Freshman

Penn's Maalik Reynolds: The freshman delighted the home folks in the crowd at Franklin Field by winning the high jump, the first win by a Quaker athlete in the event since 1955. The resident of Atlanta cleared 7 feet, 31/4 inches for the win, and Penn coach Charlie Powell sees lots of higher jumps in his future. "What makes him special, he takes the high jump seriously, but he doesn't take himself super-seriously," Powell said. "I think he understands there's a difference between the high-jump world and the real world.

Timothy Connors, a 15-year-old freshman at Archbishop Ryan High School, was struck by a car and killed after school yesterday. Police said Connors was hit about 3:30 p.m. at Academy and Comly roads in Northeast Philadelphia. The teen died about 40 minutes later from head and body trauma at Aria Hospital-Torresdale. The female driver, whose name was not released, apparently stayed at the scene after hitting Connors, who is the son of Martin Connors, a Philadelphia police detective, police sources said.

Even though the weather promises to get much, much colder, Bernard Jones has received official permission to shed some clothing. From now on, Jones will be kept under wraps by nothing more than shorts and a T-shirt. Sleeveless. It had been the intention of Roman Catholic coach Dennis Seddon to ease Jones, a 6-5, 210-pound freshman forward, into varsity competition little by little. Honest, it had. But then came last night and a Seagull Classic XIV consolation at Holy Spirit High, when Jones's numbers were big and bigger - 28 points on 13-for-19 shooting; 20 rebounds - in Roman's 71-65 loss to Bridgeton, N.J. The Cahillites (6-2)

Containing Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith is one of Temple's top priorities. Leaving the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder some breathing room could translate into a Gildan New Mexico Bowl loss for the Owls (8-4). That's because the true freshman will arguably be the most exciting offensive player on the field not named Bernard Pierce in Saturday's game in Albuquerque. "Brett is one of the best competitors I've coached," Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said of the Mountain West Conference freshman of the year.

PENN STATE defensive end Deion Barnes was named the Big Ten's co-freshman of the week. Barnes, a redshirt freshman from Northeast High, had five tackles and his third sack of the season in the Nittany Lions' win over Navy. Barnes also forced his second fumble of the season. Barnes is tied for second in the conference in sacks and tied for the top spot in forced fumbles with two. He shares the award with Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld. Lions senior linebacker Michael Mauti was named Big Ten defensive player of the week after recording 12 tackles and his first sack of the season against Navy.

TAMPA, Fla. - It's not taking Brandon Knight long to build an impressive resume in the NCAA tournament. A game-winning shot in the closing seconds of his debut. A career-best 30 points in his next game, helping Kentucky back into the round of 16. Less than 48 hours after his only basket helped the fourth-seeded Wildcats survive their tourney opener against Princeton, Knight led an 11-0 run coming out of halftime and made six free throws in the final minute to close out a 71-63 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia.

Picture a typical freshman wrestler. Scrawny and a little on the shy side, right? Winslow Township's Vince Jones isn't a typical freshman. Jones brings strength, experience and an air of cockiness to the mat. That mix has enabled the 171-pounder to construct an amazing start to his scholastic career: a 9-0 record with six pins. In the season-opening Haddonfield Tournament, Jones, a seventh seed, racked up two pins before winning the championship by injury default. After a 9-3 decision in a dual meet, Jones flattened three opponents and earned outstanding wrestler honors in the Egg Harbor Township Tournament.

Megan Lynch displayed a bit of crafty footwork to record her first career goal and lift Marple Newtown to a 2-0 win over visiting Upper Merion in a nonleague soccer game on Wednesday. After receiving a through ball from Holly Nicolardi, Lynch one-touch dribbled with her left foot around the charging Upper Merion goalkeeper and blasted the shot from around the 6-yard line. Lynch, a freshman striker, put the Tigers ahead, 1-0, 16 minutes into the second half. Deirdre Bradley added a goal and Kylie Klos recorded nine saves for the shutout.

The first half of the lineup has carried Buena's wrestling team all season. But it was an upper-weight wrestler - a freshman at that - who came to the rescue last night. With an early lead rapidly evaporating, 217-pound freshman Dan Levari pinned Rick Jackson to clinch a 31-29 victory for the Chiefs over visiting Pinelands in the South Jersey Group 2 championship match. It was the second straight South Jersey title for Buena, which is 18-2. The Chiefs are ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer.

