College coaches don't often go to Carver High in Baltimore looking for football players.
The school doesn't have much of a track record for producing athletes who spend Saturday afternoons on a football field.
So how did Joel Gamble find his way from Carver to Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania?
"My father [Ricardo] took videotapes of me playing at Carver and sent them to a lot of coaches," said Gamble, a tight end who just completed a solid sophomore season for the Division II Raiders. "My coach [Shippensburg's William Rees] liked what he saw and asked me to come up here."
The 6-foot-1, 226-pound Gamble caught two passes for 32 yards Saturday in a 40-7, season-ending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory over California (Pa.) University, giving Shippensburg a final record of 6-5.
The Raiders finished on a strong note after a disheartening 23-21 defeat the previous week to East Stroudsburg - on the game's last play, a 30-yard touchdown pass. Gamble closed out the year with 16 catches for 233 yards, tying Brandon Saner for the team lead in receptions.
"Everybody up here is a star, and I have to work harder every day to play at this level," said Gamble, who has hit the weight room to go from being a 196-pound wide receiver in high school to 226. "I'm just going to keep working the rest of my career and see where football takes me."
Rees has been so impressed with the way Gamble handles himself on and off the field that he said, "I'd like to get some more players from Baltimore. We ask our tight ends to block and catch the ball. Joel has good hands, has made some diving fingertip catches for us, is a good blocker and has excellent work ethics."
Hathaway a Mountaineer
Al Hathaway Jr. (Calvert Hall) has made the West Virginia indoor and outdoor track teams as a middle-distance runner, specializing in the 800 meters.
Hathaway, a sophomore, is projected as a future Big East standout in the 800, as well as a contributor in the 3,200 relay.
Flying Dutchmen
Senior linebacker Chris Molite (C. Milton Wright) had a standout football season at Lebanon Valley (Pa.) College.
The 6-1, 195-pound player had 50 tackles, including five for losses of 18 yards, and one sack for a 7-yard loss. He also had one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
Freshman kicking specialist Kevin Keller (Fallston) had a somewhat rocky start for the Flying Dutchmen, hitting 16 of 19 extra points and three of seven field-goal attempts.
Lebanon Valley, a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference, had a down year and finished 1-10.
Schnell set at Cornell
Freshman Cathy Schnell (Annapolis) is expected to make an immediate impact on Cornell's gymnastics team, starting in the vault, on floor, on beam and on bars.
The Big Red opens its new season Jan. 1 at the George Washington Invitational in Washington.
Et cetera
Cindy Travers, a field hockey and softball player when she was at Hereford High, has switched to crew as a freshman at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. Travers has led the women's novice crew to three top 10 finishes in the fall regatta season . ... Penn freshman wrestler Matt Eveleth (Chesapeake-AA) advanced to the 133-pound quarterfinals in the Michigan State Open tournament two weekends ago. It was the Quakers' first competition of the season. They'll wrestle again Sunday at home in the Keystone Classic. ... Freshman setter Shannon Burton (Hammond) had 216 assists, 81 kills, 71 digs, 21 blocks and an .892 serving percentage in 71 games for the Lynchburg College (15-16) volleyball team. ... Senior middle hitter Gretchen Hause (Severna Park) played an important role this season during Lycoming College's march to a 17-11 volleyball record. Hause rolled up 140 kills, 112 blocks, 18 digs and six service aces.
Have a Postcard? Contact Bill Free by e-mail at bfree706@hotmail.com or by phone at 410-833-5349.