Urbana

As the goalie on the lacrosse team and a top defender in soccer, Mount Hebron senior Billy McNamara has enjoyed an incredible ride in the past year. It started last spring in the lacrosse playoffs when the Vikings avenged losses to county rivals Glenelg and River Hill before defeating Urbana to win the program's fourth state championship. In the fall, McNamara was the defensive anchor on the Vikings' unbeaten state championship soccer team. A two-year starter on both teams, McNamara is hoping to close out his high school career with another title as the Vikings (9-5)

The Wilde Lake girls soccer team could not have given Dave Procida any more effort in his final game as its coach. The No. 5 Wildecats came back and came back until they could come back no more in last night's state Class 3A championship. After battling Urbana to a 2-2 tie through two overtimes, the Wildecats finally fell, 4-2, in a penalty-kick shootout at Broadneck. In regulation, the Wildecats (15-4) rallied from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute. In the shootout, they came from 3-0 down to pull within 3-2 before Urbana's fifth shooter, Kelly Mohns, scored the game-winner.

COLLEGE PARK -- Before his Class 2A state title game against defending-champion Urbana, Edmondson football coach Pete Pompey likened the Hawks to "a well-oiled machine."The 25th-year coach's comments proved prophetic.The Hawks of Frederick County pounded the Redskins, 51-18, yesterday on a muddy field at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium.Urbana (12-0) won its 24th straight game and second consecutive state championship, and it ended Edmondson's winning streak at 18 games. The Redskins finished 12-1.

Since the start of this weekend's state championships at UMBC, South Carroll's Pun Chittchang has sported a small Superman emblem on her right thigh -- a temporary tattoo she bought for 50 cents at a local discounter.Yesterday, the Maryland-bound senior lived up to her adornment.Chittchang won the long jump with a state-record leap of 20 feet 1.5 inches, becoming the first girl in meet history to surpass the 20 feet. The feat came just two days after Chittchang became the first girl in two years to eclipse 40 feet in the discus.

Class 2A championshipNo. 2 Edmondson (12-0)vs. Urbana (11-0)Site: Byrd Stadium, College ParkTime: 3 p.m.Outlook: Defending Class 2A state champ Urbana, outscoring opponents 37-8 on average, brings a 24-game winning streak from Frederick County. Edmondson, winning 40-6 on average, will compete in its first state title game with an 18-game win streak.Urbana QB Zack Mills (1,592 passing yards, 23 TDs) primarily targets sophomore WR Billy Gaines (14 TD catches) and RB Alex Herbert (14 rushing TDs)

Before last night's match with visiting Urbana, Liberty coach Mike Flemming challenged his team to win five of the 10 pairings.The Lions went him one better, winning six. Still, that effort was not enough to hold off the Hawks (7-3), who rode two pins and three forfeits to a 38-28 Central Maryland Conference victory. The result marked the fifth straight loss for Liberty (3-9), although Flemming and his wrestlers had to be encouraged by the team effort.It certainly was a dramatic improvement from an early December meeting at the Catoctin Duals, where Urbana won all but three bouts in a 46-15 triumph.

Although Liberty has made dramatic strides with its girls basketball program over the last year and a half, last night it found out what the next level looks like.Urbana (7-1), No. 17 in the state and the top-ranked Class 2A team, was in control for more than 20 minutes, and then on the verge of blowing an 11-point second-half lead. It regrouped and capitalized on a series of Liberty turnovers and missed shots to earn a 53-44 Central Maryland Conference victory.Later, second-year Liberty coach Dave Trumbo challenged his players when he said, holding his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart, "We are this close to being an excellent team."

A season of firsts continued for Edmondson's No. 5 football team as two players for the Redskins, who are making their initial Class 2A state playoff appearance, received their first national rankings.Raytron Leak was rated 30th among America's top 100 Division I running back prospects by Rivals100, and Eddie Colbert, No. 33 among quarterbacks. Leak's rating is the highest of any Maryland running back by this recruiting service.The two will lead Edmondson (11-0) against sixth-ranked Howard (10-1)

After pressuring the goal nearly all the second half yesterday with nothing to show for its efforts, fourth-ranked North Carroll appeared on the verge of getting blanked for the second straight game.Misty MacMillan had other ideas.In a game full of near misses, MacMillan finally struck pay dirt with 1: 12 left to lift the host Panthers to a memorable 1-0 win over Urbana in a Central Maryland Conference game.Pub Date: 10/01/99

Urbana coach Kevin McMullen was impressed with the quality of River Hill's players after the Hawks easily defeated his Frederick County team, 6-0, yesterday for their 17th straight victory.The Hawks (8-0 overall, 5-0league) are ranked No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll."I want to find out who the No. 1 through 8 teams are," McMullen said in disbelief that any team could be better than River Hill.River Hill, ranked No. 1 by The Sun in the Baltimore area, was almost as dangerous with its second team on the field as with its first team.

