Gymnastics
Ellicott City's Gina Califano said her performance at last week's USAIGC National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. left something to be desired.
But for the 13-year-old, the results were most desirable.
Califano scored an 8.5 or above in every event en route to a 35.125 in the all-around and 19th place overall in Level 10 competition, becoming the first-ever athlete from Top Flight Gymnastics in Columbia to place in nationals.
"I think I did a little better than I expected," said the Patapsco Middle School eighth-grader. "I did pretty good last year, but this time I did a lot better."
The 13-year-old's best event was the vault, where she performed a pike-suke for a 9.075, her highest score of the meet. She also received an 8.5 on the uneven bars, 8,65 on the balance beam and 8.9 on the floor exercise.
Softball
* 12-and-under girls -- The Howard County Youth Program Travel Team successfully defended its Amateur Softball Association Maryland State Championship over the weekend in Catonsville.
The Hurricanes won six of seven games in the double-elimination tournament, including a double-header sweep over Catonsville to win the title.
The local team started things off with an 18-2 thrashing of Taneytown, in which Lauren Merkle, Nicole Barnoski and Julie Taury each had three hits.
The Hurricanes next defeated Hereford, 22-0. Stephanie Kunkel tossed a one-hit shutout, and also led the offense with three hits, including a home run, and five RBIs. Pam Sneddon also added two doubles and three RBIs.
Next came a dramatic come-from-behind victory against Lutherville-Timonium. Down by three runs with two outs in the final inning, the Hurricanes rallied for four runs to stun the Thunder, 9-8.
Rebecca Hernandez homered and Merkle added a two-run triple to lead the comeback.
On Sunday, the Howard team dropped its
only game of the tournament -- a 7-5 setback to the Catonsville Comets, sending them to the losers' bracket.
But it didn't take long for them to get right back on track. In the team's next game, Heather Phipps had three hits and two RBIs and Lisa Felker had three hits, including a homer, and five RBIs as the Hurricanes again defeated Lutherville-Timonium, 10-7.
That moved HCYP into the title series with Catonsville, where it would need a two-game sweep to avoid elimination.
The Hurricanes responded in the opener, pounding out 23 hits en route to a 20-12 win. Kunkel led the way with four hits, and Kathleen Coolahan and Rebecca Hernandez added three apiece.
The local team then finished the job by winning Game 2, 11-7, as Stacie Tokasz homered and drove in four runs and Coolahan made a number of sparkling defensive plays in center field.
By virtue of their win, the Hurricanes receive a berth in the A.S.A.'s Central Atlantic Regional Tournament in York, Pa. on July 16-17.
Basketball
* 14-18 -- Simon Bwalya scored 21 points and Damon Cole added 16 to lead the Blue Devils to a 64-60 win over the Razorbacks last weekend in the first week of play in The Supreme Sports Club's Saturday High School League.
Darnerien McCants scored a game-high 23 points in defeat.
The Hoyas also got started on a winning note, besting the Bruins, 59-52. Tari Mitchell led all scorers with 26 points for the victors, while Greg McKelvin (13 points) and Paul Sim and Danny Vick (10 each) paced the Bruins.
The Tar Heels got 22 points from Troy Hines en route to a 54-53 win over the Terps. Stephen Guest (28 points) and T.J. Smith (13) led the Terps.
In the semifinal round of The Supreme Sports Club Basketball League tournament, teams with superior records prevailed in all but one game.
* 8-9 -- The Junior Timberwolves (7-1) defeated the Junior Heat, 19-11, as Ryan Eby scored nine points. Andy Ellis led the Heat with eight.
They will meet the Junior Kings, 34-33 winners over the Junior Magic. Anthony Gaither (20 points) and Tanard Jackson (12) led the Kings (6-2) while David Freund scored 16 to lead the Magic.
* 10-12 -- The Wolverines remained the only unbeaten team in The Supreme Sports Club, as they ran their record to 8-0 with a 43-31 win over the Spartans.
William Cannady led the victors with 21 points while Joey Ellis added 13. Jennifer Westervelt threw in a team-high 14 for the Spartans.
Next up for the Wolverines will be the Tar Heels (7-1), 31-24 winners over the Terps in the other semifinal. Mekdim Ayde led the Heels with 11 while Wintley Phipps II scored 12 to lead the Terps.
* 13-15 boys -- It will be the Rockets and the Bulls for the title.
The Rockets (6-2) defeated the Sonics, 75-59, as Darnerien McCants scored 21, Donald Wallace II scored 15, Gamaal zTC Robinson had 14 and Ryan Howard added 11. Mike Brown (18) and Paul Sim (11) paced the Sonics.
The lone upset of the day came in the other semifinal, where the the Bulls -- who entered the day at 3-4 -- knocked off the Knicks -- previously 6-1 -- 48-47.
Michael Ralph, Matt Bishop and Nicholas Greene each had 10 points for the victors, while Troy Hines led the Knicks with 22.
Volleyball
* 18-and-under girls -- The Columbia Comets, a women's Junior Olympic club team, captured the annual East Coast Junior Olympic Championships recently at Penn State University, winning 27 of 29 weekend games against a field of 84 teams from all over the Eastern and Central United States.
The team includes 1993 Sun All-Metro selections Carlyn Cangiano, Marisa Davidson, Krisha Svehla and Player of the Year Susan Wren.
The Comets finished their regular season with a record of 149-46 (.764), winning the United States Volleyball Association Chesapeake Region and earning a bid to the USVBA National Championships, beginning
today and running through Sunday in Austin, Texas.
The team is coached by Jolene Nagel, head volleyball coach at Georgetown University, and Jill Pflug.
Also at the East Coast Championships, the Columbia Condors -- a team of area sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls, captured second place among 45 teams in the 14-under group.
Soccer
* Under-13 girls -- The Soccer Association of Columbia Cannonades travel team advanced to the finals before falling in the recent 1994 Chesapeake Capital Cup tournament in Bowie.
Columbia opened with a 6-0 win over Perry Hall. Brooke Barcheski and Casey Finnegan scored two goals each for the victors, with Michelle Jenkins and Alexia Vogler adding one each.
The Cannonades then scored a 4-1 decision over the Springfield Thunder, as standout offensive play by Lindsey Mitchell and Monica Serianni kept the ball out of Springfield territory.
After the Thunder took a 1-0 lead on a first-half penalty kick, the Cannonades came back with two goals by Megan Moulding and one each by Katie Madden and Barcheski.
The team then made it three easy wins with a 3-0 victory over Glyndon. Finnegan scored first off a pass from Michele Rapp, Vogler extended the lead off an outside pass from Madden and Barcheski finished off the scoring by putting in a chip shot by Michelle Veach.
In the finals, however, it was quite a different story.
In a rematch against Potomac, Kelley Schnieder's penalty kick in the final 10 seconds of the game was the only goal in a 3-1 loss. Edna Dash and Stacie Tokasz played well on defense.
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Note: To submit information for the Howard County recreation roundup, call (410) 521-0505.