Devon

The rounds of competition, spectacles and fun continued at Devon as the 93d annual horse show progressed through the holiday weekend, drawing top riders from all over the nation and foreign countries, as well. The horses were the main attraction, and most seemed to relish their celebrity status, as cameras clicked constantly.

Devon-Strafford clinched a spot in the semifinals of the Mid-Atlantic Little League Regional tournament by beating Middletown, Del., 16-5, last night in a game decided by the mercy rule at Breen Field. The win raised Devon's record to 2-1 while Middletown fell to 1-3. Austin Shirley went 3 for 3 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Steven Born also went 3 for 3 with four RBIs. Devon, the Pennsylvania champion, broke the game open with six runs in the fourth inning to take a 12-5 lead.

Michael Jordan poured in 20 points and Mark Semerjian scored his 1,000th career point last night as Devon Prep successfully defended its PIAA District 1 Class A title with a 58-46 victory over Christopher Dock at Lower Moreland. Devon Prep (23-3) and Christopher Dock (9-16), both members of the Bicentennial Athletic League, will move on to the state Class A championship tournament. The dates, times and sites have not yet been announced. Devon Prep never trailed in the game, although the Pioneers were able to force four ties in the first half.

The Devon Horse Show Toys and Souvenirs Booth this year has added several new pieces of memorabilia - all of which feature the official horse show seal. A white cotton, golf-style sweater, featuring the blue seal, will make its debut at $25, and a watch, with the seal on its face, will be selling for $40. But Kim Hughes, now in her third year as chairwoman of the booth, said she expected T-shirts ($10 to $12.50) and sweatshirts ($25) to continue as the best sellers. Both sold out last year, boosting the booth's profits to more than $30,000.

Judy Garofalo, riding Harlem De Mescam, jumped cleanly in 70.48 seconds to win the first-round American Gold Cup Welcome Stake, the qualifying class for tomorrow's $75,000 Gold Cup. Schuyler Riley of Wellington, Fla., and New Hope was second on Opus Sept in 73.24, with Ramiro Quintana of Southampton, N.Y., third on Ingaletta in 74.01. Kevin Babington of Gwynedd Valley rode Kindle Hill Farm's Candaletto 4 to victory in the $6,000 1.45 Meter Stake. Babington's win left his mount and Calippo 12, ridden by Margie Engle on Thursday, tied for the championship.

Five Chinese-speaking men burst into the kitchen of the Chinese Delight restaurant at closing in Devon Sunday, tied up the owners and two employees, and escaped with $2,000 in cash and jewelry, police said. Tredyffrin police Capt. Paul Pennypacker said the owners, Teh Tsin Chao, 60, and his wife, Shu Chen Chao, were closing about 11:45 p.m. when they were surprised by the robbers, who were armed with a gun and a kitchen knife. "We're not ruling out the fact that this may have been some sort of underworld Chinese organization that preys on the Chinese community," he said.

Trinity, the second seed from District 3, led from the outset and tolerated just three tie scores, the last in the second quarter, before downing District 1 champion Devon Prep, 80-71, last night in the first round of the PIAA Class A boys' basketball tournament. Senior swingman Kevin Bekelja hit four three-point shots on his way to a game-high 33 points for Trinity. He also hit key shots whenever Devon Prep closed in during the game played at Downingtown. After Devon got to within 31-28 late in the second quarter, Bekelja dropped a three-pointer and drove for a basket to key an 8-0 Trinity run that closed the half.

The Bicentennial League may be losing a member, as Devon Prep is expected to join the Southern Chester County League for the 1996-97 school year. "It will not be official until we've checked out the league's constitution and signed a letter of acceptance," said the Rev. James J. Shea, headmaster of the Chester County school. "But I assume that it will be OK. I don't see any problems. " Father Shea said he expected the move to become official within a few days. The Bicentennial League has seven other schools, all of them in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

Devon Prep lived up to its top seeding last night, defeating Girard College, 75-65, for the PIAA District 1 Class A boys' basketball championship. The district title was Devon's first since 1990. Girard was seeking its initial crown. "We thought from the beginning of the season that we could do this," Devon coach Frank Steidler said. "We knew we had a nice team, had a good point guard [Mike Pingitore] coming in, and we had some depth. It was just a matter of jelling. " The game - at Strath Haven High - was played at a furious pace from the opening tap, which is exactly what Steidler and the Tide wanted.

Devon Prep accomplished something no other Tide soccer team had done in more than a decade yesterday by not losing to Holy Ghost Prep. The only problem was, it certainly felt like a loss. The teams wound up in a 2-2 tie, but the Tide had to wake up this morning wondering how they missed out on upsetting the Firebirds. Devon entered the game 7-6-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the Bicentennial League. Holy Ghost was 12-3 overall and 7-0 in the league. But right from the start, it was Devon that carried the play.

