- Paint Branch High School rising senior Thomas Lucas has verbally committed to play football at the University of Connecticut. Lucas played defensive back and wide receiver for the Panthers last year after JV stints at Blake and Springbrook. [Washington Post]
- Winston Churchill High School rising sophomore Louis Dubick has verbally committed to play lacrosse at the University of Maryland. Dubick led the Bulldogs to their first state semifinal appearance since 2002 this past spring. [Inside Lacrosse]
- Quince Orchard High School rising senior Marcus Newby has verbally committed to play football at the University of Nebraska. Newby will join two fellow QO allums at Nebraska, defensive coordinator John Papuchis and defensive end Jason Ankrah. [Husker Extra/Gazette]
- Nicolas Fahs (Seneca Valley), Gus Gill (Walter Johnson), David Hesslink (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and Robbie Metz (Poolesville) were selected for the 2012 Maryland Futures Team by the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches. The team will compete in a local tournament next month, play some Maryland colleges in August and September and then travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., in September to compete in the 2012 Perfect Game/EvoShield National Championship. [Gazette/Marylandbaseball.org]
July 17, 2012
News and Notes: July 17
July 5, 2012
Olympic Swim Trials Recap
- 15-year-old Katie Ledecky, a rising sophomore at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, won the women’s 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:19.78 and will represent the United States at the Olympic Games in London later this summer. Ledecky also finished third in the women’s 400-meter freestyle and ninth in the women’s 200-meter freestyle. Preliminary heats in the women’s Olympic 800-meter freestyle are scheduled to be held August 2nd, with the final set for the following day. [Washington Post/Fox Sports]
- Jack Conger, a rising senior at Our Lady of Good Counsel, reached the finals of two events at the trials, finishing fifth in the men’s 200-meter backstroke and eighth in the men’s 100-meter backstroke. [Reach For The Wall]
- 2008 All-Met Swimmer of the Year Eric Friedland, a Walter Johnson alum, missed making the finals of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke by .15 seconds and finished in ninth place. Friedland also finished 16th in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke. [TexasSports.com]
- Stanford-bound Good Counsel graduate Sarah Haase made the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, finishing 13th with a time of 1:08.91. She also placed 31st in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke and 83rd in the women’s 200-meter individual medley. [Washington Post]
June 26, 2012
Strong Showing By MoCo Swimmers in First Two Days Of Olympic Trials
By Eric Meany
Montgomery County was well represented in the first two days of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, this week, with local swimmers advancing past the preliminary rounds in four events.
15-year-old Katie Ledecky, a rising sophomore at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, fell just short of securing a spot on the Olympic Team on Tuesday when she finished third in the final of the women’s 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky was in second place behind Allison Schmitt in the early stages of the final but was overtaken by Elizabeth Beisel, who held on to finish as the runner-up. Ledecky won’t have long to think about her third-place finish, as she is scheduled to compete in the women’s 200-meter freestyle preliminaries Wednesday morning.
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June 20, 2012
Meyer Hopes To Enjoy Second Trip To Olympic Swimming Trials
By Eric Meany
In 2008, recent Walt Whitman High School graduate Mark Meyer had his trip to the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials cut short by obligations to his new school.
Like all incoming freshman at the United States Naval Academy, Meyer was required to participate in Plebe Summer, an intensive seven-week training program designed to turn civilians into midshipmen. So after finishing third in his preliminary heat and 36th overall in the men’s 200-meter butterfly at the trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Meyer traveled directly to Annapolis early the next morning to participate in Induction Day.
This year’s trials begin on Monday, and with his time at the Naval Academy behind him Meyer hopes to enjoy the experience more than he was able to four years ago.
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June 11, 2012
News and Notes: June 11
- Cody Acker of James Hubert Blake High School led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and scored the game’s first run for the South as they beat the North, 4-3, in the Brooks Robinson All-Star Game at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sunday. [Gazette/Baltimore Sun]
- Matt Leonard of Winston Churchill High School was selected for the Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches Association class of 2013 Free State Top 44 team after tryouts held Sunday at South River High School in Mayo. The 2013 Top 44 game is scheduled for 7:30 pm Wednesday at Anne Arundel Community College. [@ChurchillLax/MSLCA.org]
- Amy Wood stepped down after winning 10 state championships in 19 seasons as field hockey coach at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. [TopOfTheCircle.com/Gazette]
- Northwest High School athletic director Jim Tapley received the 2012 National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association award of merit for the state of Maryland. [NorthwestAthletics.org]
- The Quince Orchard High School football team will host their 8th annual Cougar Classic Golf Tournament on Friday at the Bretton Woods Golf Club in Germantown. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. [Cougar Classic Golf]
June 7, 2012
Gaithersburg’s Brady Among Locals Selected In Major League Baseball Draft
by Eric Meany
Former Gaithersburg High School standout Kevin Brady was among a group of players with Montgomery County ties who were selected in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft this week.
