Relay

The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life will be held today and tomorrow at Westminster High School, 1225 Washington Road. The event honors cancer survivors and remembers cancer patients who have died. The all-night relay starts at 7 p.m. with an opening ceremony and a survivors lap around the school track. During a luminaria ceremony at 9:15 p.m., hundreds of candles in white bags will be placed around the track for the night. Participants take turns walking around the track in a relay format throughout the night.

Bel Air's boys medley relay team set a Harford County record Thursday night in a swim meet at Magnolia Middle School.Chris Holloway, Kevin Murach, Erik Jankowiak and Jeff Meyer combined to win the event in 1 minute, 47.82 seconds.The time broke the 1:48.73 recorded by Edgewood in 1990.

More than 1,000 area volunteers - including more than 50 local cancer survivors - are expected to take part in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life tonight at Burdick Field at Towson University. The event, intended to support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient services, will open with a "Survivors' Lap" in which participating cancer survivors are introduced by name and then walk, run or use a wheelchair in the ceremonial first lap. Relay teams will continue circling the track throughout the event, expected to last through the night.

It's a wonder Mervo coach Freddie Hendricks didn't have hand cramps from filling out ribbons at yesterday's Towson State Track and Field Relays at Minnegan Stadium.The top-ranked Mustangs won four relays and placed in a number of individual events."This pen seems to be rolling tonight," said Hendricks, sitting in the bleachers near the 50-yard line. "I thought we would do well, but I didn't know how well because I knew it was a big field."With perennial powers Old Mill and Eleanor Roosevelt of Prince George's County bringing only partial squads to Towson, Mervo easily emerged as the most decorated team in a field that was comprised of 30 public and private schools from around the state.

With the Olympics almost over, now might be a good time for some reflections and observations about the Games. I'll start with a controversial subject that has caused much debate the past few days.Should Carl Lewis be awarded a spot on the U.S. Olympic 4 x 100-meter relay team so he can have a shot at earning a record-setting 10th gold medal?Does Donald Trump eat Spam?On Wednesday the incomparable Lewis -- no spring chicken at 35 -- did the seemingly impossible, surging from behind to capture his fourth Olympic gold medal in the long jump.

More than 100 Arbutus Elementary School students would attend the neighboring Relay Elementary next fall under a boundary change being considered by the Baltimore County school board.To alleviate crowding at Arbutus, 116 students in the western part of the Arbutus district would be transferred to Relay, where an eight-classroom addition is under construction. That proposed move would bring the Arbutus enrollment down to capacity and still leave space at Relay, which is at 5885 Selford Road.

Good weather Saturday contributed to 11 record-setting events during the Duckworth Relays at Glenelg. The Oakland Mills boys and Long Reach girls each established three meet records. The River Hill boys set two, and the Oakland Mills girls, Glenelg girls and Howard boys each broke one. The Long Reach girls sprint hurdle relay broke a 17-year-old Atholton record by five seconds when Rolanda Howard, Cynthia Nicholls, Dionne Lambert and Shantee Lambert won in 57 seconds. Long Reach's long jump relay of Howard, Nicholls and Shayla Moore combined for a 49-foot record, breaking the old mark of 46 feet set by Howard High in 1995.

The Fallston girls 1,600-meter relay team won the event in a memorable finish that capped a memorable state track and field championship.Fallston relied on Laura Snyder and some strong running from its relay teams to finish fourth in Class 1A competition with 55 points at the state championship meet yesterday at Western Maryland College.Smithsburg won the title with 93 points.Snyder, who won the 300 hurdles Track and Fieldin 48.0 seconds, anchored the 1,600 relay and won the race for the Cougars with a wild final lap. She was about 10 yards out of the lead when she got the baton.

The Greater Baltimore Chapter of the American Cancer Society reported that it raised more than $1 million in the past three weeks in nine "Relay for Life" events held throughout the metropolitan area.More than 10,000 people participated in the relays, in which teams of about a dozen people take turns walking around an athletic track at night. Teams solicited pledges from friends and family and held mini-fund-raisers. They set up campsites near the tracks for games and socializing when it wasn't their turn to walk.

It's just 6 cents a month, but the state government's going to be taking a little less out of your pocket.The Schaefer administration announced yesterday that the monthly fee Maryland phone subscribers pay to support a service that provides telephone links for hearing- and speech-impaired people will fall from 21 cents to 15 cents as of October.The surcharge, which appears on Marylanders' monthly phone bills, is reviewed annually and adjusted to reflect the costs of running the Maryland Relay System.