Garnet

Two years ago, Swarthmore College compiled a 5-5 football record under coach Karl Miran. This season, the Garnet went 0-10 and Miran is gone. Swarthmore athletic director Robert Williams said yesterday that Miran had resigned as coach at the request of the college. Miran, 42, is a tenured professor in Swarthmore's Department of Physical Education. He plans to take a sabbatical leave to pursue other opportunities as an assistant coach. This season, in extending its losing streak to 20 games, Swarthmore was shut out six times.

Coach Barbara Robinson's heart skipped a beat Wednesday when she saw Garnet Valley senior Rachel Daltry injure her left knee in the Jaguars' 37-29 victory over Chichester. Daltry is one of the area's top players and the Jaguars' leading scorer. Daltry, who missed much of her freshman and sophomore seasons with an injured right knee, twisted her other knee while hustling for a rebound in the fourth quarter. She had to be helped off the court and did not return.

Over the last two years, few basketball coaches have come closer to winning a title without achieving the goal than Joe Koch of Haddon Heights. Last season, the Garnet finished second in the Colonial Conference for the second consecutive year. Haddon Heights was 19-5 overall and 15-3 in the conference, tied with Collingswood and one game behind division champion Haddonfield. "And in both those years, we had a chance to clinch a tie for the conference, only to lose both games in the last 7 seconds," said Koch, who has compiled a 35-14 record in his two years at Haddon Heights.

Maybe it's in the honey. Whatever it is that fuels Swarthmore College's Imo Akpan, who drinks honey before every track and field meet, the Garnet's 4x400 and 4x800 relay squads have reaped the benefits. Usually the third leg in both of the relays, Akpan has been the catalyst for numerous victories over the last five months. Moreover, the senior sprinter has instilled confidence in her teammates. The gold medal, when Akpan is involved, is always within reach. "When I hand the baton off to Imo, I know it's in good hands," said Elizabeth Gardner, a freshman who runs the second leg in the relays.

In a tight game, late in the fourth quarter, after missing two free throws, Davon Jones was angry. "I was mad at myself. I knew I had to make up for it," he said. It didn't take long. On the next possession, Jones - looking the way he felt - stripped the ball, raced down the court, and was fouled while converting a layup. And, icing on the cake, he made the free throw. "Last year, I don't know if I would have been able to do that," the Haddon Heights senior said.

Sue Davis did not stick her toe in the water before answering the question. She dived right in. The question was this: How does this Swarthmore women's swimming team compare to other teams that Davis has coached in her 21 years at the school? "This is the best team we've ever had," she said. "We have excellent seniors. We have a great freshman class. And we have versatile talent. The kids can swim more than one event really well. " Swarthmore is off to an 8-0 start. Senior Skye Fulkerson, an all-American last season in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes, has been a major force.

Coming soon to ESPN2, contact cross country? From the just-when-you-think-you-heard-it-all file . . . Swarthmore College runner Jeff Doyon was hit by a deer about halfway through the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional cross country championships Saturday at Allentown College. Momentarily stunned, Doyon recovered to finish and help Swarthmore to a ninth-place finish. The Garnet junior was examined at a nearby hospital and released. "It happened so quickly I didn't have time to get scared," Doyon said yesterday.

Ernie Prudente coached his last varsity baseball game for Swarthmore Saturday after 27 years as the Garnet's head coach. Prudente, whose team lost, 8-0 and 5-4, in a doubleheader at Dickinson, was the head coach at Haverford College for 17 years before taking over at Swarthmore. After 44 years as a college head coach, Prudente figures it is time to do other things. "You can't coach forever," Prudente said. "I have three daughters and they all have kids. I have a son in med school at Hahnemann.

Josh Drake pondered the question and chuckled. After three record-setting seasons as a wide receiver for Swarthmore College, did Drake ever think about what might have been? Did he ever daydream, imagine himself on the receiving end of the winning touchdown pass in front of 100,000 screaming fans at the Rose Bowl? He had been asked that many times, but he still took time to consider his response. "If I had been given the opportunity, coming out of high school, to play Division I football, I would have loved it," Drake said.

Danielle Duffy was the known quantity. Swarthmore's 1994 assists leader was back, better, and ready to lead the Garnet to another successful field hockey season. Kelly Wilcox was the question mark. She had played midfield all her life but was asked to play in goal for the Garnet this season. Would she allow a flood of goals? Or would she justify the optimism of Swarthmore coach Richard Kentwell? The jury is in. Duffy, too good to be true as a freshman, is even better as a sophomore.

