Kesmodel

It doesn't seem to matter what class Mount Hebron plays at -- the Vikings are as good as gold.The Howard County team (16-1) ran its string of successive state championships to four last night, the first two in Class 1A-2A, the last two in 3A-4A.C.M. Wright (11-5) from Harford County, became the latest victim, as it was simply overwhelmed, 20-7, at Catonsville Community College.Wright was within a goal midway through the first half, but Mount Hebron scored four more before halftime. The leaders then came out and scored three in less than a minute, effectively taking Wright out of the game.

Mount Hebron may be ranked No. 1, but coach P. J. Kesmodel and the Vikings often feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of local girls lacrosse.So Kesmodel took his team to play No. 2 Roland Park, and the Vikings proved they should own the No. 1 spot. With an 11-6 victory, the Vikings ended the Reds' 25-game winning streak in the championship of the Roland Park North-South Invitational Tournament yesterday in northern Baltimore City."We never get any respect," said Kesmodel, whose Vikings won the Class 2A/1A state title last spring.

Another day, another blowout.That has been the story each time top-ranked Mount Hebron has faced a county opponent over the past two seasons. The Vikings followed that plot faithfully yesterday, as eight players scored in a 23-3 rout over visiting Oakland Mills that clinched Hebron's third straight county girls lacrosse title and extended its winning streak to 31.After ending the regular season today against Wilde Lake, the Vikings (13-0, 6-0) will turn their attention to the defense of their 1A/2A state championship.

Bucking a technological trend created by the state education department several years ago, Howard County Superintendent John R. O'Rourke is planning to bring vocational education back to the system's public high schools. Parents in Howard County have complained since 1996 - when the old vocational-training School for Technology was replaced by the glitzy, technology-laden Applications and Research Lab - that students who were better with their hands than with books were being shortchanged.

The victims keep piling up at Mount Hebron's feet.Last night, the top-ranked Vikings took aim at eighth-ranked, undefeated Liberty in the Class 2A-1A, Region I championship game. The result read much like the rest of Mount Hebron's season.Cathy Nelson tied a school record with eight goals, and the Hebron defense held Liberty scoreless for two-thirds of the game, as the Vikings routed the Lions, 17-7.Hebron (16-0), which has won 34 consecutive games, moves on to the state semifinals Friday at Catonsville Community College, where the Vikings will try to take another step toward their second straight 2A-1A title.

Mount Hebron senior attack Lori Pasquantonio doesn't do anything flashy around the cage.She just keeps scoring and scoring, enough to earn her several Vikings records, memories of two state titles, a full scholarship to the University of Virginia and honors as The Baltimore Sun's Howard County Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year."

Cathy Nelson, Mount Hebron, Sr., attack -- The Howard County Player of the Year, Nelson scored almost at will. Speed, quickness, agility and a strong left hand make her an impressive player, but it's what goes on in her mind that lifts Nelson above the rest. "She's a great decision maker -- the best I've ever coached on the athletic field, male or female," said Vikings coach P. J. Kesmodel. "When we put the ball in her hands, something good happens. She's creative. On the spot, she'll decide to do something she's never done before to make it work.

This was not a shabby Liberty girls lacrosse team tha top-ranked and unbeaten Mount Hebron tore through last night.The eighth-ranked Lions entered the game with a 13-0 record, four straight Carroll county championships and a 16-goal average a game.But Liberty was no match for powerful Mount Hebron, a team that has everything and can intimidate opponents by just showing up.The Vikings (15-0) never got out of cruise control on the way to a 17-7 victory over the Lions in the Class 2A-1A, Region I girls lacrosse championship game at Liberty.

Megan Drake scored a record-tying eight goals to lead Mount Hebron High School's girls lacrosse team to a 17-10 rout yesterday over host Centennial.Hebron (3-0 county, 6-2 overall) knocked off the defending county champions and avenged its only league loss in four years -- the Eagles beat Hebron last year -- with an overwhelming offensivedisplay in the first half.The Vikings scored the game's first five goals, then blew out Centennial (2-1, 4-3) with nine unanswered goals to take a 14-2 halftimelead.

Urbana's girls soccer team surprised 11th-ranked River Hill, 1-0, in overtime last night at Urbana in a game officiated by parents.When no referees showed up, River Hill coach Cynthia Odell was told that an Urbana parent, whose daughter plays on the JV, had college-level experience."