Maryland's 1992 girls U-17 Olympic Development Program team recently gave their fathers a memorable Father's Day present. The squad, which includes Chapelgate's Kelly Stambaugh and Glenelg's Kristen Schmidbauer, both rising seniors, won its third consecutive Region I ODP title. The region consists of 13 states from Virginia to Maine. The team, coached by Peye Garcia, beat New York West, 3-1, in the semifinals on Saturday and Eastern New York South, 2-1, in the finals on Sunday.

Kristen, a midfielder, and Kelly, a goalkeeper, have been in the ODP program for five years. Apparently, theirs is the only Maryland ODP team, boys or girls, to win three consecutive regional titles.

"It's amazing that they were able to pull this off," Debbie Stambaugh, Kelly's mother, told us.

This year's tournament was the end of the ODP line for the 1992 girls. There is no national tournament for that age group. The past two years, however, the Maryland squad finished third in the nation.

Awards for River Hill, Glenelg

At the end of the high school sports season, two major awards are given out by the school system. The first is the People Tree Cup, which is given for athletic superiority with schools receiving points for how their teams finished in the county standings in each varsity sport. If you've been reading the sports pages during the school year, it won't come as a surprise that River Hill won. In fact, it's the fourth consecutive People Tree for the Hawks, who have won eight of the last 11.

The second award is the Sportsmanship Cup, which is self-explanatory. At the end of each season each athletics and activities manager selects the top three schools based on input from coaches. This year's award goes to Glenelg, which also won in 2008.

Big lacrosse tourney coming

The Maryland State of Lacrosse Games, scheduled for Cedar Lane Park, Rockburn and Western Regional Park July 11-12, may turn out to be the major lacrosse tournament needed to keep local lacrosse players here instead of traveling to play elsewhere.

This year's tournament, directed by Jim Huelskamp, will have a Women's Elite Division featuring players from major lacrosse programs, a Men's Elite I and Elite II and a Master's and Grand Master's Division. In the future the plan is to bring in the younger lacrosse players to make this a total package.

If you want to see some good lacrosse that weekend, just head for the locations mentioned above.

Softball classic on the Fourth

It is hard to believe but the Longfellow Friends of the Traditional Fourth will be holding their 39th annual parade and softball classic on July 4. The low-key parade starts at 10 a.m. at Longfellow Elementary School and winds its way down Hesperus Drive and then onto Eliot's Oak Drive.

Two hours later, the Hesperus Drive Wrecks and the Nuts of Eliot's Oak face off in the longest running softball classic in Howard County. The requirements to make either squad are pretty rigid: you have to either live on or near either street or have flown over either street in your lifetime or know someone who lives in town or out of town to be eligible to play.

Looking for a fun afternoon? Show up at the field behind the Harper's Choice Village Center and get ready for some Fourth of July fun.

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