Play Soccer

As a senior at South High School in Wichita, Kan., back in 1992, Jamie Harding got in trouble for winning the 300-meter hurdles at the city track meet. Less than a week before, Harding, also a standout soccer player, had passed out after a meet. He visited a heart specialist, and a monitor showed his heart was, at rest, beating 18 to 25 times a minute; the average for an athlete is between 45 and 60. A pacemaker - a miniature electrical device that keeps the beat normal - had to be inserted.

Archbishop Spalding goalkeeper Cassidy Babin, a second-team All-Metro selection last year, has made a commitment to play soccer at Massachusetts. In her second season starting this fall, Babin is 6-3-3 with five shutouts, 54 saves and seven goals allowed for the No. 4 Cavaliers.

Moves Football LIONS: Agreed with QB Jeff Garcia on one-year contract. RAIDERS: Signed free-agent DE Derrick Burgess, who had been with Eagles. VIKINGS: Signed S Darren Sharper to four-year contract. High schools CATONSVILLE: Ashley Harvey has accepted full tennis scholarship to Long Island University. FALLSTON: F C.J. Cover committed to play soccer at Mount St. Mary's.

D.C. United acquired forward Adam Cristman from the Kansas City Wizards for one of its 2010-2011 international roster spots. Cristman, who starred at Virginia, played in five games last season before suffering a fractured metatarsal that required surgery. Baseball: The Milwaukee Brewers claimed right-hander Marco Estrada off waivers from the Washington Nationals. Estrada, 26, was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA last season. Pro basketball: The Maryland Marvels defeated the Tri-City Suns on Sunday behind 27 points from Eric Bigby , 26 from Curtis Massey (Bowie State)

Position: Kicker College: Marshall Who he is: This rookie free agent was a four-year standout for Marshall. He played for the Detroit Fury of the Arena League. He made 51 of 56 PATs and was 3-for-13 on field-goal tries. Favorite football moment: "Of course probably signing right here, the first time signing in the NFL. The second one was when I was in Arena ball and I had a 57-yard field goal in the playoffs." What he misses most from home: "Being in Atlanta. I love Atlanta." Ravens mentor: "It's a little bit of a combination, [Matt]

Niki Walters, Mercy SPORT SOCCER GIRLS STATS -- The goalie for a Mercy soccer team that finished 9-8-1, Walters made 189 saves and stopped 89 percent of the shots she faced. The senior also plays for the Parkville Soccer Club elite team and has been a goalie since she was in seventh grade. Walters, who also runs indoor track and plays lacrosse for the Magic, hopes to play soccer in college. SIDELINES -- An honor student, Walters wants to go to culinary arts school and hopes to own her own restaurant.

Steve Quaranta always will remember the Baltimore Bays' home opener last month at Du Burns Arena. The Highlandtown native recorded a hat trick that cool November night, much to the delight of the near sellout crowd.Then he went home and cried, the tears triggered by the sight of an empty seat in the stands."We started the season on the road and that wasn't too bad, but when I stepped on the field for the first home game, it was really tough," said Quaranta, who took a leave of absence from the Bays last season to care for his father Thomas Sr., who was diagnosed with lung cancer last fall.

Jean Harbor's contract negotiations were stalled last night, and midfielder Waad Hirmez said he could be headed back to the San Diego Sockers in a trade.That was the state of the 1-4 Baltimore Blast less than 48 hours before the team was scheduled to meet the Sockers tomorrow night at the Baltimore Arena.Harbor, a standout forward from the Maryland Bays, said he was disappointed the Blast had not changed its contract proposal from Wednesday night, and he called off a scheduled workout near his Silver Spring home.

A three-year varsity player, Arundel's Jon McGowan is one of 10 key seniors on the Wildcats' Anne Arundel County champion boys soccer team. A forward-midfielder, McGowan had 10 goals and seven assists heading into the Class 4A East regional playoffs this week for the Wildcats (11-2-2). McGowan has a 3.85 grade point average, scored 1,790 on his SAT and hopes to play soccer in college. Was winning the county championship outright this season one of the team goals this year? Absolutely.

The par-3 fourth hole is particularly hazardous, with its long fairway that doglegs to the left.A driver would be recommended in most cases, but this is a much different case.No golf clubs are needed on this course. The dimpled little balls you're used to seeing are replaced by much bigger ones with panels.The holes are 28 inches in diameter, plenty of room to put a size 5 soccer ball through.A strong leg suffices for your woods, an accurate foot works as your putter and wedge. No caddie is necessary.

