Faces in the Crowd
LEXI SMITH
FLORENCE, N.J. > FIELD HOCKEY
Lexi, a senior center forward at Florence High, scored twice in a 6--1 win over Palmyra High to tie the national career scoring record (174 goals) just two days after breaking the New Jersey state record with two goals in a 4--3 come-from-behind win over Bordentown. Last year she broke the Flashes' single-season scoring mark, a record previously held by her aunt, Dianne Carey-Stranko, the team's assistant coach, and before that by her mother, Gina Carey-Smith, the head coach.
SEAN MCGORTY
CHANTILLY, VA. > CROSS-COUNTRY
Sean, a senior at Chantilly High, won the Great American Cross-Country Festival 5K in Cary, N.C., surging ahead in the final 10 meters to win by .3 seconds in 14:43.6, a personal best and the fastest U.S. high school time so far this season. His win, over 220 runners on a rain-soaked course, set course and meet records and helped the Chargers to a fourth-place finish. Sean, the 3A state champion at 3,200 meters, also won the Monroe Parker and Oatlands invitationals this year.
KEALIA OHAI
DRAPER, UTAH > SOCCER
Ohai, a junior forward at North Carolina, opened the scoring in a 6--1 win over Miami (Fla.) by taking a defensive clearance and sprinting 65 yards, past four defenders, to launch a shot from the top of the box into the upper-right corner of the net. Six Tar Heels scored in the match, producing the team's most goals in 28 games. Last month Ohai scored in the U.S.'s U-20 World Cup semifinal win over Nigeria (2--0) and kicked the team's lone goal to defeat Germany in the final.
HERMAN SENOR II
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. > FOOTBALL
Herman, a senior QB, cornerback and kicker at Southeast High, led the Spartans to a school scoring record in a 60--14 win over Lanphier, accounting for six touchdowns: a 26-yard interception return, a 14-yard fumble return, a rushing score and three TD passes, including a 61-yarder. The week before, he carried the team to a 24--21 win over Lincoln Community High, with three rushing TDs and a 32-yard field goal with .4 of a second left. Last month Herman led the team (3--4) to its first win since 2009.
CLARE CULLIGAN
COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. > SOCCER
Clare, a senior striker at St. John's Prep, closed out the regular season as the state's top scorer for the second straight year, with two goals in a 4--3 loss to St. Cloud Cathedral High to give her a total of 53. Last month she scored five times in a 7--3 win over Zimmerman High to surpass 100 career goals, hitting the century mark on a breakaway ball. Clare, who netted a career 134 goals, helped the Johnnies to two consecutive winning seasons and was named all-state last year, when she had 41 goals.
NIKOLA VAVIC
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIF. > WATER POLO
Vavic, a junior driver at USC, scored a career-high six points—including a hat trick in the first period—as the unbeaten Trojans (15--0) defeated UC-Santa Barbara in the final, 14--5, to win their ninth straight SoCal Tournament. Vavic had 14 goals in the four-match competition. A week earlier he scored the game-winner with two minutes left in a 7--6 victory over Cal to deliver the 400th men's career win for USC head coach—and his father—Jovan Vavic.
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS
After Ben Rouse, 25, a lifelong Brewers fan who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007 and is currently in remission, announced that he planned to attend all 162 of Milwaukee's games this year to help raise awareness for Be the Match Foundation (which helps patients find bone marrow donors), the team upgraded Rouse to a full-season-ticket package and gave him a ticket to every road game, allowing Rouse to meet his goal.
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SCOTT PAULUS/MILWAUKEE BREWERS PHOTOS (RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS)
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PHIL WILGUS/WEBEYEZED.COM (SMITH)
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ED LULL (MCGORTY)
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MICHAEL JANOSZ/ISIPHOTOS.COM/COURTESY U.S. SOCCER (OHAI)
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STADIUM WRAPS (SENOR)
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COURTESY OF ROB CULLIGAN (CULLIGAN)
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FIGGE PHOTOGRAPHY (VAVIC)