Faces In The Crowd

Erik Weihenmayer
PHOENIX
Weihenmayer, 26, has become the first blind man to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Since losing his eyesight at the age of 13, Weihenmayer has wrestled for Boston College and become the first blind person to hike the 60-mile-long Inca Trail in Peru.

Joanna Hayes
RIVERSIDE, CALIF.
Joanna, a recent graduate of John W. North High, was named Gatorade Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. She finished the season with the fastest high school times in the nation for both the 100-meter high hurdles (13.38) and the 300 intermediate hurdles (40.81).

Jay Barrs
SALT LAKE CITY
Barrs, 33, won the recurve division at the national field archery championships, which involve shooting at targets placed up-and downhill from the archer and, to simulate animals, through brush. He won the title for the second consecutive year and for the seventh time in his career.

Jamie Walz
FORT THOMAS, KY.
Jamie, a senior-to-be at Highlands High, was named Kentucky Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press. An all-state basketball guard for the past three years, she has scored a total of 4,077 points, only 308 points shy of the girls' state career record.

Mike Murphy
MENTOR, OHIO
Murphy, 40, won the A division of the Ohio racquetball championships, defeating Kirk Miller of Cleveland 15-10, 14-15, 11-8 in the final, to become the oldest winner in the event's 21-year history. For Murphy, a tournament racquetball player for 17 years, this was his first state title.

Jack Richarz
MILWAUKEE
Richarz, a centerfielder for Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., finished his four-year career for the Redmen with 226 bases on balls, a record for a Division II or III player. He helped Carthage to a 37-8-1 mark and a fourth-place finish in the Division III championship.