Semifinalists

4 area students semifinalists in talent search Four Baltimore-area students are among 300 teens nationwide selected this week as semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search competition, which is known as the "Junior Nobel Prize." The local winners are: Emma Call of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Afton Vechery of Glenelg High School, Danna Thomas of Broadneck Senior High School in Annapolis and Anna Cyganowski of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson. The students were selected from 1,700 applicants.

TWO STUDENTS at Arundel High School, Jason Oakley and Adam Oaks, have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition.Each year, more than a million high school juniors take the qualifying test. Those scoring the highest, fewer than 1 percent, are designated semifinalists at the start of their senior year. This year, seven students in Anne Arundel County received that honor. At Arundel High, it is becoming almost a tradition. This is at least the third consecutive year that the school has had two semifinalists.

TWO ARUNDEL High School seniors have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition.Richard Callahan and Yvette Word were honored for their outstanding performances on the PSAT in October.Fewer than 1 percent of the students taking this national examination achieve semifinalist status, which is the first step in a program leading to thousands of college scholarships every year.Eleven Arundel seniors were named commended scholars in recognition of their performance on the PSAT: Laura Adcock, Grant Baker, Dominic Chiddo, John Baldwin, Anna Hoppman, Jennifer McClurg, Bradley McGowan, Robyn Nathanson, Alexander Powell, Daniel Rabbitt and Sarah Sayani.

Raymond Cheong, Josh Greene and Sabyasachi Guharay sound a lot like Nobel laureates when they talk about cancer-causing proteins, gamma rays and DNA sequences.But, in reality, they are students at Columbia high schools -- Cheong and Guharay at Wilde Lake, Greene at Oakland Mills -- and among 21 semifinalists from Maryland in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.They will take part in a competition Jan. 27 among 300 semifinalists from across the country, including 21 from Maryland, in what is widely considered the nation's most prestigious high school science contest.

Seven Maryland public school teachers, including one each from Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, have been named semifinalists in the state Teacher of the Year program.James J. Wharton, a music teacher at Catonsville High School, PTC Kurt W. Bittle, a visual arts teacher at Bel Air High School, and Debra R. Messer, a research program teacher at Hammond High School, are among those competing for Maryland Teacher of the Year honors. The winner will be announced Oct. 16.Others named as semifinalists are Rachel Younkers, a social studies teacher from Plum Point Middle School in Calvert County; David Chia, a fourth-grade teacher at Georgian Forest Elementary School in Montgomery County; Carol Corwell-Martin, a third-grade teacher at Salem Avenue Elementary School in Washington County and Susan T. Costanzo, an English/journalism teacher at Stephen Decatur High School in Worcester County.

In Montgomery County, where there's no shortage of brainy people doing impressive things at imposing places, a new science powerhouse is growing.Montgomery Blair High School has a dozen semi-finalists this year in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search. More than high-tech Massachusetts. More than New Jersey, Connecticut and Michigan combined.While pondering the great unknowns of dating and getting into college, top student researchers at the sprawling red-brick campus just inside the Capital Beltway study morphology and the Hurwitz Domain.

Sixty-four of Maryland's high school seniors, 21 of them from Baltimore and surrounding counties, have been named semifinalists for National Achievement Scholarships, awarded annually to black high school seniors since 1964.Semifinalists for the scholarship were announced last week by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which runs the program.The students are competing with more than 15,000 high school seniors nationwide for 800 scholarships that total nearly $3 million.The seniors qualified as semifinalists based on grades, recommendations from school officials and preliminary SAT scores.

Teachers from Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Carroll and )) Harford counties are among seven semifinalists for Maryland Teacher of the Year announced yesterday by Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of schools.The semifinalists are:Rachel Newman-Turner, a math teacher at Baltimore School for the Arts in the city.Priscilla Cox Ward, of Germantown Elementary in Anne Arundel County.Robert Foor-Hogue, science teacher at South Carroll High School in Carroll County.James Mason, of North Harford High in Harford County.

A second student in Wilde Lake High School's class of 1998 has achieved the highest possible score on the SAT.John Gu, 17, who will be a senior this fall, notched a score of 800 on the math section and another 800 on the verbal portion of the SAT.Michael Kayser, who also will be a senior this fall, scored a 1,600 on the SAT in the spring.The SAT is a test used by colleges to gauge how well students might be expected to do in their first year of college."I was pretty surprised," said John, who learned last week of his scores on the June exam.

The recurring theme for Friday's NCAA women's Final Four in Charlotte, N.C., is, well, recurrence, with a little bit of variety thrown in.For the first time in the 15 years the NCAA has sponsored a national women's basketball championship, the four national semifinalists -- defending champion Connecticut, Georgia, Stanford and Tennessee -- are the same as the year before.And for the 14th time, the Southeastern Conference is represented in the Final Four, with two teams -- regular-season champion Georgia and tournament winner Tennessee -- the third time the SEC has landed half the semifinal field.

