Faces in the Crowd
CONNOR BLACK
MUNDELEIN, ILL. > SWIMMING
Connor, a senior at Mundelein High, set a national high school record in the 100-yard butterfly at the Illinois state championships with a time of 46.71, eclipsing the 47.08 mark set by Michigan swimmer Sean Fletcher in 2009 as a senior at James Madison High (Vienna, Va.). He also won the 50 free, setting a state meet record in the preliminaries (19.80) to break Olympic gold medalist and Lake Forest (Ill.) High grad Matt Grevers's 2003 mark. A junior national team member, Connor will swim for Stanford.
HALEY WAN
IRVINE, CALIF. > WATER POLO
Haley, a junior attacker at Santa Margarita Catholic High, scored five goals to lead the Eagles past Mater Dei 12--11 in overtime of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 championship for the program's first team title in 13 years. She netted the tying goal in regulation to send the game to extra time. A finalist for the youth national team, Haley guided her SoCal Water Polo 16-and-under club to bronze at the Junior Olympics last August and was named a USA Water Polo All-America.
SEMI OJELEYE
OTTAWA, KANS. > BASKETBALL
Semi, a 6'7" senior small forward at Ottawa High, poured in 26 points in a 65--27 win over Eudora High to become the alltime leading scorer in Kansas history. He broke the mark of 2,554 points (set by Brewster High's Josh Reid from 1993 to '96) with a free throw in the third quarter. Ranked the No. 33 player in the class of 2013 by Rivals.com, Semi was averaging 38.5 points and shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc for the undefeated Cyclones at week's end. He will play for Duke next season.
MARIAH STACKHOUSE
RIVERDALE, GA. > GOLF
Stackhouse, a freshman at Stanford, shot a course- and an NCAA-record 10-under 61 at the Peg Barnard Invitational at Stanford University Golf Course to win by 10 shots and lead her team to a 14-stroke victory over 12 schools. She fired a 26 on the front nine, including two eagles and five birdies, which is one shot lower than the LPGA nine-hole record. Stackhouse was a three-time Georgia 4A champion at North Clayton High and a four-time state player of the year.
TAYLOR GARCIA
WINTER GARDEN, FLA. > WATER SKIING
Taylor, a freshman who takes online courses through Laurel Springs School, won gold in boys' jumping and overall bronze at the junior world championships last month in Mulwala, Australia. His jump of 178 feet tied his personal best; he also finished fourth in slalom and ninth in tricks for a total of 2,523.48 points, helping the U.S. win the biennial event for the third straight time. A four-time national champion, Taylor is the No. 1--ranked jumper in the world among boys 18 and under.
SOPHIE BRUNNER
FREEPORT, ILL. > BASKETBALL
Sophie, a 6'1" senior forward at Aquin Catholic High, scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 55--46 victory over Mount Pulaski High to lift the Bulldogs to their second straight Class 1A state championship. Named the state tournament MVP this year and last, when she helped Aquin win its first title, she holds 17 records in Illinois tournament finals play. Sophie averaged a double double with 20.3 points and 11.1 boards this season. She will play at Arizona State.
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GO FIGURE
15
Days in jail to which Vancouver peewee hockey coach Martin Tremblay, 48, was sentenced for tripping two opposing players (ages 10 and 13) during a postgame handshake.
.641
Shooting percentage (139 for 217) for LeBron James in February, highest by an NBA player in a calendar month (at least 200 attempts) since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's .650 (158 for 243) in March 1983.
1
Spring training game from which Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus was scratched because of "sensitivity in his left arm," the result of a tattoo he had gotten over the previous two days.
11
Miles of Anchorage streets covered with trucked-in snow for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday.
0--27
Final regular-season record for the Grambling State men's basketball team, after a 74--62 loss to Alabama State last Saturday night.
RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS
The Dodgers invited Daniel (Doc) Jacobs, who lost part of his left leg while serving with the Marines in Iraq seven years ago, to an open tryout in Glendale, Ariz. Los Angeles didn't sign Jacobs, a former high school infielder, but did have him throw out the first pitch before its spring training game against the Angels later that day.
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KEITH BIRMINGHAM/PASADENA STAR-NEWS (JACOBS)
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LINDA BLACK (BLACK)
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SANTA MARGARITA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL (WAN)
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RON CLEVENGER (OJELEYE)
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STANFORD ATHLETICS (STACKHOUSE)
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LYNN NOVAKOFSKI (GARCIA)
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KURT KOESTER STUDIO (BRUNNER)
