Second Shot

Chances are very good that a Baltimore-based fighter, Ron Essett, could be laying claim to a title belt soon. His manager, LTC Ton Rothe, revealed yesterday that Essett is getting a shot at the WBC super middleweight title of Mauro Galvano June 5 in Monte Carlo."

The No. 20 Duke men's lacrosse team jumped all over host No. 4 North Carolina early and often Wednesday night. A strong first-half performance and finish led the Blue Devils to an 11-8 upset of the rival Tar Heels. Jordan Wolf finished with a game-high three goals for Duke, which led 8-4 at halftime. A third-quarter lull let Carolina back in as the Heels went on a 3-0 run to cut the gap to 8-7. But Duke outscored Carolina 3-1 in the fourth, with Wolf adding the final goal with 1:49 left.

Golfers like to tell stories, and the one about Michael Newstead's accident spread across the fairway and to the emergency room even before he got there, picking up an embellishment here and there.Contrary to rumors, a golf ball did not lodge in his leg. Nor did it go through it. Nor was he hit with a club by another golfer.But it was indeed an unusual accident that befell Mr. Newstead on Saturday at the Oakmont Green course in Hampstead.He turned to watch a member of his foursome take a second shot, and the ball rocketed 35 yards toward his shin so fast and hard, it broke both of the long bones.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and affiliated Baltimore Catholic League have adopted a 35-second shot clock for the upcoming basketball season. The shot clock will be in place this season for all three of the MIAA conferences and the BCL at the varsity and junior varsity levels. After years of consideration, the addition of the shot clock was approved in April at an annual meeting among MIAA athletic directors after the leagues' coaches made a formal proposal following the conclusion of last season.

About 280 students at Roland Park Elementary-Middle School failed to show proof of a measles booster and were unable to attend classes as of yesterday, according to city health officials.City health officials -- who have run four free vaccination clinics at the 1,700-student school since last week -- were to offer free boosters at the school once again today, from 1 to 5 p.m.Students will be barred from the school unless they can show they have been immunized again against the disease while the outbreak is going on, said John Santelli, head of school and adolescent health for the city Health Department.

Roland Park Elementary-Middle School students still were being re-immunized today against a possible outbreak of measles.City health nurses were expected back at the 1,700-student school tomorrow afternoon for another session of booster shots.Two suspected cases of measles were reported at the school in late March. The school was closed the week of March 31 for spring break, but students were told to return to classes last Monday with proof that they had received a second measles shot."You want to try to give them that second shot within two weeks of a report of a suspected case," said Ed Hirshorn, assistant chief in the immunization division of the state Health Department.

No. 9, which measures 605 yards, is what the pros call a "three-shot" par-5. It's fronted by a ravine that discourages all but the longest hitters from even considering a try to reach the green in two shots. Dennis Trixler found a way to solve the lay of the land.In order to take advantage of the wide landing area 230 yards out, Trixler hit a 5-wood from the tee. He used the same club for his second shot, which left him 122 yards to the pin. He then hit a pitching wedge that landed two yards short of the hole and bounced in. It was the only eagle of the first round.

This one won't go down as a classic victory for the Westminster High girls basketball team.But the inconsistent Owls aren't in a position to be too particular these days, and they will gladly take last night's 41-39 decision over Montgomery Blair at Westminster.Kenya Warfield scored 18 points to lead the Owls, and Brooke Holland had 14.Westminster (7-7) held off the Blazers (10-4) in the final seconds after squandering a 10-point third-quarter lead.Blair was down 40-39 with 14 seconds left when the Blazers missed two straight layup opportunities inside.

Seve Ballesteros tossed away a two-stroke lead, then won the $875,000 British PGA championship in Virginia Water, England, on the first playoff hole yesterday.The Spaniard edged Scotsman Colin Montgomerie for his first victory this year on the European Tour. He collected $145,000, winning the PGA event for the second time.Montgomerie got into the playoff with birdies on the last two holes to complete a final round of 67. He was in the clubhouse as Ballesteros put his tee shot on the 17th behind a tree on the way to a bogey-6 that dropped him a shot back.

