Katie Hoff

ATHENS - Any concerns that Katie Hoff would suffer aftereffects from her poor performance on the opening day of Olympic swimming were allayed in the first two rounds of the 200-meter individual medley yesterday. The 15-year-old from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club aced two tests. She was the third fastest in both the preliminaries and the semifinals. She won her evening semifinal and will be in Lane 3 in tonight's final. "I'm just so happy because I got over my disappointment and I'm in my first Olympic final," she said.

To those who spend their summers at a Baltimore-area pool, especially for anyone involved in competitive swimming, watching native son and daughter Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff dominate the field at the U.S. Olympic swim trials this week has been a thrill. Beijing may be a long way from local summer swim teams, with their 6-year-olds struggling to finish 25 meters of backstroke without veering off into the lane lines or preteen breaststroke heats so slow that timers may be tempted to trade their stopwatches for calendars, but the connection is there nonetheless.

ATHENS - Katie Hoff did better, not that it was good enough to satisfy her. Hoff, 15, of Abingdon, finished seventh in the 200-meter individual medley last night at the Olympic Aquatic Centre after failing to qualify for the final Saturday in the 400 IM. She was even in second place through the first half of the race behind eventual winner Yana Klochkova of Ukraine. "I was real happy to make the final," Hoff said. "I'm not going to lie. I'm a little disappointed with my race. I wanted to be closer to my best time."

Jeremy Goode scored 24 points, including Mount St. Mary's final 14 of the game, but host Quinnipiac (7-6, 2-1 Northeast Conference) escaped with a 64-63 win over the Mount (3-11, 0-3 NEC). Goode hit four 3-pointers over the final four minutes, including one at the buzzer. More basketball: Shanae Baker-Brice scored 19 points and added six rebounds to lead the Towson women (8-5, 2-0 Colonial Athletic Association) to a 66-58 victory over host Hofstra (7-7, 0-2). ... Senior guard Roland Dunston joined UMES as a walk-on.

Geovany Garcia set a personal best Thursday when he captured four races from seven mounts at Laurel Park. Garcia, 21, the younger brother of Maryland mainstay Luis Garcia , won on Reckless Runner ($5-first), Jackie Lad ($9.60-second), Giron ($9.80-fifth) and Roi de Coeurs ($10-seventh). Women's college lacrosse: Stevenson's 14-11 comeback victory at York on Wednesday was the 100th win in the career of head coach Kathy Railey , who is 36-31 with the Mustangs in five seasons and 100-70 in 11 seasons overall.

OMAHA, Neb. -- In the eyes of the world, Katie Hoff has always been a great swimmer. That was obvious, even when she was 14 years old. But at age 19, on the eve of her second Olympic Games, Hoff has become something more. Something that cannot be taught and cannot be acquired even with hours of training. She has become an elite racer. There is a difference between the two, swimmer and racer, and it is becoming increasingly evident - especially after last night's performance at the U.S. Olympic trials - that Hoff is mastering the latter.

AIFA Mariners trample Stampede, 63-15, to win Eastern title Led by five touchdown passes from E.J. Nemeth and five interceptions from the its defense, the Baltimore Mariners defeated the Harrisburg Stampede, 63-15, on Saturday to win the American Indoor Football Association Eastern Conference championship. The Mariners will host either the Wyoming Cavalry (13-1) or the San Jose Wolves (9-5) in the AIFA championship at 4 p.m. July 25 at 1st Mariner Arena. Major League Lacrosse Bayhawks fall into early 9-0 hole, drop fourth in row Midfielder Paul Rabil scored four goals and led an early onslaught that lifted the Boston Cannons to a 16-10 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

For now, Katie Hoff is content to be the other swimmer from Baltimore, the one not named Phelps, the one without the massive public relations machine and Olympic gold. What she's less satisfied with is the image from four years ago in Athens of a skinny little girl of 15, the youngest member of the U.S. team, who faltered under the suffocating pressure and hype of the Summer Games. Since 2004, Hoff has vacuumed up world records and titles and endorsement deals that have allowed her to drive a luxury car and buy her first home, but what Hoff really wants is to prove once and for all that she is the world's most versatile and dominant woman swimmer.

Olympians Michael Phelps of Fells Point and Katie Hoff of Towson won 400-yard individual medleys on Sunday night at the Southern California Grand Prix. Phelps finished in 3 minutes, 38.42 seconds, about a second behind his preliminary time but well ahead of second-place finisher Hidemasa Sano, who touched in 3:39.63. Todd Patrick was third in 3:45.54 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. Phelps won the 500-yard freestyle on Saturday as he continues getting back in competition shape.

Saturday marked the end of the road to London for Katie Hoff, the former Towson-based swimmer who failed to match her dominating performance in the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials. After failing to qualify in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle races earlier in the week, she entered the 800-free knowing she likely would not advance, which she didn't. "I'm proud of myself for doing it," said Hoff, who said her coach Paul Yetter left it up to her whether to swim the event. "Obviously I wanted to be better.