The South River boys lacrosse team is something to watch when at its best in settled situations on attack. The passes are crisp, and the finishing is exact. And senior midfielder Matt Gregoire is usually in the middle of all the fine work. In the third quarter of Wednesday night's Class 4A-3A state championship against Urbana, the No. 11 Seahawks brought surgeon-like precision - scoring five unanswered goals that lifted them past Urbana, 11-6, at UMBC Stadium. Gregoire (five goals, one assist)

Franklin's Jordan Eades has always been known as a big-game pitcher, and in Tuesday's Class 3A state semifinal against Urbana, she might have put on her best performance. Eades kept the Hawks (15-5) off balance for eight innings and knocked in the go-ahead run in the decisive eighth as sixth-ranked Franklin pulled away for a 7-4 victory at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie. Franklin (20-2) will play for its first state title against Northern-Calvert, a five-time state champion, Saturday in College Park.

Boys Class 3A-2A NO. 9 HEREFORD (18-1) VS. NO. 14 CENTENNIAL (15-3) Time: 6 p.m. Outlook: The defending state champ Bulls have won 15 straight games - including a 15-0 rout of Walkersville in the state semifinals - with aggressive and skilled play at both ends. The attack, led by Sean Konkolics, Rustin Bryant and Nick Pompa, has averaged more than 14 goals. Centennial has an equally impressive attack led by Harrison Chaires, Shane Jaeger and Greg Edmunds. Jaegerand Chaires accounted for 12 goals and three assists in the Eagles' 17-10 semifinal win over Easton.

Boys lacrosse Player of the Year Tyler Fiorito McDonogh The Princeton-bound senior goalie and two-time All-Metro first-team selection was easily the best goalie in the area and perhaps the best in the country. He saved 293 shots at a 71.4 percent rate and allowed double-digit goals just once this season (against Boys' Latin). He paced an Eagles defense that gave up 5.8 goals a game, and he compiled 485 saves over the past two seasons. Fiorito has been playing goalie for McDonogh since he was a sophomore and has won a playoff game each of the past three seasons.

Brad Ruzicka, playing the biggest game of his high school lacrosse career, hadn't registered a point. No. 7 Dulaney's senior midfielder was kept under wraps for the first 46 minutes of last night's game against Urbana for the 4A-3A championship. But Ruzicka knew it was his final high school game and how high the stakes were; he also knew that when his number was called, he would respond. "It's my last high school game, and it's a state championship. I don't know if you could ask for anything bigger than that," Ruzicka said.

The No. 10 Dulaney boys lacrosse team has enough offensive firepower to hang with anyone. Senior midfielders Eric Keppler, Cody Lehrer and Jay Mann pace an offense capable of shooting opponents out of games. So how exactly do you stop the Lions? "Don't give them the ball," Urbana coach Joe Conner said. "You have to have long possessions on offense. If we don't get a goal, we still get three minutes off the clock, and the longer they don't touch it, the better our chances." Yesterday afternoon, Urbana of Frederick County controlled possession and was able to hold off a late rally by the Lions, winning, 8-7, in Timonium.

COLLEGE PARK -- Broadneck coach Colleen Parr Winans stood by the pool holding the state championship trophy with a smile that just wouldn't go away. Doug McWhorter led a balanced performance by the Bruins boys, who captured the Class 4A-3A state swimming title last night at the University of Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center. "The kids worked so hard this year," Winans said. "They constantly delivered ... and Doug is amazing. He's just a versatile swimmer." Broadneck (14-0-1 in the regular season)

The Wilde Lake girls soccer team could not have given Dave Procida any more effort in his final game as its coach. The No. 5 Wildecats came back and came back until they could come back no more in last night's state Class 3A championship. After battling Urbana to a 2-2 tie through two overtimes, the Wildecats finally fell, 4-2, in a penalty-kick shootout at Broadneck. In regulation, the Wildecats (15-4) rallied from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute. In the shootout, they came from 3-0 down to pull within 3-2 before Urbana's fifth shooter, Kelly Mohns, scored the game-winner.

Sharon W. Sticha, a former high school teacher and the financial chief of an educational consulting business, died of complications from breast cancer Thursday at her Columbia home. She was 63. Born Sharon Elaine Webb in Neptune, N.J., and raised in Urbana, Ill., she earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a second master's degree at Georgetown University. She moved to Essex and taught math and French at Kenwood High School before relocating to Columbia 1968.

Defending Class 4A-3A state champion Severna Park jumped out early and often with its robust offense to rout Westminster, 15-5, in the state semifinals yesterday at Annapolis High. Senior attackmen Colby Rhodes (five goals, two assists) and Eric Lusby (four goals, three assists) led the Falcons (17-2). Lusby delivered the first goal on an assist by Rhodes just 17 seconds into the game, and five other Falcons scored. No. 10 Severna Park took a 9-0 lead into the half and coasted into the state final to be played Tuesday or Wednesday at UMBC.