Faces In The Crowd

Eric Eshbach, Orangefield, Texas
Track and Field
Eric, a senior at Orangefield High, broke a national high school pole vault record when he cleared 17'9�" at the Conference 3A District 23 championships. He led the Bobcats to a second-place finish at the meet and will compete for Nebraska next year.

Scott Mansager, Rochester Hills, Mich.
Platform Tennis
Mansager, 35, won the national doubles title for the fourth straight year with partner Flip Goodspeed, 37, of Grand Rapids. Mansager also won the mixed doubles with Sue Aery, 39, of Plainfield, N.J., to become only the third player in history to win both crowns in the same year.

Alex Kahoe, Villanova, Pa.
Lacrosse
Kahoe, a junior goaltender at Maryland, had a season-high 18 saves in a 13-5 defeat of Virginia in the ACC women's championship game. Through Sunday she was third in the NCAA in goals-against average (6.27) and had led the 17-0 Terps to a No. 1 national ranking.

Donnie Rafter, Tustin, Calif.
Volleyball
Rafter, a senior outside hitter at UC Irvine, had 59 kills, 18 digs and five aces in leading the No. 10 Anteaters to a 3-0 defeat of then No. 1 Long Beach State and a 3-2 victory over then No. 7 Hawaii. The Anteaters made their first postseason appearance, where they lost in the first round.

Monique deBruin, Portland
Fencing
DeBruin, a junior at Stanford, won the NCAA title in the women's foil by beating Erinn Smart of Columbia 15-7. She had a 77-1 record and led the Cardinal to a third-place team finish, its best ever. In 1996 DeBruin was an alternate for the Olympic team.

Leela Doppalapudi, Gilbert, Ariz.
Chess
Leela, a senior at Gilbert High, beat 281 other entrants to win the under-1,300 section at the national high school championships. He was undefeated in seven matches at the tournament and led the five-time runner-up Tigers to their first team title.