Faces in the Crowd

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COLOR PHOTO: MICHAEL QUARTERMAN Jamaal Williams, CORONA, CALIF. Basketball Jamaal, a senior forward at Centennial High, was named Riverside County player of the year after leading the Huskies to a 29-4 record. Jamaal, who averaged 21.8 points and 8.0 rebounds this season, will attend New Mexico on an athletic scholarship.

COLOR PHOTO: JIM LUZZI Diana Lawson, UNION, N.J. Track and Field Lawson, a freshman at New Jersey City University, set a women's Division III record in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.98 at the divisional championships. She finished .04 of a second ahead of the previous record holder, Rhondale Jones of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

COLOR PHOTO: STEVE LATHAM/JSU Rudy Abbott, JACKSONVILLE, ALA. Baseball Abbott, 60, the baseball coach at Jacksonville State since 1970, won his 1,000th college game (out of 1,442) by guiding the Gamecocks to an extra-inning 4-3 victory over Belhaven College of Jackson, Miss. He's the winningest baseball coach ever at an Alabama college.

COLOR PHOTO: TED KIRK Jess Wertz, LEBANON, OHIO Gymnastics Wertz, a sophomore at Nebraska, scored a 10 on the vault to help the Cornhuskers break Arizona State's five-year home win streak. Wertz, who was also the Big 12 co-champion on the same apparatus, is only the second woman Cornhusker to score a 10 on the vault.

COLOR PHOTO: STUDIO DUDA Ben Michaelson, SEYMOUR, CONN. Swimming Michaelson, a sophomore at Southern Connecticut State, established Division II records in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly (47.77 and 1:48.21, respectively). He also broke school marks in both the 100 freestyle and the 200 individual medley.

COLOR PHOTO: KATHY BORCHERS Jim Merola, NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. Hockey Jim, a senior goaltender at La Salle Academy who will play for Saint Anselm of Manchester, N.H., next year, was named MVP of the state championships after making 129 saves in the three-game finale, which La Salle lost two games to one to 24-time defending champ Mount Saint Charles Academy.