Vikings

Lansdowne played with the confidence and poise of veterans in the Class 2A state championship game against Easton Saturday in College Park. A much more tentative and less confident Lansdowne (20-4) appeared in the final two years ago and was shutout by McDonough, 4-0. Unfortunately this time, the Vikings faced another powerhouse and lost 8-5 to Easton, winners of two straight championships and three in four years. "There aren't many of club players on our team," Lansdowne coach Jamie Izdebski said.

Matt Kohel took over as Lansdowne baseball coach five years ago, inheriting a program that was literally threadbare. "When I got here we had nine baseballs and not enough uniforms to field a team," Kohel said. "The year before I came, the team went 2-14. There had been a lot of neglect, but when this senior class came in four years ago, I thought by their senior year they could possibly make a run. " Kohel's vision has become reality. On Saturday, Kohel will send his rebuilt squad into the 2A championship game, marking the Vikings' first finals appearance in 13 years.

Lansdowne coach Jamie Izdebski has seen junior Maude McCourry slowly grow as a leader since making the team as a freshman and playing a vital in the Vikings' run to the state finals. McCourry has continued to be a spark for Lansdowne all season, and she pitched a complete game and had four RBIs in the Vikings' 10-7 victory over McDonough in the Class 2A state semifinals Tuesday at Bachman Softball Park in Glen Burnie. Lansdowne will play Easton, which beat No. 5 North Carroll, 1-0, on Saturday at Maryland in search of its first title.

It seemed only fitting that Tuesday's District V girls lacrosse championship between No. 15 Severna Park and No. 13 Mount Hebron needed overtime. The two storied programs have combined for 24 state championships, and each looks primed to make another deep run in this year's playoffs. Tuesday's game was finally decided on a goal by Sam Brookhart with 1:35 left in the first overtime period that gave Mount Hebron an 8-7 victory at Reservoir. It was the Vikings 12th consecutive win. "I knew we had to do something," said Brookhart, who had two goals on the night.

After going on yearly mission trips dating back to the mid-1990s, four friends decided they wanted to do more. So in 2007, they began their own nonprofit, Baltimore-based Healing Hands Foundation. They focused on providing surgical care to underprivileged people and have since gone to Ecuador, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, the Philippines and Colombia. "When you do something like that, you get hooked and want to do more to help," said Marco Avila, an engineer born in Ecuador who began volunteering on missions as an interpreter.

Every time I put out one of my mock drafts, readers tell me they think things would play out differently (chances are we'll both end up being wrong). Well, now you get a chance to play GM in my first-ever reader NFL mock draft. Here's how it works. I'll post a daily poll where you can vote to decide what the team that's on the clock should do with its pick. To keep it simple, I'll give you five options for each pick. If you think I missed somebody, let me know in the comments section.

Lansdowne High School, according to indoor track coach Charles Pridee, had not scored a point in the Baltimore County indoor meet in more than a decade entering this season. But last weekend, the Vikings scored 32 points and finished fifth out of more than 20 teams. Leading the Vikes was junior Yelnats Calvin, who joined the team as a sophomore and who has become its leader. He won the 500 meters (1 minute, 11.10 seconds), finished second in the 300 and helped the 800-meter relay team to second place and the 1,600-meter relay team to third place.

Michael Stoiko, an engineer and writer who was an expert on Soviet rocketry and played a major role in the early days of the American space program, died in his sleep Dec. 17 at Bridges at Cornell Heights, an Ithaca, N.Y., retirement community. The former Ruxton resident was 91. Mr. Stoiko, the son of Ukrainian immigrants, was born and raised in New York City. Interested in aviation since he was a youngster, Mr. Stoiko studied aviation mechanics at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, N.Y., during the last two years of high school.

Minnesota 17, Washington 13 Landover, MD (Sports Network) - Rookie Toby Gerhart and Adrian Peterson each scored a touchdown on the ground, as the Minnesota Vikings held off the Washington Redskins, 17-13, in Leslie Frazier's debut as head coach. The Vikings, who lost to the Saints in the NFC championship game last season, got off to a 3-7 start this year. That led to Minnesota's firing of Brad Childress on Monday. Frazier, who was the defensive coordinator, was promoted to interim head coach.