Wrestling No. 3 Old Mill @ Severna Park WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m. OUTLOOK: Both teams have depth through their lineups, with visiting Old Mill having the edge in experience. The Patriots, who went undefeated in county competition during the regular season last year, boast three defending state semifinalists - heavyweight Aaron Hawkins, 125-pound senior Willie Pumphrey and 130-pound sophomore Ron Vaughters. They also are coming off an impressive showing at the Mount Mat Madness Tournament last weekend and a recent dual-match victory over Howard County power River Hill.

Two Centennial High School students have been named semifinalists in a prestigious science competition dubbed the "junior Nobel Prize." Seniors Peter Kamel and Henry Zheng are two of 300 students nationwide who are semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. The students learned of their honors in the pre-college contest on Jan. 14. Each student earned a $1,000 prize and $2,000 for the school. Zheng's research focuses on the application of data fusion for prosthetic systems. Kamel's research addresses artificial tissue design.

Unceremoniously dumped by the Bengals in September, Ravens right tackle Willie Anderson goes back to Cincinnati on Sunday knowing he got the better of the deal. At 7-4, the Ravens are shooting for the playoffs. At 1-9-1, the Bengals are back on the treadmill to nowhere. "I look real, real big in purple," Anderson said yesterday when asked the difference between the two teams. Anderson has played a key role on a young offensive line since signing with the Ravens on Sept. 5. At the final roster cutdown, the Bengals asked Anderson to take a demotion and pay cut. When he didn't, he was released.

0 Passing yards allowed by Dunbar in its 46-0 win over W.E.B. Du Bois in the Class 1A South regional final. The Poets' defense allowed just 79 total yards. 8 State championships won by this year's local semifinalists Dunbar (5) and Hereford (3). Eastern Tech is going after its first state title. 89 Years of the Loyola-Calvert Hall football rivalry, a Thanksgiving tradition that continues this morning in the Turkey Bowl at M&T Bank Stadium.

Don't tell anyone, but the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association really does have a heart. It's easy, and in some cases convenient, to think of the MPSSAA, the state's version of the NCAA, as the organization that can't say yes, particularly to things that might show sympathy to potentially aggrieved parties, be they athletes or coaches or both. But there are rare moments when the rules can be bent to make just one person happy. The most recent recipient of the MPSSAA's generosity is Reservoir volleyball player Tiffany Jacobson, who almost surely would not have played in Saturday's Class 3A state championship match against Huntingtown if not for the compassion of the MPSSAA and its volleyball committee.

Eleven students from six Anne Arundel County public high schools have been selected as semifinalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship competition, nearly double the number who achieved the distinction a year ago. Five more come from the county's five private high schools: four from Archbishop Spalding High in Severn and one from Key School in Annapolis. Anne Arundel County public schools had six National Merit Scholarship semifinalists last year. This year, Severna Park High School alone has four.

4 area students semifinalists in talent search Four Baltimore-area students are among 300 teens nationwide selected this week as semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search competition, which is known as the "Junior Nobel Prize." The local winners are: Emma Call of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Afton Vechery of Glenelg High School, Danna Thomas of Broadneck Senior High School in Annapolis and Anna Cyganowski of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson. The students were selected from 1,700 applicants.

7 seniors named test semifinalists Seven Anne Arundel County seniors were named National Merit semifinalists last week. They were among 16,000 seniors nationwide who scored in the top 1 percent on the 2005 PSAT/National Merit qualifying test. The semifinalists are: Christopher W. Hart-Moynihan of Annapolis High School. Alyssa R. Massey of Glen Burnie High School. Matthew C. LeFavor and Keith T. Rafferty of Old Mill High School. Alexander J. Fu of Severn School. Emily A. Frost and Mark C. Strother of Severna Park High School.

1. Loyola -- Last season: 14-3, ranked No. 3 -- Outlook: Defender Joe Kelly, goalie Tim Harrington, midfielder Pat Hutchinson and attackman Steele Stanwick are among the returning players who will pace the returning MIAA A Conference semifinalists. 2. Boys' Latin -- Last season: 18-2, No. 2 -- Outlook: Midfielders David Bronfein and Jack Carolan join defender Brian Farrell on a Lakers team that hopes to earn coach Bob Shriver his 11th MIAA A Conference title-game berth. 3. Gilman -- Last season: 8-6, No. 6 -- Outlook: Senior Kevin Carroll and his brother, Brian, are among the nation's best midfielders, and defender Barney Ehrmann is among the premier defenders for this MIAA A Conference playoff contender.

Three students from area high schools have been named semifinalists in a prestigious national science competition. The students - all 17-year-old seniors - are Myers Abraham Davis and Owen Forgione Hill, both at Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, and Jeffrey Chunlong Xing at River Hill High in Clarksville. They each won a $1,000 prize in the annual Intel Science Talent Search, with a matching sum going to their schools. "It takes an extraordinary young person, somebody who's focused on a particular goal and inspired to do something.