Olympic Festival

SAN ANTONIO -- Baltimore's Jerry Roney finished fourth last night in the 110-meter hurdles of the U.S. Olympic Festival at Alamo Stadium.Roney, 23, had a time of 13.95 seconds. Robert Reading, 26, of Buffalo, N.Y., won the race in 13.71. Glenn Terry, 22, of Bloomington, Ind., was second at 13.84 and Allen Johnson, 22, of Fairfax, Va., was third with a time of 13.86.Roney struggled early and was near last midway through the race, but made up ground and was gaining on Terry and Johnson at the finish.

SAN ANTONIO -- Ryan Sittler was thinking -- daydreaming, really -- about how exciting it would be if the Flyers selected him in the 1992 NHL draft. The Flyers had the seventh pick and Sittler, a hot-shot high school player, was on the board."

SAN ANTONIO -- Forward Cammi Granato has all her teeth. Forward Cindy Curley has no scars. Body checks aren't allowed, and there are no fights.And these are ice hockey players? "The thing we hear most is: 'I didn't even know women played ice hockey,' " said Karen Kay, coach of Team USA. "It's not the NHL, but we don't want to be the NHL."Gender equity is now a part of the Olympic movement. Softball will be in the 1996 Games, women's soccer is a strong possibility and water polo is a long shot.

SAN ANTONIO -- Baltimore hurdler Jerry Roney hasn't had BTC good showing in the past two months, but he's hoping for a new beginning when he competes in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday afternoon.Roney turned in a personal best of 13.50 seconds at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America semifinals in May while competing for James Madison in his last year of eligibility."In college, everything always came easy," said Roney, The Baltimore Sun's 1987-88 Athlete of the Year.

SAN ANTONIO -- Lynne Coburn's serve is averaging nearly 130 mph. Her hair and uniform are drenched, the result of changing directions and banging off walls while moving at full speed.And she has played for only 75 minutes.Actually, Coburn has been playing racquetball for 12 years, but she would like to extend her career until the year 2000.That's when Coburn hopes racquetball will become an Olympic sport."Oh, I keep telling myself I will be in my prime then," said Coburn, a 26-year-old physical education teacher at Ridgely Middle School in Baltimore County.

SAN ANTONIO -- Grammy Award winner Bruce Hornsby sang. Olympic gold-medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi smiled and signed autographs. There was a laser light show, a pyrotechnics display and another show by the group that recently performed stunts in the movie, "The Last Action Hero."A sellout crowd of 63,000 crammed into the Alamodome last night to watch the opening ceremonies of the United States Olympic Festival.This is more than just sports competition for the nearly 1 million people who live here.

Come September, Peggy Boutilier could finish her what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation essay in three words -- "I played hockey."Then again, the Roland Park senior might want to elaborate on her trip to the United States Olympic Festival in San Antonio July 19-28.Sandwiched within a busy camp schedule, the Olympic Festival competition provides Boutilier, 18, with her highest level of experience yet. Boutilier and St. Paul's graduate Tricia Burdt were the only Baltimore-area girls selected to the Olympic Festival's four field hockey teams.

All-Metro field hockey stars Peggy Boutilier, Julie Jakum, Lauren Volk and Kelly Naylor rank among the best locally, but next weekend they will discover how they compare to the nation's best high school players.At the United States Field Hockey Association's Futures National Tournament in Boston, the four will compete for spots in the Olympic Festival in San Antonio, July 22-29, or the Amateur Athletic Union's Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 1-7.Those attending the Olympic Festival will join another Baltimore star -- Tricia Burdt, last fall's All-Metro Field Hockey Player of the Year.

All-Metro field hockey stars Peggy Boutilier, Julie Jakum, Lauren Volk and Kelly Naylor rank among the best locally, but next weekend they will discover how they compare to the nation's best high school players.At the United States Field Hockey Association's Futures National Tournament in Boston, the four will compete for spots in the Olympic Festival in San Antonio, July 22-29, or the AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 1-7.Any who make it to the Olympic Festival will join another Baltimore star -- Tricia Burdt, last fall's All-Metro Field Hockey Player of the Year.

A pair of local swimmers will soon be on their way to the prestigious United States Olympic Festival to be held in San Antonio, Texas, July 26-30.Elysia Moreland, of Howard High, and Ingrid Kilpe, of Centennial -- both with the highly successful Retriever Aquatic Club -- were chosen earlier this week to participate. They will be joined by David Miller, a graduate of Centennial who now competes for UMBC.All three were selected based on their performances earlier this month at the Senior Nationals in Nashville, Tenn.