Oakland Mills

Howard County had a day to remember at Saturday's cold and chilly state cross country meet at Hereford. River Hill swept the Class 2A state crowns; Glenelg took the Class 1A boys; and Howard captured the Class 3A girls title. Wilde Lake finished second - just one point behind Bethesda-Chevy Chase - in the Class 3A boys, and Joey Thompson (Howard) and Kyle Andrews (Oakland Mills) won individual titles on the hilly course. "It's kind of a special thing to be able to do this," said River Hill coach Earl Lauer.

All-County junior guard Miriam McKenzie is a team captain in her third season starting for Oakland Mills. Playing both guard positions and some at small forward, McKenzie is averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Scorpions this season. McKenzie, 5 feet 8, started playing basketball when she was 6 and spent the past two seasons playing Amateur Athletic Union ball for the Maryland Hurricanes. She maintains a 3.3 grade point average, and her favorite class is French, which she took up in seventh grade.

The Oakland Mills Tiger Sharks, the team with the fewest members in the Columbia Neighborhood Swim League, had won only one meet since 1993 entering Saturday's competition against the Clary's Forest Sundevils. But they are back in the win column, thanks to a 307-296 victory over the Sundevils at the Swansfield pool. Tigers Sharks head coach Brandon Thornton, 24, remembers the victory 14 years ago when he was a 10-year-old swimmer on the team. He watched them win once more as an assistant coach in a meet against Clary's Forest in 2003.

The No. 2 McDonogh boys lacrosse team defeated visiting Hempfield (Pa.), 13-2, yesterday. Tyler Frederick had three goals and three assists for the Eagles (14-3), who took an 8-0 halftime lead over the Black Knights (7-2). Softball No. 1 Seton Keough 5, Mount de Sales 3 -- Carly Martin improved to 9-1 this season as she struck out eight to lead the host Gators (10-1) over the Sailors (4-11). Oakland Mills -- Third baseman Carine Fobbs, hit in the head by a line drive during Friday's game against Centennial, was released from the hospital.

The trio Milkshake will perform at The Other Barn, 5851 Robert Oliver Place in the Oakland Mills Village Center, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. The trio specializes in high-energy rock music for children. Tickets are $10 for children ages 1 and older, and adults. Information: 410-730-4610. Workshop to teach baby-sitting skills The Columbia Teen Center, 5853 Robert Oliver Place, will offer its one-day "Babysitting Made Easy" workshop from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 19, June 30 and July 21. The program for ages 11-14 includes first aid, emergency procedures, safety precautions and other babysitting skills.

To ensure construction of an office building considered vital to revitalization of the Oakland Mills Village Center, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said yesterday that the county will buy one-quarter of the space for public use. Standing before a large sign picturing the planned Meridian Square office condominium building, Ulman said "the county has signed a letter of intent to buy one floor of the building" for $4 million. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year on Meridian Square, a four-story, 60,000- square-foot, environmentally "green" building.

Wilde Lake made only three first downs, but won yesterday.The 10th-ranked Wildecats defeated No. 8 Oakland Mills in an emotional, hard-fought overtime game, 13-10.Mario Merrills provided the winning touchdown, breaking a tackle at the 10-yard line on first down after Oakland Mills' Robert Roche had kicked a 30-yard field goal in overtime for a short-lived 10-7 Scorpions lead.The rivalry between the teams is always intense, and yesterday's game was more so because it had both county championship and playoff implications.

Two men sought in the New Year's Day pizza-driver shooting and robbery at a Columbia apartment complex were arrested yesterday by FBI agents in North Carolina.Pursuing a tip to the Baltimore area's FBI office and Howard County police, the federal agency's Charlotte Fugitive Task Force arrested the two suspects at a residence there at 4: 20 p.m. yesterday, said Special Agent Peter A. Gulotta, an FBI spokesman in Baltimore.Two employees of Papa John's Pizza in the Harper's Choice Village Center were robbed and one was shot after being sent to the Harpers Forest apartment complex Jan. 1 to deliver an $81.05 order that was placed from a pay phone, according to county police.

Brian Clavelle isn't considered one of the bigger names on an Oakland Mills team featuring more than a dozen wrestlers from last year's Howard County runners-up. In fact, this season has been a struggle at times for the 135-pound sophomore.Yesterday against host Atholton, however, Clavelle came through with one of the biggest wins in the county this year, overcoming a 7-0, third-period deficit to pin the Raiders' Jeff Anderson and help Oakland Mills to a pivotal 37-25 victory.The pin was one of five on the day for the Scorpions, but the timing couldn't have been better.

On a day when Howard was celebrating its 25th anniversary undefeated state championship football team, the current Lions honored that team the best way it could -- by staying unbeaten and on track for the state Class 2A playoffs.Howard fullback Travis Irving captured the exuberent feeling of the homecoming crowd at the Lions' stadium yesterday when he stood on the team bench and held up his left index finger signaling to a throng of 2,000-plus fans that the Lions are No. 1.A victory celebration then ensued for the No. 8-ranked Lions, 20-7 winners over rival and No. 6-ranked Oakland Mills.

