Kenwood Hits Stride After Early Struggles in Girls Lacrosse

After winning just one of its first six games, the girls lacrosse team has won three straight.

Megan Schoen has scored 17 of her 39 goals over the past two games alone, goalie Angie Abel has totaled 118 saves, and keeper Amy Genoves has played well as her backup to help the Bluebirds rise to 4-5 on the year.

Over the past two games, center Shannon Jessop has been successful on all but two of her draws, defender Harlee Ellfritz has caused four turnovers and midfielder Amber Hanlin has scooped 12 ground balls.

The Bluebirds' run began with a 10-8 victory against Owings Mills on April 15, this after leading 5-0 early in a game that featured 23 saves from Abel.

Last week, the Bluebirds vanquished local rivals Chesapeake, 21-7, and Mount Carmel, 17-9, as part of the East Side Challenge.

Against Chesapeake, the Bluebirds used a five-goal run to erase a 1-0 deficit, with Jessop taking every second-half draw. Against Mount Carmel, Schoen scored eight goals, Jessop and Gabby Cruz contributed three goals each and Hanlin scored twice.

"This tournament was an amazing display of Kenwood's depth. The ladies overcame many obstacles, including adverse weather conditions, to come away with two big wins," Kenwood coach Kate Smith said.

"The big part was having players perform amazingly in positions they don't regularly play. Stephanie Merril moved up to midfield, and Liz Rogers came up big, cementing herself as a strong defender."

The Bluebirds meet Baltimore County rival Franklin in a makeup game on Tuesday, followed by Wednesday's contest against Perry Hall.

On May 4, the Bluebirds' seniors will play their final home game opposite Western Tech.

Mavericks Win Clash Of Unbeatens

freshman right handed hurler Jordan Cargile whiffed six batters, walked only two and yielded just three hits during Thursday's 2-0 shutout of previously unbeaten Lansdowne in a clash of Baltimore County teams.

Cargile maintained an 0.70 ERA and improved her record on the mound to 3-0 as the Mavericks rose to 7-0 overall.

Junior catcher Ashley Sauerwein tripled in the bottom of the fifth inning, after which she scored on a single up the middle by sophomore Corrin Cromwell.

Senior Carly Wheat led off the sixth inning with a single that scored on Cargile for the winning margin. Wheat had a brilliant defensive game, as did senior third baseman Michelle Mohr, who finished with five assists.

Rain, Rain Go Away

The rain has wreaked havoc on spring sports in the Essex area.

So much so that over the course of his 10 years as Kenwood's athletic director, Derek Maki claims never to have seen anything like it.

"This has been the most disruptive spring season that I can remember," said Maki, who was a longtime coach of boys soccer, girls basketball and softball at Baltimore City's Patterson High prior to his arrival at Kenwood.

"If you are talking about last week, I only had a baseball and softball game to postpone," said Maki. "But overall, we have had to postpone or change over 50 contests. I just hope I have everything coordinated correctly with my fellow athletic directors."

Chesapeake Athletic Director Rod McMillion agrees.

"It has been such a rainy spring that we have played only one home varsity baseball game and one home varsity softball game," McMillion said. "This junior varsity hasn't played at all at home. The lacrosse and track teams have had only a little more success."

Mavericks Back in Action

The Eastern Tech baseball team takes an overall record of 6-2 into the week, where it has home games opposite Catonsville and Franklin on Tuesday and Thursday, followed by Saturday's road game at Dulaney.

Senior Josh Entwhistle leads the way with a .500 batting average as well as a team-high nine RBIs and four runs scored. Senior Nick McElfish and junior Jimmy Szamski are batting .478, and .476, respectively.

McElfish leads the Mavericks with 11 runs scored and six doubles to go with eight RBIs and three stolen bases. Szamski has scored eight times and has three each in stolen bases and RBIs.

Freshman Andy Szamski is at .464 with eight runs scored, six RBIs and three runs scored, and junior Neil Westdrop is batting .423 with a team-high nine runs scored to go with two doubles.

Bluebirds Back On Track

The Kenwood girls track team swept track meets with Franklin and Eastern Tech, while the boys squad split its victories.

In the girls competition, Brieana Jackson won the 100 meter dash as well as the 300 hurdles, was runner-up in the 100 hurdles and fourth at 200 meters. Loreen Nebo won the 200 dash, and was a runner-up in the 400 dash and in the long jump.

Teammate Telema Korkpan won the long and triple jumps, as well the 400 dash, and finished second in the 100 meters. Bethany Herold won the high jump and was third in long jump. Jada Boyd took first in the 3,200 meter run, second in the 800 run and the high jump, and third in the 1,600.

On the boys side, Travis Jenkins won the 400 meters, as well as the long and triple jump events but was third in the high jump. The Bluebirds' Tavon Lucas won the 100 and 200 and was fourth in the high jump.

Kenwood's Boys Holding Their Own

Led by Stevenson University-bound senior Jake Kryglik (27 points), sophomore Nick Eliadis (27) and junior Jordan Boller (22), the Kenwood boys lacrosse team is a game below .500 at 5-6.

Kryglik has 109 career points, York College-bound senior long pole Zach Temple has 57 ground balls, and Frostburg State-bound senior goalie Josh Leese has a 60.6 percent saves ratio.

In addition, junior faceoff midfielder, Jesse Griefzu has won 64.5 percent of his draws for the Bluebirds.