Calvert Hall forward Pete Caringi III has signed a national letter of intent to play men's soccer at UMBC, where his father is the coach. The younger Caringi was a first-team All-Metro player after scoring 15 goals this fall, the second straight season he led the team in scoring. In other news, forward Nirav Kadam , who played at Northwest in Germantown and at UNC-Greensboro, signed a grant-in-aid and will matriculate at UMBC this spring; he'll have two years of eligibility.

Former Loyola soccer player Sarra Moller , now a Greyhounds assistant coach, has signed a contract to play for Kvarnsvedens IK, a professional women's soccer team in Sweden. Moller is the first Loyola women's soccer player to play professionally overseas. Moller concluded her college playing career in 2008 by earning All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference first-team honors for the fourth consecutive year. She was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year during her freshman and senior seasons.

Poly sweeper Nick Halkias said his love for soccer emerges from his Greek heritage, something he is as proud of as his success on the field. Halkias, 17, helped the Engineers win the Baltimore city championship last season and has played a major role in their 4-2 start this fall. The senior also wrestles for Poly and plays basketball for the Greek Orthodox Youth Association team at his church, St. Nicholas. He hopes to play soccer in college, where the B-average student plans to major in kinesiology.

A two-year captain and four-year varsity player, senior center midfielder Alex Workman is looking forward to leading a largely new group of starters while maintaining the success the Bruins have enjoyed in his first three seasons. While he will provide vocal leadership when called upon, Workman's tireless work and technically sound play in the middle of the field speaks volumes. Maintaining a weighted 3.6 grade-point average, Workman plans to study business and play soccer in college. LaSalle University tops his list among the various schools showing interest in him. Over the summer, Workman helped his Baltimore Bays' 91 premier club win the State Cup championship.

They told stories about the Browning family for an hour last night, the most colorful of which involved Greg Browning's attempts to play soccer. Instead of scoring goals, the rambunctious 13-year-old made his classmates laugh, and the dozens who showed up on the steps of the family's Cockeysville home for a vigil continued to do so as they remembered his antics. "He was just so funny," said Gabe Ford, 13, to the chuckles of his classmates. "We would play soccer, and the kid would never run straight.

UMBC's shutdown defender this season came out of a physical education class once taught by Retrievers soccer coach Pete Caringi. It's an incongruity that still amazes - and amuses - the veteran coach. "Philippe was in my class, and he was a good player," the longtime UMBC coach said of Philippe Bissohong. "But it was a 0 percent chance that he'd be such an impact player at a Division I level." In the spring of 2006, when Bissohong walked on to Caringi's team, there was little about his game to suggest he would be a contributor for the Retrievers, much less one of the better defenders in America East.

School: Fourth-grader at Mechanicsville Elementary School.Honored for: A dedication to playing the violin. Thursday, he will play at the governor's mansion along with other students in the Westminster Youth Orchestra.Damon was first inspired to play a stringed instrument when he was 3 years old, Mrs. Greene said. He spotted a photograph of a child playing a cello in Baltimore's Child magazine, and asked her to cut it out and hang it on the refrigerator."It's just something he's always been fascinated with," Mrs. Greene said.

Towson has been one of the better soccer teams in Baltimore County the past three seasons, and forward Wils Alpern is a big reason. The senior has led the team in scoring the past two seasons and was an integral part of the 2005 Class 3A co-champions. He scored Towson's goal in a 1-1 tie against River Hill to give the Generals a share of the crown. Alpern has been kicking soccer balls since he was 4 years old and along with leading Towson, he has helped his Howard County club team, the Soccer Association of Columbia, to titles the past two years.

It was an hour before game time on Thursday when the Centennial girls soccer team was set to host its biggest county rival, River Hill. Centennial senior Elsa Wu, a captain and the team's focal point on offense, was not nervous. Not yet anyway. That doesn't happen until she's standing there waiting for the first whistle to blow. When the momentary butterflies come, she knows she's ready to go. Wu, a midfielder/forward in her fourth season on varsity, also plays guard for the Eagles basketball team and has played tennis for two years after running outdoor track as a freshman.