Garnet Valley coach Frank Urso had a sense, even before the opening faceoff against La Salle in Saturday's PIAA boys' lacrosse quarterfinals, that his players were running on fumes after an emotional week. "You could just tell," he said after his Jaguars were pounded by the Explorers, 13-4, at West Chester Henderson. "All of our coaches noticed it. We were like, 'Oh my gosh, we're in trouble here.' " The Garnet Valley community has been reeling since Tuesday. That's when one of its own, Kip Taviano, 17, was killed after losing control of his car and swerving into traffic in Concord Township.

Jonathan Vandenberg scored a game-high three goals Wednesday afternoon as he honored the memory of Kip Taviano in Garnet Valley's 9-5 win over Great Valley in the first round of the PIAA state boys' lacrosse tournament at West Chester Henderson. Vandenberg teamed with Taviano in a youth program, and they were scheduled to join forces again at Division I Furman University. Taviano, a Haverford School senior who grew up in the Garnet Valley district, died Tuesday evening in a car accident.

Thanks to Jon Vandenberg's late goal in regulation and Matt Taulane's sudden-death tally, Garnet Valley is returning to the PIAA District 1 boys' lacrosse final. After Vandenberg scored with just seven seconds left in regulation, Taulane's tally early in overtime lifted the No. 5-seeded Jaguars to a 7-6 triumph over top-seeded and host Radnor in a semifinal Tuesday night. "I just saw everybody working the ball around," Taulane said. "The defense must have lost me. I found an open gap and took advantage of it. " Vandenberg assisted on Taulane's winner.

Garnet Valley freshman Reva Alderman blasted two home runs Thursday, leading the Jaguars to a 10-0 shutout of host Strath Haven in Central League softball. The second baseman hit two solo shots, her second and third homers of the season, and senior Katie Nicolaides also went deep. Nicole Clayton hurled five innings of shutout ball to earn the win. Catholic Academies . Mary Cate Butler's seventh-inning heroics rallied visiting Villa Maria to a 6-5 victory over Sacred Heart.

At a track and field meet such as Saturday's Haverford Invitational, it's hard to stand out. With a lot of talent among the 29 teams, winning multiple events proved difficult for most schools, but the Garnet Valley girls' squad had no trouble proving their talent by claiming gold in two of the premier races at the meet at Haverford High. Senior Alyssa Rudawsky got the first win of the day for the Jaguars, finishing the 1,600-meter run in 5 minutes, 8.05 seconds. Her time was 10 seconds better than the qualifying standard (5:18.24)

At a track and field meet such as Saturday's Haverford Invitational, it's hard to stand out. With a lot of talent among the 29 teams, winning multiple events proved difficult for most schools, but the Garnet Valley girls' squad had no trouble proving their talent by claiming gold in two of the premier races at the meet at Haverford High. Senior Alyssa Rudawsky got the first win of the day for the Jaguars, finishing the 1,600-meter run in 5 minutes, 8.05 seconds. Her time was 10 seconds better than the qualifying standard (5:18.24)

After taking off from football as a sophomore to focus on baseball, Garnet Valley's Dalton Mayberry returned to the gridiron, as a hard-charging defensive end, the last two seasons. "I wanted to be part of the team," he said. "And I missed it. I'm glad I went back. I'll have good memories of the things we accomplished. " Now zeroed in on what will be his only college pursuit, Mayberry shined on the mound as the visiting Jaguars quieted Central League rival Penncrest, 7-2, Saturday in Media.

After taking off from football as a sophomore to focus on baseball, Garnet Valley's Dalton Mayberry returned to the gridiron, as a hard-charging defensive end, the last two seasons. "I wanted to be part of the team," he said. "And I missed it. I'm glad I went back. I'll have good memories of the things we accomplished. " Now zeroed in on what will be his only college pursuit, Mayberry shined on the mound as the visiting Jaguars quieted Central League rival Penncrest, 7-2, Saturday in Media.

After winning its first two games by a combined score of 34-12, the Haddon Heights softball team was due for a close matchup. The Garnets got their first tough test of the season Friday, winning by 3-2 over Triton in the first round of the Camden County Tournament at Eastern. Pitcher Shayla Sweeney went six innings, allowing two runs on just four hits and striking out six. Second baseman Taylor Nichols powered the offense. She went 2 for 3 with a run scored and what proved to be the winning hit: an inside-the-park home run in the top of the second inning.

His speed in getting from one place to another - namely, the starting blocks to the finish line - and his jumping skills put Wellington Zaza on the radar of NCAA Division I track programs. His ability to move rather quickly between other places - namely, high schools - slowed some of his recruiting. Zaza is a state champion triple jumper and national champion hurdler who considers the triple jump his best event. But he has gone to three high schools in three years, and that's not exactly a triple jump that college coaches admire.