Faces in the Crowd

Julia Mancuso, OLYMPIC VALLEY, CALIF.
Skiing
Julia, 18, won gold medals in the combined, downhill and giant
slalom at the Alpine junior world championships. Her subsequent
fifth-place finish in the World Cup overall marked the first
time a U.S. junior came in among the top 15 in the World Cup
finals.

Mike Thornson, BISMARCK, N.DAK.
Track and Field
Thornson, 47, the coach at the University of Mary, guided the
Marauders' women to their ninth consecutive Dakota Athletic
Conference indoor title and a third-place finish at the NAIA
nationals. He was named the NAIA coach of the year in his sport
for the fourth time in his nine seasons at Mary.

Olabode Ogunwole, NORTH BETHESDA, MD.
Wrestling
Olabode, a junior at Georgetown Prep, earned the national prep
school heavyweight crown by defeating senior Damon Lattimore of
St. Benedict's of Newark, 4-2. Olabode's record after three
seasons with the Little Hoyas stands at 125-20, including 49-0
this year.

Eric Brandon, NASHVILLE
Baseball
Brandon, a sophomore righthander at Auburn, threw the Tigers'
first nine-inning perfect game, a 2-0 victory over Murray State.
In the SEC's first such perfecto in 39 years, Brandon, who was
3-1 with a 2.80 ERA through Sunday, had a career-high 12
strikeouts against the Racers.

Erin Grant, arlington, TEXAS
Basketball
Erin, a senior point guard at Mansfield High, led the Lady
Tigers to the Class 5A Texas title for a state-record fourth
straight time. Named Texas's girl player of the year and an
All-America, she finished her career with 1,055 assists, fourth
in the nation all time. She'll play at Texas Tech next year.

Kelly Parker, BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
Swimming
Parker, a junior at Hope College in Holland, won the Michigan
Intercollegiate Athletic Association women's championships in
the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke--the same events her father,
Randy, won while competing for Albion (Mich.) College from 1973
to '75.

COLOR PHOTO: COURTESY OF U.S. SKI TEAM

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT KNUTSON PHOTOGRAPHY

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID DOYLE

COLOR PHOTO: JEFF ETHERIDGE/AU PHOTOSERVICES

COLOR PHOTO: MARK ROGERS

COLOR PHOTO: MIKE APPLEYARD/HOPE COLLEGE