly one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season.It was the attendance figure.On the final box score, it was listed as 2,271 in the 3,100-seat Lee Ampitheatre."There were more like 3,000 in the stands by the end of the game," said Yale coach Dick Kuchen, "and most of them were on the court after it was over."

Princeton's run as three-time defending champion may end this weekend.Sure, it's still 2 1/2 weeks until the NCAA tournament seedings are announced, but the Tigers' two-game, two-day swing into central New York could determine their playoff fate. With its only nonconference win over Rutgers, Princeton desparately needs a victory Sunday at Syracuse to secure a bid.But the Tigers won't prepare a second for the Orangemen, opting to focus on Saturday's opponent, Cornell, which will determine the Ivy League champion.

Jesse Hubbard collected four goals and an assist to lead top-ranked Princeton to a 15-5 win over Cornell yesterday in an Ivy League game before 2,604 at Class of 1952 Stadium in New Jersey.Hubbard's goals gave him 64 for his career in Ivy League games, eight off the all-time record held by Jon Reese (Yale '92).Princeton (7-1, 4-0) broke from a one-goal lead at halftime by scoring six times in the third quarter and shutting out the Big Red (4-7, 3-2).Hubbard and Chris Massey each scored two goals in the period as the Tigers held their opponent scoreless in the third quarter for the fourth time in the past five games.

Ravens center Matt Birk is a Harvard man. There is a decent chance you already knew this. In fact, if you know anything about him beyond his abilities as a football player, it's probably that he graduated from Harvard. This is, at least in part, because people tend to bring it up when they talk about Birk, a six-time Pro Bowl selection entering his 12th NFL season, his first with the Ravens after leaving the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent. Birk's Ivy League education - he graduated in 1998 with a degree in economics - is usually mentioned with playful disbelief or mock surprise, as if it had not occurred to anyone that it was possible for NFL players to come from Harvard.

For the second time this season, Cornell's defense locked down Princeton's offense. The first time, the Big Red clinched a share of its seventh straight Ivy League title. The second time - a second final four appearance in three years. Rocco Romero scored two goals, Rob Pannell had three assists, and the fifth-seeded Big Red beat the fourth-seeded Tigers, 6-4, Saturday at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y., in an NCAA quarterfinal matchup. Cornell will play the winner of Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal between top seed Virginia and eighth seed Johns Hopkins in a semifinal at noon or 2 p.m. Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Newsome: Stover could be Raven again nfl A day after Matt Stover said he is no longer wanted by the Ravens, general manager Ozzie Newsome declined to comment on whether the veteran kicker is in the team's immediate plans but said there is a chance that he could return here. "Is the door closed on him coming back to kick in Baltimore? No, it's not," Newsome said yesterday. It is believed that the Ravens want to try to develop Steve Hauschka, last season's kickoff specialist, and view the 41-year-old Stover, a free agent, as a backup plan.

Brianna Bradford plays point guard for Reservoir High. Last season, she became the first 1,000-point scorer in school history, as she averaged 16 points. This year, she might set a record for extracurricular activities. Besides being a member of the National Honor Society, the National Spanish Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars, she is a member of Reservoir's Senior Board; MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement), in which she's helping to build a model electric-powered cargo plane; the Howard County Youth Summit; Howard County Connections; and on the board of the American Heart Association.

The Navy men's lacrosse team is charting unfamiliar territory. For the first time since 2003, the No. 15 Midshipmen did not win the Patriot League tournament and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That means Navy (9-5) must wait until Sunday for the selection committee to determine its postseason fate. "It's really nerve-racking, putting our season in somebody else's hands," senior attackman Nick Mirabito acknowledged. "We had an opportunity to secure that, but we didn't get it done."

The Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team outscored host Penn State by six in the second half en route to a 10-8 win yesterday afternoon in American Lacrosse Conference action. Senior Lauren Schwarzmann (Century) scored the game-winner on a free-position shot with 8:15 to play in the second half. Hopkins improves to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in the ALC. Penn State (4-11, 0-4) jumped out to a 4-0 lead just 8:17 into the contest fueled by two goals from Erica Mihm. Freshman Sam Schrum (St. Mary's)

Thanksgiving Day should be a lot less eventful this year at the Bel Air home of Drew Berry and Brenda Fowler-Berry. Unlike last year, when two on-field clashes between the Berrys' football-playing Ivy League twins, Harvard cornerback Andrew Berry and Princeton wide receiver Adam Berry, created a mild family storm, there doesn't figure to be anything to discuss this time around except the usual bragging rights from Saturday's 27-10 Harvard victory over...

Erica Holland was in sixth grade when she asked a minority-program coordinator at Annapolis Middle School whether she knew of any good math camps. "That's the only time a kid has ever asked if [she] could spend the summer doing math," said Shanita Spencer, now an AVID instructor at Annapolis High School. Though she was living in subsidized housing, Holland had set her sights on an Ivy League education and decided that she needed to improve her math skills. "Ever since I was young, I knew education was key to getting out," said Holland, now 18. That drive and determination attracted not one but two mentors who helped steer Holland into a program that helps minorities obtain financial aid at prep schools and navigate college applications.

Seniors Chris Feifs and Michael Phipps combined for seven of Maryland's 12 goals to lead the No. 6 Terrapins (10-5) to a 12-4 victory over visiting Yale (7-6) on senior day yesterday. Feifs led the way with four goals. Five seniors also stepped up defensively for the Terps as Paul Andrews, Ryan Clarke, Jay Feeley, Travis Holmes and Sean Sullivan combined for six ground balls and caused four turnovers. No. 9 Princeton 8, Brown 7 -- Peter Trombino scored three goals and had an assist and Alex Hewit made 11 saves as the Tigers (10-3, 5-1 Ivy League)

Four days before the NCAA Division I tournament's 16-team bracket is unveiled, this much seems clear. Only two of nine at-large spots appear to be open, and those selections could hinge heavily on the results of this week's America East and Colonial Athletic Association conference tournaments, plus the fates of a couple of bubble teams from the Ivy League and a Patriot League also-ran. The NCAA lacrosse committee will examine the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a system based on the record of a team's opponents and the record of the opponents' opponents.