At Timbers at Troy, after you've negotiated rolling hills off the tees, avoided sculpted bunkers and reached a green in regulation strokes, there's no guarantee you can walk away with a two-putt par. Timbers, a county-owned public course off Route 103 in eastern Howard, has bentgrass fairways that make iron shots a joy to hit, intimidating environmental areas and a design that capitalizes on the area's rolling terrain. But the real challenges are the tiered, undulating greens, as friends Tom, Jesse, Bill and I learned when we played there on a recent morning.

A man was shot Friday night by an unknown suspect who came out of a East Baltimore alley firing a gun, according to a Baltimore police spokesman. Shortly after 7:30 p.m., city officers found a 30-year-old man with gunshot wounds in his shoulder and leg sitting on the front steps of a house in the 2600 block of Ashland Ave., police said. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released. Police determined the shooting took place in the 800 block of N. Belnord Avenue after a man came out of an alley and started firing, according to spokesman Det. Kevin Brown.

Ryan McConnel compares what he does for a living to "trying to hold onto a tornado or something." And he loves what he does. McConnel rides bulls, rides them for eight seconds at a shot - if he's lucky, which is about half the time. He's a pro, one of 2009's Top 10 riders on the Professional Bull Riders circuit. The New Mexico native's coming off a year in which he earned $146,500, which isn't bad money for a guy who can get the better of a four-footed animal about every other time he tries.

President Barack Obama nominated Baltimore U.S. District Court Judge Andre M. Davis on Thursday to fill a long-vacant seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, calling his judicial record one of "integrity and fairness." It is Davis' second shot at the seat, left empty since the 2000 death of Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. That fall, President Bill Clinton nominated Davis to the Richmond, Va.-based court, but the Republican-controlled Senate never confirmed him, and the nomination expired shortly thereafter.

BETHESDA -- The last time Stuart Appleby was ahead in a PGA Tour event going into the final round, he had a one-stroke lead in this year's Masters and a living legend breathing down his blond-haired neck. Appleby will have a slightly larger comfort zone going into today's final round of the inaugural AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, but there is a major difference for the 36-year-old Australian. Tiger Woods, who is doubling as tournament host, is barely visible in his rearview mirror.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As a last-second three-point shot by Virginia's Sean Singletary arched toward the basket, one thought went through the mind of Tennessee guard Dane Bradshaw. "Why has he not been fouled?" Bradshaw wondered. The Volunteers failed to bump Singletary, which would have left him with two free throws when the Cavaliers needed three points to force overtime. But his shot rimmed out anyway, allowing Tennessee to hold on for a 77-74 victory in an NCAA South Regional second-round game yesterday at Nationwide Arena.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- It was about an hour before the leaders began yesterday's third round of the U.S. Open and Darren Clarke's agent, Chubby Chandler, stood on the edge of the driving range at Winged Foot Golf Club, swinging a wooden stick. What he should have done was take that stick over to the first hole and drive it into the heart of the green. Maybe that would have killed the beast before it gobbled up any more golfers. At this point, Winged Foot is kicking tail. Everybody knows that the U.S. Open is the toughest golf tournament in the world, but things are getting out of hand here at this leafy layout in an otherwise serene section of the Hudson River Valley.

Before the golf season officially opened last month, Arundel coach Carol Nutt already was taking aim at the county school golf title.In her sights was a Broadneck team vying for its third consecutive county championship and fourth straight district crown."

Warrants have been issued for three New York men in what police say was the drug-related fatal shooting of a Harford County man last month.Dana Antwan Newton, 24, of the 3100 block of Laurel View Drive in Abingdon was found April 2 with a gunshot wound to the head as he lay in the hallway of the building in the 1900 block of Edgewater Drive in Edgewood. He died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.Charged recently with murder in the shooting are Queens residents Elsworth J. Tavernier, 21, also known as Dumont; Dakim Mason, 20, also known as Shi-Kim; and Altonia "Al" Henderson, 21. They remain at large.

Charlottesville, Va.-- --The scar cuts a wide, grisly swath, covering most of his left forearm, and it marks an indelible reminder Ben Rubeor never tires of contemplating. Having recently turned 20, Rubeor is a kid no longer. He hasn't been, really, since that night in the summer of 2003, when, at 17, he drove too fast with his whole life in front of him and could have lost it all. Every day for Rubeor at the University of Virginia is a great day, whether he is buried in the works of Shakespeare, savoring the scenery on a hiking trail in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains, or ripping another well-placed shot for the nation's best men's lacrosse team.