Skip to main content

Faces in the Crowd

DONTRE WILSON

DESOTO, TEXAS > FOOTBALL

Dontre, a 5'10", 180-pound senior running back at DeSoto High, had 19 carries for 120 yards and scored all three TDs in the Eagles' 24--6 victory over Arlington Bowie to advance to the Class 5A state quarterfinals. With 80 career touchdowns through Sunday, he broke the school record, previously held by Cyrus Gray, now of the Kansas City Chiefs. Dontre, who will play in the Under Armour All-America game in January, was named district MVP. He is verbally committed to Oregon.

ANNA ROHRER

MISHAWAKA, IND. > CROSS-COUNTRY

Anna, a sophomore at Mishawaka High, won the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championship 5K at UW-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., in a course-record 16:54.0 to advance to nationals in San Diego. In October she set a state-meet record with a 17:13.2 finish, beating Indiana's defending state champion by nearly 16 seconds. A week earlier, she ran the fastest time in Indiana girls' cross-country history, with a 17:03.9 finish at the semi-state race. Anna returned this year after a broken foot sidelined her last fall.

MITCH KATES

COLTS NECK, N.J. > BASKETBALL

Kates, a senior guard at MIT, scored a season-high 27 points to help the Engineers, top ranked in Division III, to a 70--60 win over Tufts. It was his fifth 20-points-plus performance as he helped MIT go unbeaten in its first five games of the season. Named most outstanding player at last year's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament, Kates led the team to the NCAA semifinals last season. He was named a preseason All-America by D3Hoops.com.

HALIMA MATTHEWS

BROOKLYN > SOCCER

Halima, an eighth-grade striker on the Brooklyn Friends School varsity team, scored a championship-game-record six goals in an 8--1 win over Manhattan's Birch Wathen Lenox School for the program's first Independent School Athletic League title. She led in regular-season goals citywide, with 34, and was named the Panthers' player of the year. Halima, who also competes with the Brooklyn Patriots Lioness club team, was selected for last year's state Olympic development program.

ALEC TATTERSALL

VINEYARD HAVEN, MASS. > FOOTBALL

Alec, a senior quarterback at Martha's Vineyard High, threw two touchdowns in the final five minutes of a come-from-behind 27--26 victory over Nantucket High to win the 34th annual Island Cup and even the series at 17 wins apiece. He threw for 233 yards, including a seven-yard strike for the winning score with 20 seconds left, breaking the Vineyarders' single-season passing record with 1,333 yards. Alec was awarded the Marine Corps Great American Rivalries game MVP trophy.

BRIANNE CORN

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS > AUTO RACING

Corn, a 44-year-old media technician at Texas State University, drove a 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX in an aggregate 10:21.63 over seven runs on the dirt course at Tulsa Raceway Park to become the first woman to win a Sports Car Club of America rallycross national championship. With the best time by 16.86 seconds, she beat 16 other drivers, all men, to win the Modified All-Wheel Drive class title. Last year Corn became the third female in SCCA history to win an open class at the solo nationals.

Nominate Now

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. For more on outstanding amateur athletes, follow @SI_Faces on Twitter.

THEY SAID IT

"I may get thrown out at halftime and end up in an Irish bar in Cincinnati."

MIKE BREY, Notre Dame basketball coach, on his team's being scheduled to play the Bearcats on Jan. 7, the night of the BCS title game.

GO FIGURE

8

Games in which the Lakers' Kobe Bryant has scored at least half his team's points, after he had 40 in L.A.'s 79--77 loss to the Pacers. No other active player has more than two.

4

Number of 911 calls made to report a fire in Regina, Saskatchewan, after the CFL's Roughriders began running a video of a burning Yule log on the Mosaic Stadium scoreboard. The team has since taken the video down.

5

Consecutive three-point attempts missed by the Clippers in the final 1:12 of their 105--98 home loss to the Hornets.

10

Seasons in a row with at least 70 receptions, for the Falcons' Tony Gonzalez, tying the NFL record set by Tim Brown from 1993 through 2002.

$59

Admission price to last Saturday night's Dennis Rodman Viewing Party Experience in Chicago, which included a Q&A with the Worm, two drinks, a Dress Like Dennis costume contest and a telecast of the Bulls-Sixers game.

PHOTO

ANTHONY GRUPPUSO/US PRESSWIRE (BREY)

PHOTO

RITA BELL PHOTOGRAPHY (WILSON)

PHOTO

TIM CREASON/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE (ROHRER)

PHOTO

DAVID SILVERMAN (KATES)

PHOTO

BEBETO MATTHEWS (MATTHEWS)

PHOTO

ASHLYN TATTERSALL (TATTERSALL)

PHOTO

RUPERT BERRINGTON (CORN)