Walt Whitman

North Carroll finally broke away from a tenacious Westminster team in the last 15 minutes to claim a 7-4 triumph in their Class 3A-4A West Region quarterfinal-round game in Hampstead yesterday.The Panthers (11-2) now move along to face Liberty (12-3) tomorrow at 5 p.m. in Eldersburg in a semifinal-round matchup of the 15th- and 14th-ranked teams, respectively. Liberty won both regular-season games en route to the county championship.Junior Katie Holmes' goal pushed North Carroll ahead, 5-4, after there had been three ties.

These are boom times for Walt Whitman, America's most famous poet.A century after his death, Whitman, the poet of democracy, the poet of the body and soul, commands a loyal and expansive following from his birthplace on New York's Long Island to the literary circles of China.His rough, rigorous, unrhymed verse, informal and impassioned, appeals to both genders, all ages and numerous nationalities."Whitman is the poet of liberty, of individual freedom," said Carol Muske-Dukes, a poet and creative writing professor at the University of Southern California.

Junior Erica Pearson (Walt Whitman) registered her 18th double double -- 20 points, 14 rebounds -- of the season to lead host St. Mary's to a 77-50 win over Mary Washington to capture the Capital Athletic Conference tournament title yesterday and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.Tied at 8 after 4 1/2 minutes, the Seahawks (20-7) went on 35-16 run to take a 43-24 lead over Mary Washington (20-7) at the half. St. Mary's shot 65.5 percent from the field in the first half.

With a fervor usually reserved for a traditional pep rally, the youngsters at Carderock Springs Elementary School in Montgomery County bounced up and shouted the names of their stars."

With four second-half goals, the No. 1-ranked River Hill Hawks broke open the Class 2A championship game against Easton of Talbot County to win their first state title yesterday at Old Mill High, 5-1.The second-year Hawks were sparked by two goals from sophomore Adom Crew.Wilde Lake 2, La Plata 0: The No. 6-ranked Wildecats (13-2-2) ended a streak of two consecutive losses in the state finals by defeating La Plata of Charles County in the Class 3A championship game.Glenelg 1, St. Michaels 0: Brian Musgrove's goal off two posts 13: 43 into the game lifted the Gladiators (12-6)

Only a few people are showered with attention almost every day: athletes, actors, politicians, victims of crimes.Poets are rarely in that circle of bright light.Two events within the past week -- one a tragedy, the other a celebration of talent -- are reminders that poetry endures even in shadow, that poems can alter how people think.Allen Ginsberg, the best-known poet of his generation and a figure who helped define it, died Saturday at the age of 70. He was hipster, profane buddha, secular rabbi -- the keeper of the beat of the Beats.

NEW ORLEANS -- Alan Ginsberg, old courage teacher, is gone. I met Allen in 1966 when I was 19 years old, fresh out of Romania. I knocked on his door in the Lower East Side in New York and brashly presented my baby-dissident credentials to the President of Poetry.Far from being startled, the poet gave generously of his time and made me welcome to the language, the country and New York. We spoke French because my English was nonexistent, and he loaded me with books of poetry he thought I should read and study.

"The United States of Poetry," a five-part, 2 1/2 -hour series debuting on MPT at 11 tonight, is not so much about verse as about diversity, about finding the artistic muse everywhere, about how all-encompassing the word "talent" is.Thus, this scattershot anthology of American poets embraces everyone from a freckle-faced Idaho third-grader to a woman of 70-plus years living in Arkansas with her husband and 50 cats. It features the work of a homeless man living in L.A. and a former president of the United States.

Even the dimly lit hallway at Hereford High School could not hide the sadness on the face of Westminster coach Jim Gilford."We gave it our best shot," said Gilford softly. "I couldn't be more proud of them."For the No. 5 Westminster boys, the mood at yesterday's state championship meet was a mixture of pride and sadness. Gilford and the Owls liked their second-place finish in Class 4A, but ending up eight points behind champion Walt Whitman hurt.The Owls once more got good performances from their top five.

Severna Park field hockey is still perfect after all these years, thanks in large part to a tiny goalkeeper named Laura Snider.Snider, 5-foot-2 and 90 pounds, was the smallest player on the field yesterday when two giants of the game (Severna Park and Walt Whitman) locked up in an intense, all-out duel for the state Class 4A championship at Goucher College.But she saved the day for the Falcons with five super kick saves in the final 15 minutes, allowing Severna Park to hold off Whitman for a 1-0 victory and travel to unheard of heights in the 21-year history of the state field hockey tournament.