Downingtown

Two of the area's most feared pass-and-catch duos will be on display Friday night when Roman Catholic clashes with Downingtown East at Downingtown West's Kottmeyer Stadium. For Roman, ranked No. 5 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, quarterback Mike Keir, getting looked at by Division I-A and I-AA programs, has Notre Dame-bound wideout Will Fuller at his disposal. No. 2-ranked East also can do serious damage through the air, with Richmond recruit Kyle Lauletta flinging the ball in the direction of Michigan State-bound Jay Harris.

They flew to Ireland to test their game. They will play for their first national title this weekend. And then they will compete in the first state championships. The Lady Dingoes, the under-19 girls' team from the Downingtown Rugby Football Club, clearly have taken off. Their sport has been going places, too. "I tell them all the time that this is an unbelievably special year of rugby because I can't think of any other year where you can have the opportunity to represent your country, the area where you are, and then be able to take our program and go out and compete for a national championship," Dingoes coach Matt Dziunycz said.

It wasn't the most exciting, and it lacked the scoring punch of the other periods, but the third quarter of its 12-6 win at Springfield (Delco) was perhaps the most emblematic reason that Downingtown East continued to roll Saturday in boys' lacrosse. After building an 8-2 halftime lead in the nonleague game, East (8-3) dominated possession for nearly 11 of the 12 third-quarter minutes, practically camping in Springfield's defensive zone. Oddly, Springfield (7-3) had scored the stanza's first goal, with 1 minute, 17 seconds to go. But East wasted little time in re-extending its lead to six. Junior midfielder Kyle Lauletta netted his third goal of the game by posting up a Springfield defender, like a power forward on the low block, before slinging the ball past goalie Jeremy Cavanaugh just 26 seconds later.

Cheltenham qualified for the PIAA state basketball tournament for the 27th time in the last 29 years by virtue of a 49-41 victory Wednesday night over visiting Downingtown East in the second round of the District 1 Class AAAA tournament. By advancing to the final eight, the top-seeded Panthers (23-1) are assured of earning one of District 1's nine available berths in the state tournament. Four players scored for Cheltenham, including Ciara Andrews, who made 7 of 8 fourth-quarter foul shots to finish with 20 points, Ming Seawright with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Christina Coleman with 9 points and 9 boards, and Giana Clark with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Downingtown West got off to a fast start and claimed its first Ches-Mont League basketball championship in nine years with a 43-36 win over rival Downingtown East on Tuesday night. Brittany Sicinski tossed in a game-high 19 points, and Allison Shaw added 9 points and a dozen rebounds for West (22-2), which swept its three meetings with the Cougars (15-9) this winter. Noelle Alicea scored 13 points to lead East, which fell behind by 23-11 at halftime and 33-17 entering the final period.

Downingtown West got off to a fast start and claimed its first Ches-Mont League basketball championship in nine years with a 43-36 win over rival Downingtown East on Tuesday night. Brittany Sicinski tossed in a game-high 19 points, and Allison Shaw added 9 points and a dozen rebounds for West (22-2), which swept its three meetings with the Cougars (15-9) this winter. Noelle Alicea scored 13 points to lead East, which fell behind by 23-11 at halftime and 33-17 entering the final period.

A Coatesville-area man with a long history of criminal and motor-vehicles offenses was charged Monday with fleeing the scene of a fatal accident that claimed the life of a 26-year-old Downingtown father. Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Michael J. Bristow, 39, of West Caln Township, was traveling on Route 322 in East Brandywine Township about 11 p.m. on Feb. 5 when he struck a motorcycle driven by Michael Orsini, who was turning into his apartment complex. Orsini, the father of a 9-month-old daughter, was taken to Brandywine Hospital and then to Paoli Hospital, where he died of his injuries less than two days later.

Downingtown West and Morrisville each posted wins Thursday and completed their regular-season league basketball schedules with perfect records. Downingtown West (20-2, 13-0 league), ranked No. 10 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, clinched the Ches-Mont League National Division championship with a 37-32 win at town rival Downingtown East (14-8, 11-2). Kayla Feairheller led West with 12 points as the Whippets grabbed a 20-11 halftime lead. East's Noelle Alicea led all scorers with 13 points.

CARSON, Calif. - An odyssey involving a long suspension, a personal crisis, and trips to three different countries finally brought Jeff Parke into a safe harbor. The Downingtown native and former Drexel standout is participating in his first camp with the United States men's soccer team following perhaps his best season in six years. Parke, a defender with the Seattle Sounders, made 28 starts and played 2,387 minutes - his highest figures since 2006, when he played for the New York Red Bulls.