Jazz in the Mills: As part of the 2009 bimonthly Sunday evening jazz series, the Oakland Mills Music and Art Committee presents vocalist Eric Byrd and the Eric Byrd Trio paying tribute to the great Ray Charles. Tickets are $15-$20 and the concert begins at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Oakland Mills Village Center, 5851 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia. Call 410-730-1129 or go to oaklandmills.org. Summer solstice concert: Celebrate the official start of summer Sunday with the sounds of Maggie Sansone's Celtic Faire Band at Historic London Town and Gardens.

The Phoenix Cultural Singles Group, a Columbia social group for those 50 and older, meets from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Sundays at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, 5885 Robert Oliver Place in the Oakland Mills Village Center. Coffee, tea and a light snack are served. The group plans trips to places of interest, such as the White House and Ocean City, and events, such as dancing to the music of the Glenn Miller Orchestra at Turf Valley Resort. Information: 410-997-0739. Around town Single again : Changing Focus/Single Again, a nonprofit program for adults who are separated, widowed or in the process of divorce, provides weekly presentations and small-group discussions in a confidential, comfortable atmosphere.

The Howard County Health Department, in conjunction with the school system, sent letters to parents at Oakland Mills High School on Tuesday informing them that a 14-year-old male student at the school is being treated for nonairborne tuberculosis. Health officials say the student was diagnosed with the form of nonpulmonary tuberculosis in February and was removed from the school while he received initial treatment. The student, who is noncommunicable, has since returned to school. It is unknown how the student contracted the disease, but health officials said Thursday that the student did not contract the disease at school.

The UU Chalice Concert Series will present its final concert of the season, a solo performance by pianist Irene Kim, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way. A student at the Peabody Conservatory, where she studies with Boris Sluts ky, Kim has performed in the United States, Canada and Spain. Tickets, available at the door, are $20, $12 for students. Children to age 12 are admitted for free with a paying adult. Patron tickets are $27. Information: 410-381-0097 or www.uucolumbia.

Oakland Mills senior Gionni Williams says he's always been a scorer, even from his earliest days playing basketball. Two weeks ago, the 6-foot guard made history, scoring a school-record 45 points in a 65-49 win over Reservoir, also setting a school mark with eight three-pointers. For the season, Williams averaged better than 21 points per game, helping the Scorpions more than double their win total of a year ago. Next, the 17-year-old plans to take his game to Allegany College in Cumberland, where he hopes to follow the likes of Steve Francis, Jamar Smith and Ryan Randle to a Division I program.

If any place is in need of 'resurgence,' it's U.S. 40 The article about the proposed office building in Oakland Mills ("Oakland Mills office building project is scuttled," Feb. 15) is indicative of the unwise decision by County Executive Ken Ulman and the County Council to purchase for more than $4 million one floor of a future building in Columbia. My suggestion is to use that money to finally develop a design manual and special zoning regulations as promised more than four years ago to the Route 40 Enhancement Study Committee.

The Oakland Mills Community Association will hold annual village elections on April 25. The association is seeking candidates to run for seven open seats on the Oakland Mills board and one open seat as the Oakland Mills representative to the Columbia Council. Terms are for one year. Nominations will be accepted Tuesday through March 13. Nomination petitions and candidate information packets are available at The Other Barn. Information: Sandy Cederbaum at 410-730-4610, omca@columbiavillages.

A proposed office building once hailed as a key sign of resurgence at the Oakland Mills Village Center has been scuttled, according to county officials. The site, a 1.7-acre lot on Stevens Forest Road, was last used for a gas station. That business closed in 1999 and the buildings were demolished two years later. County Executive Ken Ulman said the project was scrapped after ExxonMobil, which owns the lot, refused to hold the land any longer for Metroventures, the Baltimore-based developer that proposed the 59,000-square-foot, four-story building.

River Hill's No. 6 girls basketball team struggled early with its inside game against No. 14 Mount Hebron's typically tough defense, but the host Hawks' guards pulled the team through for a 48-41 victory last night in a Howard County league game. In the first half, Shantrel Oliver hit three three-pointers and Alex Vega hit two more to spark the Hawks (11-0, 8-0 league) to an early lead they never relinquished. Those three-pointers made a big difference, as each team finished with 14 field goals.

It's not like Terry Virts knew, as a kid growing up in Baltimore and Columbia, that he would one day become an astronaut and rocket off into space. "I realized how unlikely it was," he says. But he sure liked the idea. Spaceflight fascinated him since kindergarten, when he first picked up a book about the Apollo moon landings. So "in the back of my mind, I always did the things I needed to do to keep doors open." This month, NASA assigned the 41-year-old Air Force colonel to pilot the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station.