Brady, who was 1-3 with a 2.54 ERA pitching for Clemson this year, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th round of the draft. The 2008 Gaithersburg graduate had a career high school record of 19-2 with a 1.05 ERA and 249 strikeouts in 140.2 innings pitched.
Princeton junior Matt Bowman, a Chevy Chase native who attended St. Albans School, was selected in the 13th round by the New York Mets. The right-handed pitcher was 4-2 with a 4.66 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 56 innings for Princeton in 2012. He also played shortstop and posted a .308 batting average this season. Bowman was the Washington Post’s 2009 All-Met player of the year and led St. Albans to three Interstate Athletic Conference championships in his time at the school.
Left-handed pitcher Jimmy Reed, a University of Maryland junior from Gaithersburg who attended St. John’s High School, was taken in the 21st round by the New York Yankees. After being used exclusively as a reliever for his first two seasons at Maryland, Reed made the transition to starting mid-way through the 2012 season. He finished the year 1-3 with a 2.70 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched.
Bethesda’s Max Ungar, a catcher who attended the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 36th round.
June 4, 2012
Five From Montgomery County To Play In Brooks Robinson All-Star Game
Billy Plante of Quince Orchard leads a contingent of five Montgomery County high school seniors who will play in the 31st Annual Brooks Robinson All-Star Game at Camden Yards following the Orioles game against the Phillies on Sunday.
Plante, who has committed to play at Towson next year, will be joined on the South team by his Quince Orchard teammate Alex Lipman, Eric Ramsey of Georgetown Prep, Sean Van Gieson of Rockville and Cody Acker of Blake.
Jeff Rabberman of Gaithersburg will be on the coaching staff for the South team.
The Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches selected the 30 seniors who will participate in the game.
May 30, 2012
News and Notes: May 30
- The Walt Whitman High School girls rowing team finished second in the junior eight division of the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championships in Camden, N.J. on Saturday. The Whitman boys junior eight boat finished fourth. Bethesda-Chevy Chase finished third in the boys varsity eight petite division.
- Poolesville High School has hired Clarksburg JV coach Kenny Kramek as their new varsity boys basketball coach.
- Springbrook High School will have three new varsity coaches in the fall season: Adam Bahr will coach football, Jessica Yi will coach girls soccer, and Jennifer Amobi will coach girls volleyball.
- The Einstein High School girls soccer team will be hosting pickup games this summer every Tuesday at 6:00 pm beginning June 19th.
- Also at Einstein, coach Rich Porac will be hosting a basketball summer camp for 3rd-9th grade boys the week of July 9th and the week of July 16th. For more information write titansbbcamp@gmail.com
May 24, 2012
Former Arundel Coach Bernie Walter Enjoying His Return To College Park
By Eric Meany
When Bernie Walter left his home just outside of Baltimore to attend the University of Maryland as a 17-year-old freshman in 1959, the recent Brooklyn Park High School graduate dreamed of playing basketball and baseball for his new school, unsure of his chances but determined to give it a try.
When he returned to College Park 50 years later as the winningest coach in Maryland high school baseball history, the university’s newly-minted director of baseball operations hoped to use his wealth of knowledge and experience to aid a new coaching staff in lifting his beloved Terps out of their perennially losing ways.
During the intervening half-century, as he forged a career that would lead to his induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007, Walter remained a loyal and passionate supporter of the University of Maryland and its sports teams. As a season-ticket holder for the school’s football and basketball teams, and as a member of the Terrapin Club, the M Club and the Home Run Club, Walter never wavered in his love for his alma mater.
“He eats, sleeps and breathes University of Maryland,” third-year baseball coach Erik Bakich said. “The guy has Terps blood running through his body at all times. There’s nobody that wants the University of Maryland to succeed more than Bernie Walter.”
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April 30, 2012
News and Notes: April 30
- Undrafted free agent running back Jourdan Brooks of Morgan State, a Seneca Valley alum who previously played for Rutgers, has reportedly signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.
- Winston Churchill High School senior Nadim Elhage, hampered by an elbow injury, placed 18th in the shot put at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia on Friday.
- Marie Cornejo, in her first season as coach of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School co-ed volleyball team, has been named the school’s girls varsity volleyball coach for the fall season.
- Einstein and Quince Orchard will each hold signing ceremonies this week for their seniors who will be playing college sports next year. The event at Einstein will be Tuesday at 10:45 am in the school’s auditorium, while Quince Orchard will host their ceremony Friday at 11:00 am.
- The Richard Montgomery booster club will host the fifth annual Mike Curtis golf tournament and silent auction at Redgate golf course in Rockville on May 14th at noon. More information is available at www.rmboosters.com/golf.html .
- The Softball Notebook at the Gazette has items about Churchill junior shortstop Katie Jenkins and Einstein freshman pitcher Austen Whibley.
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