In the Region   Reps don't want knives on planes   U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, a Philadelphia Democrat, said he and other House members would press the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to reverse its decision allowing knives on passenger airplanes. A group of lawmakers including Reps. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.), Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), and Michael Grimm (R., N.Y.) said they would send a "formal bipartisan letter" to TSA Administrator John Pistole urging the agency to reconsider its policy permitting passengers to carry small knives and sporting equipment, such as golf clubs and toy baseball bats, in carry-on luggage.

Devon Bell knew he was close to 1,000 points. He just didn't want to think about it. "I knew I was nine points away," said Bell, Eastern's senior guard. "But I didn't want to jinx myself. " Bell reached the career milestone on Friday night with a two-handed dunk in an 84-60 victory over Timber Creek. Bell finished with 23 points in that game, then added 16 - including four in the final 1 minute, 31 seconds - in a 55-54 victory over Bishop Eustace on Saturday. "It was pretty nice," Bell said of the dunk that registered his 1,000th career point.

Ingrid Croce will make the following public appearances in the Philadelphia area in support of I Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story. 4 p.m. Tuesday, Villanova University, the Villanova Room in the Connelly Center. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 150 W. Swedesford Rd., Devon. 610-695-6600. 7 p.m. Thursday, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 1805 Walnut St. 215-665-0716.

Canadians dominated the Grand Prix Special during Dressage at Devon on Sunday afternoon, with David Marcus of Campbellsville, who was on the Canadian Olympic team in London, winning on Don Kontes with a score of 69.40. Marcus' London teammate, Ashley Holzer, who now lives in New York, was second on Degas 12 with a score of 68.40, and her student Eliana Cordai van Reese of Wellington, Fla., was third on Jewel's Adelante with 67.556. "This is only my second time showing Degas," Holzer said.

Schedule Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Grand Prix Open, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Grand Prix Freestyle, 7:30 p.m. Riders to watch (Friday and Saturday): Jaimey Irwin on Lindor's Finest; Jacqueline Brooks on D-Niro (2012 Olympics for Canada); Melissa Taylor on Schumackers Solyst (won at last CDI in N.J.); Pierre St. Jacques on Lucky Tiger (team gold medal at 2003 Pan American Games); David Marcus on Chevri's Capital (2012 Olympics for Canada). Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Grand Prix Special, 12:45 p.m. Riders to watch (Sunday)

The religious order that let one of its priests relocate to the Philippines after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old Devon Prep student in the 1990s says it has removed him from active ministry, almost two decades after the attack. The Rev. Theodore Podson relocated last month to a residential therapy center and "is being submitted to a carefully controlled supervision," a Rome-based spokesman for the Piarists order said Friday. The move came after The Inquirer reported that Podson, 64, was working as a priest and promoting himself as a teen mentor 20 years after officials at the Main Line boys school and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia concluded he had sexually abused a minor.

Jenna Imperatore of Basking Ridge, N.J., won the Zone 2 Championship in Low Amateur/Owner Jumpers on K.E.C. Marissa during the inaugural Devon Fall Classic on Sunday. Imperatore, 25, captured an eight-horse jump-off from a starting field of 28, finishing with a clear round in 31.196 seconds to edge Joy Slater of Unionville by eight-tenths of a second. "This is my first time to ride at Devon," said Imperatore, a commercial real estate broker. "I love the stadium and the arena.

The four-day Devon Fall Classic, an all-jumper horse show featuring a number of Pan American and Olympic Games medalists, begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Devon Show grounds off Route 30 in Devon. The Saturday night schedule features the $25,000 Devon Fall Classic Grand Prix. On Sunday, Zone 2 (Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey) champions will be crowned in adult, children's, pony, low junior, and low amateur jumper classics. The show will run Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free all four days.

At first glance, the photo seems heartwarming: a man in his 60s, wearing a Santa suit and a grin as he wraps his arms around a boy. In a different light, the image is unsettling. The man in costume is the Rev. Ted Podson, a former teacher at Devon Prep, an all-boys school on the Main Line. Podson left the school in 1993 after allegedly sexually assaulting a boy. He was not publicly identified, charged, or barred from ministry. Instead, Podson resurfaced as a parish pastor in Texas.

Devon Smith, a senior who gave Penn State an elusive target at slot receiver in new head coach Bill O'Brien's offense, has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules, two websites have reported. Both "Fight On State" and "Blue White Illustrated" quoted sources as saying Smith was off the team. Each said it was not clear if the dismissal resulted from Smith's arrest on misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Penn State did not respond to an e-mail seeking confirmation of the Smith move.