Racquetball

Jill Baer of Westminster recently won a regional 14-under girls racquetball championship in Towson.Last year, Baer, a ninth-grader at Westminster High School, was junior girls state racquetball champion.WallyballCarroll teams took three titles at the American Wallyball Association-sponsored 1993 National Wallyball Championships in Westerville, Ohio, last month.Mark Fine and Dave Zile won the men's open doubles title.Fine, Zile, Hak Koudelka and Wayne Barnes combined to win the men's fours intermediate championship.

Evelyn Mogren lets the chips fall where they may nearly every day. After pull-starting her gas-powered chain saw, she deftly applies the tip to a parrot's wing, a fox's tail or a rabbit's fur coat, and their hides and claws begin emerging from blocks of pine. Fragrant chips fly everywhere like rocket-powered confetti, and sawdust blankets the patio at the side of her family's Thunder Hill Road home. It's a paradox unfurling right before an observer's eyes: a vibrating power tool, commonly used to prune trees and harvest firewood, that can just as readily finesse the delicate feathers of a bird, the fine strands of hair on an animal, or a pair of soulful eyes - when guided by skilled hands.

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.

Heidi Halleck has a difficult time explaining tp friends and strangers what squash -- the sport, not the vegetable -- is."Most people don't even know what squash is," she says. "If I say that squash is like racquetball except that the racket is bigger than a racquetball racket and smaller than a tennis racket, then they understand."The game, popular among the country-club types in the Northeast, is beginning to earn a distinct local flavor in Howard County, courtesy of Halleck and Raja Riaz Arshad.

Mark D. Sokolik, a corporate lawyer remembered as a fitness and music enthusiast, died last week after complications from a fall. He was 30. A former Hunt Valley resident who attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Mr. Sokolik went on to graduate from the University of Baltimore and become a top student at Georgetown University's Law Center. Since 2010, he had worked as a corporate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in New York, one of the nation's top law firms. "Mark was a real gentle person," said Frank Sokolik, his father, whom Mark talked with constantly on the phone.

The Leisure Racquetball Club has been sold to its longtime manager and her husband, who say they plan to offer more activities for children.Kathy Cornell -- manager of the club for 11 years -- and her husband, Joseph Cornell, purchased the business Feb. 1, former owner Charles H. Winterstein said Wednesday.They waited to announce the sale until all paper work was final, he said.Winterstein, 53, of Westminster still owns the building, but said he decided to sell the club, which he opened 12 years ago, to have more time for himself.

Name: Jill and Ryan BaerHonored by The Carroll County Sun for: Placing in the Maryland State Juniors Racquetball Championships earlier this month at the Merritt Athletic Club in Baltimore CountyAge: Jill is 13 and brother Ryan is 9Residence; hometown: WestminsterEducation: Jill is an eighth-grader at East Middle School inWestminster; Ryan is a third-grader at William Winchester Elementary School in WestminsterFamily: Father: Tony, employed at Giant Food...

It's pretty safe to say that Towson University has been a PR disaster of late. From the ham-handed way it tried to cut its baseball and men's soccer teams to the knuckleheads talking about forming a White Student Union, the school's been in the news for all the wrong reasons. So let's talk about something positive today: Towson's new 5,200-seat arena is about ready to open. And it's a beauty. Before we go any further, I feel compelled to report that as of right now, it's being called Tiger Arena.

Thinking of taking a nice evening stroll to "walk off" your Thanksgiving dinner? Plan to be gone for more than six hours. That's how long it would take a person who weighs 155 pounds to burn the roughly 1,650 calories eaten in a typical Turkey Day feast - and that's without going back for seconds. Here's a breakdown by dish: Turkey (115 calories in 3 slices) and gravy (178 calories in 1/2 cup) = 293 calories = 71 minutes of walking Mashed potatoes = 111 calories in 1/2 cup = 14 minutes of racquetball Stuffing = 198 calories in 1/2 cup = 21 minutes of biking Green beans = 18 calories = 2 minutes of ice skating or 2 minutes of racquetball Green bean casserole = 110 calories in 2/3 cup = 13 minutes of ice skating Sweet potatoes, candied = 192 calories in 1/2 cup = 16 minutes of swimming Dinner roll = 115 calories = 14 minutes of tennis Cranberry sauce = 105 calories in 1/4 cup = 9 minutes of jumping rope Pumpkin pie = 367 calories in 1 slice = 45 minutes of jogging Glass of wine = 142 calories in 1 glass (7 ounces)

Night out -- The Columbia Association's Supreme Sports Club will offer a "Fun Fitness Night Out" for middle school pupils who want to try six sports: swimming, skating, basketball, racquetball, wallyball and aerobics, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 17. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and athletic shoes, and bring a bathing suit and towel. The event is open to all middle-schoolers. The cost is $5. The Supreme Sports Club is at 7080 Deepage Drive, Columbia. The deadline to register is Sunday.