Faces in the Crowd
DREW WOLITARSKY
CANYON COUNTRY, CALIF. > FOOTBALL
Drew, a 6'3", 215-pound senior wide receiver at Canyon High, caught nine passes for 149 yards and four touchdowns in a 49--7 win over Golden Valley to set a state record with 4,585 career receiving yards. The previous mark was held by St. Louis Rams wideout Steve Smith, who had 4,486 yards at Taft High from 2000 to '02. Drew, who has since extended his record to 4,662 yards, is also closing in on Smith's state record for career receptions (271), with 246 through Sunday.
HALEIGH WASHINGTON
COLORADO SPRINGS > VOLLEYBALL
Haleigh, a 6'4" junior middle blocker at Doherty High, had 11 kills and a .769 hitting percentage in a 3--0 win over Coronado to help the 16--0 Spartans remain the only unbeaten 5A team in Colorado. A transfer student from Idaho Springs, Idaho, she helped Doherty (17--9 last year) to a five-game come-from-behind win over Cheyenne Mountain last month with a season-best 22 kills. Haleigh leads the state in hitting percentage (.602) and is on the junior national team. She has committed to Penn State.
RILEY LYONS
ROSWELL, GA. > FOOTBALL
Lyons, a sophomore kicker at Dartmouth, drilled a 31-yard field goal with one second left to lift Big Green to a 13--10 win over Holy Cross. In the second quarter he converted his first collegiate field goal, a 34-yarder, to tie the score at 10. His ensuing kickoff was returned 69 yards by Crusaders receiver Kalif Raymond before Lyons tackled him to the turf, preserving the tie. Lyons is also the team's punter, and through Sunday he had booted 24 punts for an average 35.5 yards.
KATIE JOHNSON
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. > SOFTBALL
Katie, a senior pitcher at Washington High, had 13 strikeouts in a 9--0 win over Mitchell High that gave the Warriors their second consecutive South Dakota 2A state title. She pitched complete games in all of the team's four state tournament wins, striking out 44 in 23 innings. In September, she threw back-to-back perfect games. Katie finished the season with a 17--0 record, an 0.89 ERA and a .613 batting average. She will play college ball at Iowa State.
JOEY COLTON
LAKE FOREST, CALIF. > WATER POLO
Joey, a senior attacker at El Toro High, was named MVP after scoring four goals—including the match winner with three minutes left—to defeat Dana Hills 10--8 in the Villa Park Classic final. Two weeks later he had six goals, including another game winner, to help beat Newport Harbor 11--10. The program's sole returning senior, Joey holds the school record for assists in a season with 108. Last summer he helped the Saddleback El Toro Water Polo Club to the silver medal at the Junior Olympics.
KERI LAMBERT
AMHERST, MASS. > CROSS-COUNTRY
Lambert, a senior at Amherst, won the Little Three Championship 5K by 49 seconds with an 18:21.0 finish. A week earlier she won the James Earley Invitational 6K over a 452-person field in a personal season-best 21:30.11. Lambert, who had never run track before college, is Division III's defending 3,000-meter steeplechase champion. She also earned All-America honors last year with a seventh-place finish in the 5,000 meters at nationals and was named an Academic All-America.
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS
Were it not for the NHL lockout, Bruins coach Claude Julien would have been in Philadelphia last Thursday for his team's opener against the Flyers. Instead he made a surprise visit to the Blue North girls' under-12 team in Andover, Mass. Julien, accompanied by Boston assistant coach Geoff Ward, led the girls' practice, gave a pep talk and signed autographs.
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BRACE HEMMELGARN/US PRESSWIRE (JULIEN)
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COURTESY OF SCOTT ARNOLD (WOLITARSKY)
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APRE PHOTOGRAPHY (WASHINGTON)
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TOM MCNEILL (LYONS)
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MARLIN JOHNSON (JOHNSON)
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BRETT MCCLEAVE (COLTON)
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ROB MATTSON (LAMBERT)