Faces In The Crowd

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COLOR PHOTO: DEBORA ROBINSON Angel Perkins, CERRITOS, CALIF. Track and Field Angel, a junior at Gahr High, set national high school indoor records in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes (23.59 and 53.25, respectively) at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. She's the defending national 19-and-under champ in the 400 outdoor.

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID SHELLY/UNIVERSITY PHOTO/GRAPHICS Katie Rowland, GEORGETOWN, ONT. Gymnastics Rowland, a sophomore at Penn State, set the school women's all-around record with a score of 39.650, surpassing the mark of 39.625 set in 1998. Rowland, who was named Big Ten gymnast of the year, has won five all-around titles this season.

COLOR PHOTO: BRUCE MEYER Derek Pirner, ELK POINT, S.DAK. Wrestling Derek, a 112-pound sophomore at Jefferson High, won his second state title in as many years. (His 2000 championship was at 103 pounds.) He's undefeated after 79 high school matches. Of his 36 bouts this year, 34 were decided by major decision or pin.

COLOR PHOTO: DENNY LANDWEHR Michelle Cottrell, FLORENCE, KY. Basketball Cottrell, a junior forward at Northern Kentucky, was named Great Lakes Valley Conference woman player of the year for the second straight season after averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. Cottrell, who shot 62.1% this year, was the first woman to score 1,500 career points for the Norse.

COLOR PHOTO: TIM KELLY Jernej Bukovec, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA Skiing Bukovec, a sophomore at Utah, became NCAA champ in men's slalom by finishing .72 of a second ahead of Kyle Hildebrand of Bates College of Lewiston, Maine. Bukovec, second at last year's NCAAs, was only No. 2 in his conference, the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association.

COLOR PHOTO: JAY LAPRETE Gregg Parini, GRANVILLE, OHIO Swimming Parini, 40, the women's coach at Denison University, guided the Big Red to its first Division III title. Denison narrowly defeated Kenyon College of Gambier, Ohio--Parini's alma mater and winner of the NCAA crown the past 17 years--for the championship.