Nicole Brannock loves to wear her University of Tennessee swimming sweatshirt home to Ellicott City and Mount Hebron High, basking in the glow of the Lady Vols' storied athletic program, in general, and plugging the swimming team, in particular.
"People always come up to me and talk about the Lady Vols," said Brannock, who is one of six seniors expected to play an important part in the swim team's success this season.
"Sure, they love to hear about our basketball team. We hope to give people a Top 10 swimming team to talk about."
Brannock said she has enjoyed her ride on the Vols' swimmimg bandwagon, even though she hasn't had a breakthrough season in her specialties of the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events.
"My goal is to keep improving individually and help this team become a Top 10 program," she said from Knoxville, Tenn., yesterday. "I just missed qualifying for the NCAAs last year and I'll continue to work hard."
It hasn't been an easy journey for Brannock to this major-college program.
"I basically recruited myself," she said. "I talked to coach [Dan] Colella and said I was ready to sign right away, and he said I should make my official recruiting visit first."
Brannock scored points in the 100-yard (14th place in 1:04.66) and 200-yard (15th place) breaststroke events last season in the Southeastern Conference championships.
But her biggest thrill at Tennessee was qualifying for the SEC championships last season, swimming the breaststroke on the 200-yard medley "A" relay team.
Colella said yesterday, "I look for the kind of improvement this season that will make Nicole a real player both at the SECs and the NCAAs."
Tennessee is 2-0 this season, with league victories over Kentucky (143-99) and LSU (127-114).
Brannock finished fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke Sunday in the win over LSU, and in the opener against Kentucky she swam the second leg on the 400-yard medley-relay team, which took second.
Thomas leads in aces
West Alabama junior volleyball standout Jen Thomas (Atholton) had a typical afternoon on the court Sunday in a 3-1 victory over Loyola of New Orleans.
Thomas cranked out a team-high six service aces, running her total to a team-best 53 service aces this season for West Alabama, which is 21-12 overall and 8-5 in the Gulf South Conference.
Thomas has played in 102 games for the NCAA Division II school, which is still in the running for a Gulf South tournament berth, compiling 230 digs, 151 kills, and 54 blocks.
West Alabama has won eight straight matches.
Forces for Roanoke
Rachel Flint and Kelly Busik have become quite a scoring tandem for the Roanoke field hockey team, which is 12-5 overall and 7-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Flint (Towson) and Busik (St. Mary's), both juniors, are tied for second on the team in scoring with 18 points.
Flint has eight goals, two assists and two game-winning scores this season on 53 shots; Busik has seven goals and four assists, in addition to one game-deciding score, on 36 shots.
A third Baltimore-area player, sophomore Heather Mosser (Dulaney), has scored one goal in nine games for the Maroons.
Winning with Hall
They're rejoicing in Loretto, Pa., these days.
St. Francis University has ended the nation's longest collegiate football losing streak at 30, defeating LaSalle, 23-16, Saturday in Philadelphia.
The Red Flash's hero?
None other than junior running back Michael Hall (Parkville), who bolted through LaSalle for a career-high 247 yards and two touchdowns in the elusive victory.
The 30-game drought was the fourth longest in NCAA history.
Have a Postcard? Contact Bill Free by e-mail at bfree706@hotmail.com or by phone at 410-833-5349.