Faces In The Crowd

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COLOR PHOTO: KEVIN GOLDY Julie Ditty, Ashland, Ky. Tennis Ditty, a junior lefthander at Vanderbilt and the school's first woman All-America in her sport, won both the women's singles title and, with Purdue's Jennifer Embry, the women's doubles crown at the intercollegiate summer national championships.

COLOR PHOTO: JERRY H. GERLING Stephen Sir, Edmonton Basketball Stephen, 16, a 6'4" swingman, was named tournament MVP after leading his province's team to the juvenile national championship. He exploded for 47 points in the final, with 12 rebounds and six assists, and averaged 30.8 points in his six tournament games.

COLOR PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER MAHARRY Lisa Birocci, Des Moines Softball Lisa, a sophomore righthander at Lincoln High, led the Railsplitters to the class 3A state championship by pitching 57 consecutive scoreless innings. Her 7-0 tournament record included back-to-back perfect games and a three-run home run to help her cause in the final.

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID DUROCHIK Bianca Rockett, Kankakee, Ill. Track and Field Rockett, 19, won both the women's long jump and the triple jump at the junior national championships, leaping 43'1/4" in the latter event. She was the SEC indoor and outdoor triple jump runner-up last season for LSU and the 1996 AAU junior national titlist.

COLOR PHOTO: SCOTT WHEELER Justin Lancaster, Tampa Karate Justin, 14, earned the AAU national heavyweight title in the 14s after winning the 13s last year. The gold medalist at the 1997 junior world championships in the 12-15s, Justin finished fifth at the Budo Cup in Hungary last year as a member of the U.S. junior national team.

COLOR PHOTO: JAMIE SCOTT LYTLE Amanda Hurney, Lakeside, Calif. Gymnastics Amanda, 15, won the YMCA junior national women's all-around championship while also winning titles on the bar and the floor and finishing second on the vault. She led the Cuyamaca YMCA Comets to a third-place finish in the team competition.