Freshman

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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 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.

OMAHA, Neb. - The games keep getting bigger for North Carolina, and Kent Emanuel keeps getting better. The freshman lefthander pitched the first complete-game shutout at the College World Series in 5 years in a 3-0 victory that eliminated Texas yesterday. Emanuel limited the Longhorns to four singles in his third win of the NCAA tournament and first career shutout. The 19-year-old Emanuel showed plenty of maturity in methodically and coolly keeping the Longhorns off balance with changeups and curves when they were sitting on fastballs.

After being turned back several times, the Bishop Eustace girls' soccer team finally cashed in at the most opportune time. Senior Gianna Garfall sent in freshman Brittney Stone on a breakaway, and the Bishop Eustace freshman converted with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in overtime as the Crusaders beat Villa Walsh Academy, 1-0, in last night's Non-Public B state championship at the College of New Jersey. Eustace (14-2-4) has enjoyed playing championship games during even years.

Dani Litwin did not think she would be in the starting lineup when she arrived at her Pennsbury home field before a 4 p.m. first pitch Wednesday. The top-seeded Falcons were playing in a District 1 Class AAAA softball playoff game, and Litwin was just a freshman junior-varsity call-up. By 5:30 p.m., Litwin was doing a radio interview and winning a free pizza. Thanks to an RBI bloop single in the second inning, she was the hero of Pennsbury's 1-0 victory over No. 17 seed Pennridge.

Gloucester Catholic baseball coach Dennis Barth has faced nationally ranked teams and at least one pitcher projected to be selected in the first round of June's major-league draft, so he knows talent when seen up close. On Saturday, Barth had more than enough of a look at Millville's Andrew Biggs, and the veteran coach didn't enjoy the view. The senior righthander allowed three hits and struck out 13 as Millville defeated Gloucester Catholic, 4-0, in the opening round of the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic at Maple Shade.

An "innocent" conversation between two Germantown High freshmen turned into a nightmare for a girl Friday morning, when the boy she'd been talking with attacked and raped her in the school's basement, police said. Special Victims Unit Capt. John Darby said the students were acquaintances who'd known each other for a few weeks before the alleged attack. The two met about 7:45 a.m. Friday and had "innocent contact" in a stairwell, Darby said. After the boy went down the stairs into the basement, the girl followed him and he raped her, Darby said.

In one sense, Johnny Gaudreau's freshman season at Boston College was nothing less than remarkable. In another, it was nothing more than typical. Gaudreau has been skating circles around conventional wisdom for years. He has been too short, too light, and too young at every level of ice hockey. He has dazzled and dominated them all. He did the same thing as an 8-year-old playing with the 10s, and as a 12-year-old playing with the 14s. He did the same thing at Gloucester Catholic, where he scored 48 points (21 goals, 27 assists)

Conwell-Egan freshman Maddi Michaels came through with her first career game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh, providing a dramatic end to the Eagles' 7-6 Catholic League softball win over visiting Cardinal O'Hara on Thursday. O'Hara's Molly Rafferty tied the game in the sixth inning with a three-run homer, but Rebecca Maziarz scored from third base on Michaels' single with no outs in the seventh for the win. Conwell-Egan's Gina Massaro earned the pitching win with nine strikeouts and also drove in three runs.

Conwell-Egan freshman Maddi Michaels came through with her first career game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh, providing a dramatic end to the Eagles' 7-6 Catholic League softball win over visiting Cardinal O'Hara on Thursday. O'Hara's Molly Rafferty tied the game in the sixth inning with a three-run homer, but Rebecca Maziarz scored from third base on Michaels' single with no outs in the seventh for the win. Conwell-Egan's Gina Massaro earned the pitching win with nine strikeouts and also drove in three runs.

THREE YEARS AGO, Devontae Watson's eyes were bigger than his game. Then just a raw freshman, Watson can't help but remember the boyish confidence he once had. "My goal as a freshman, even though it wasn't realistic, was to win a state championship every year - as a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and a senior," he said. "And I didn't even play my freshman year. " Now a 6-10 Temple-bound senior, Watson's skills have long since caught up to his dreams. Watson is the centerpiece of Midland-based Lincoln Park (26-5)

NORTH CAROLINA is preparing to play without injured point guard Kendall Marshall. The Tar Heels just haven't figured out how yet. Coach Roy Williams said yesterday that his team's "preparation is 100 percent" to go without Marshall after the pass-first guard had surgery to repair his broken right wrist. Marshall's status remains unclear for the Midwest Regional semifinal Friday night in St. Louis, the coach said. "You've got me between a rock and a hard place," Williams said.

After his freshman wrestling season, Carson Stack visited a doctor for a routine physical. Be ready, the doctor said, it's coming. On cue, Stack turned from a 125-pound freshman into a 171-pound sophomore, eventually becoming a 195-pound senior. Rob Schlitt came from the other end of the spectrum. "He was heavy as a freshman," Haddonfield coach Bill Heverly said. "He had to wrestle older kids all the time, and that made him tough. " Schlitt is emotional. He hates to lose.