Throughout the field hockey season, a one-word question seemed to follow Eastern freshman Austyn Cuneo: How? There's too much on the forward's resumé that shouldn't be accomplished by a freshman. Cuneo tied the New Jersey single-season field hockey scoring record, scored the winning goal in the Group 4 state final, and completely distinguished herself from any other freshman ever to take the field for the nation's most storied high school field hockey program. How?

The winners of Saturday's quarterfinals in the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championships will head to Villanova for the semifinals on May 24. The championship game is slated for May 26 at Villanova Stadium. The Division II and III semifinals and title games are both Saturday and Sunday in Owings Mills, Md. Maryland, undefeated in 20 games, is the top seed in Division I and will host unseeded Duke (14-5) on Saturday. No. 4 Syracuse (17-3) will host No. 5 Florida (18-2)

Lansdale Catholic freshman Ashley Seal looks back at the victory over Archbishop Ryan. www.philly.com/rallyvideos

The men's lacrosse teams that will play for the NCAA Division I championship in Philadelphia will be determined this weekend. Winners of the quarterfinals Saturday and Sunday will advance to the semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field on May 25 at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. The championship game is set for May 27 at 1 p.m. at the Linc. On Saturday, No. 1-seeded Syracuse will face unseeded Yale, and No. 3 Ohio State will meet unseeded Cornell at Maryland's Byrd Stadium. On Sunday, No. 4 Denver is set to play No. 5 North Carolina, and No. 2 Notre Dame will take on No. 7 Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

There's no chance anyone in Tyler Coleman's family will forget his first collegiate baseball game. Coleman only had one at-bat for West Chester last season and struck out. The TV movie version probably would have him hitting a double or triple or something. This was real life. His mother, Diana, remembers going to the bathroom just before the game so she wouldn't miss any of it. Her cellphone rang while she was in the ladies' room. The tests done to figure out why there was swelling in her son's neck had come back with a definitive answer.

As a freshman, Paige DeCew shared innings with other pitchers for the Pennridge High softball team. In her sophomore year, the righthander got more involved, throwing about 60 percent of her team's innings. The workload just got bigger for DeCew, who in her junior year was on the mound for about 75 percent of the innings for the Rams. There was no question, then, that DeCew would be the No. 1 pitcher for Pennridge in her senior season. And if the previous three years were any indication, her innings total would only increase.

NEW ORLEANS - Geno Auriemma and Connecticut are back on top. With freshman Breanna Stewart leading the way, it might be a while before they relinquish that spot. Stewart scored 18 of her 23 points in a dazzling first half and Connecticut won its eighth national championship with a 93-60 rout of Louisville on Tuesday night. It was the most lopsided victory in a title game. The title tied Auriemma and the Huskies (35-4) with Pat Summitt and Tennessee for the most in women's basketball history.

The University at a Glance Location: Bethlehem Undergraduate enrollment: 4,800 Graduate enrollment: 2,200 Description: A private national research university that offers programs in four colleges: Engineering and Applied Science, Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, and Education. Tuition, fees, room and board: $53,450 Selectivity: Accepts 25 to 29 percent of applicants Typical yield (percentage of students accepted who enroll)

It was not one of those floaters, Michael DiLuzio said. Freshman Reva Alderman's three-run, walk-off homer was "a shot," the Garnet Valley coach said, after Alderman lifted the host Jaguars over Central League foe Penncrest, 8-6, on Wednesday in her first varsity softball game. Alderman battled the wind to crush the fastball 225 feet to left field. The hit was her first of the day after a pair of deep flyouts. "She's so focused. She's the real deal," DiLuzio said. "She's got tremendous power, and she has a vision.

DOMINIC ARTIS anticipated Marcus Smart's pass and took the interception the other way for a layup early to set the tone for Oregon. Despite the seedings and the all the pregame hype surrounding Oklahoma State's star, the Ducks had the better team and the better freshman point guard Thursday night in San Jose, Calif. Artis had 13 points, four steals and helped slow down Smart while fellow freshman Damyean Dotson led the way with 17 points to help 12th-seeded Oregon (27-8) extend a run that began in the Pac-12 Tournament by beating the fifth-seeded Cowboys (24-9)