Ford Bennett of Owings Mills took first place in the boys age 16-18 division at the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour's Major Championship this past weekend at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace. Two strokes back after day one, Bennett shot a 1-over 73 Sunday for a two-day total of 150. Bennett birdied the 18th hole to cap a one stroke victory, edging William Mirams of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Nicholas Mejia of Woodstock. Trent Geritz of Towson shot a 73 in the second round to finish at 8-over 152 for a fourth-place finish. By placing among the top three, Bennett earned a spot in the Mid Season Invitational at Sea Island Plantation on June 11-13 and National Championship on December 2-3.
UM president Loh 'would think' UNC gets 'death penalty'
University of Maryland, College Park President Wallace Loh said last week that he thinks the NCAA's investigation into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's academic-athletic scandal would lead to the harshest penalties a school can receive, according to a recording obtained by The News & Observer. During a university senate meeting Thursday in College Park, Loh called the scandals at North Carolina "abysmal" and said they would lead to the NCAA's levying the so-called death penalty, The News & Observer reported. A Maryland spokesman said Monday night that Loh's comments "are not a reflection of personal beliefs about the university [North Carolina] or its leadership." The North Carolina newspaper received an audio file of a portion of the open meeting, including the question-and-answer section in which Loh commented on the former Atlantic Coast Conference rival. Asked by someone who identified himself as a Maryland faculty member about the "corrupting influence of athletics," according to The News & Observer, Loh said that as president, he sits over "a number of dormant volcanoes." "One of them is an athletic scandal. It blows up, it blows up the university, its reputation, it blows up the president," Loh said, according to the report. "For the things that happened in North Carolina, it's abysmal. I would think that this would lead to the implementation of the death penalty by the NCAA. But I'm not in charge of that." A North Carolina official told The News & Observer that "[c]learly, Dr. Loh misunderstands the facts of the case, and how NCAA bylaws apply to those facts." Brian Ullmann, the Maryland spokesman, said Loh's remarks are "an example of the challenges that leaders in academia face as universities continue to grapple with balancing athletics with our overarching mission of research and scholarship. "It's clear that he is not advocating for any one outcome and trusts that all involved are working toward the same goal of rooting out wrongdoing wherever we see it on an academic campus."
—Jonas Shaffer
Men's college lacrosse: Maryland rose from seventh to fifth in the third installment of the RPI rankings. The Terps (7-2) benefited from defeating previously unbeaten Penn State, 15-11, on Saturday. Maryland trails No. 1 Syracuse (8-1), No. 2 Notre Dame (5-3), No. 3 Penn State (10-1), and No. 4 Denver (8-2). Johns Hopkins (6-4) fell from fourth to seventh after Sunday night's 13-9 loss at Ohio State and Towson (6-3) slid from No. 15 to No. 16 despite defeating Massachusetts, 11-8, on Saturday. Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 6 Hofstra (10-0), No. 7 Johns Hopkins (6-4), No. 8 Ohio State (10-2), No. 9 Albany (9-1), and No. 10 Rutgers (9-2). Among area programs, UMBC (4-6) improved from No. 29 to No. 28, Loyola Maryland (7-4) rose from No. 35 to 32, Mount St. Mary's (4-6) went from No. 51 to No. 46, and Navy (5-7) dropped from No. 41 to No. 51.
—Edward Lee
NHL: The Washington Capitals signed forward Beck Malenstyn to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning with the 2017-18 season. Malenstyn, 19, is currently with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League on a tryout agreement. ... The Capitals won the William M. Jennings Trophy, an annual award given to the goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Braden Holtby and Philipp Grubauer combined to allow just 182 goals this season, the fewest goals against in an 82-game season in team history.
Honors: Former Maryland men's basketball star Juan Dixon (Calvert Hall) is among the newest members of the Washington D.C. Sports Hall of Fame who will be honored before a Washington Nationals game July 9. The nine-member class also includes Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky of Bethesda, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, former Maryland men's basketball player Tom McMillen, Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese, retired D.C. broadcaster Glenn Harris, former Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser, former Washington Redskins defensive back Mike Nelms and former Washington Capitals play-by-play announcer Ron Weber.
—Scott Allen, The Washington Post
Junior colleges: The Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference selected Howard Community College sophomore lacrosse attacker Cassidy Delaney (Marriotts Ridge) and Harford Community College sophomore baseball catcher-infielder Luke Johnson (North Harford) as Student Athletes of the Month for March.