Faces In The Crowd

Matt Handlon, VALPARAISO, IND.
Baseball
Matt, a senior pitcher and leftfielder at Valparaiso High, was named MVP of the Duneland Conference in baseball, with a 10-1 pitching record and .358 batting average. He had also been named MVP in football and basketball this season.

Emily Watts, MANCHESTER, MD.
Swimming
Watts, 35, won the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. She circled Manhattan in 7:46:10, beating a field of nine male and five female swimmers. She also finished ahead of the seven relay teams that competed in the 21st annual event.

Andra Manson, BRENHAM, TEXAS
Track and Field
Andra, a senior at Brenham High, won two national high jump competitions. He won the Golden West Invitational with a jump of 7'4" and then two weeks later took the USA Junior Nationals with a jump of 7'2�".

Bea Bielik, VALLEY STREAM, N.Y.
Tennis
Bielik, a junior at Wake Forest, was named 2002 player of the year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. She went 35-2 for the year and won the NCAA individual title, setting a record in the championship tournament for fewest games lost (21).

Michael Hafenbrack II, YUTAN, NEB.
Weightlifting
Michael, a junior at Yutan High, set three meet records for the 114-pound weight class and 16-17 age group at the Teen/Junior National Powerlifting Championships. He set marks for the squat (341 pounds), dead lift (394 pounds) and total lifted (916 pounds).

Billy Stewart, DEVON, PA.
Golf
Stewart, 18, won the Philadelphia Amateur Championship 8 and 7 in a 36-hole match-play final at the Riverton ( N.J.) Country Club. He became only the second player as young as 18 to win the event in its 102-year history and the first to do so since 1949.

Brittany Evans, EAST BEND, N.C.
Softball
Brittany, a junior righthander at Forbush High, tied a state-single-game record by striking out 29 batters, during a 14-inning game against Ashe County High. Brittany finished the season 16-1 with a 0.22 ERA. She led her team to the 2-A state softball title.