Former Viking earns player of the year honors

The honors just keep coming for Lansdowne High graduate Chris Gilliam.

He was named West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and was named Daktronics NCAA Division II East Region Player of the Year.

The Pitt Johnstown senior forward helped the Mountain Cats to the regular season league title in their first season competing for conference championships.

Gilliam, a 2006-07 Second Team All-Conference selection, ranked seventh in the WVIAC in scoring (19.7 ppg.) and eighth in rebounding (8.7).

He set the stage for a big senior campaign with a 23-point exhibition contest versus Big East Conference power Pitt in November.

Gilliam went on to lead the WVIAC in field goal percentage (64.9 percent) during the regular season.

The two-time WVIAC Player of the Week went over the 20-point mark 15 times, including in all three contests versus league contenders Alderson-Broaddus, West Virginia State, and West Liberty State.

He is currently ranked 14th in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage, 30th in scoring and 57th in rebounding.

Gilliam has scored in double figures in all but two games in 2007-08 and has led or tied for team lead in scoring 17 times and rebounding 15 times.

The 6'7" standout is on a pace to end his career as one of the top-10 most accurate shooters in Division II history.

Gilliam has connected on 652 of 987 (66.1%) field goals during his four-year Mountain Cat stint.

His 1,666 career points stand second on the all-time Pitt Johnstown scoring list, while his 645 career rebounds are third on the Mountain Cat all-time rebounding list.

Gilliam scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the Mountain Cats' 71-64 loss to Alderson Broaddus in the WVIAC tournament championship game.

Despite the loss in the conference tournament Pitt Johnstown (22-7) received an invitation to the NCAA Division II tournament where they were defeated by Millersville, 81-73. Gilliam had 15 points.

Local grappler takes state junior league championship

Quinn Devaney, 10, won five tournaments this season with the Montgomery Generals Junior League wrestling team, including the Division III Maryland State Wrestling Association championship at 65 pounds.

The Catonsville resident, who lost his first 12 matches in his inaugural season of wrestling, also captured the MSWA title in 2006 (55 pounds).

His most recent championship came in the Ceasar Rodney tournament in Delaware on March 1.

Other tournament titles came in the Williamsport Wildcat, Blazer Mat Club and Larry Bartlett Memorial.

Salisbury distance dandy stays on record-setting pace

Salisbury State senior Eric Graves was first in the 5,000-meter run (15:38.64) and second in the mile (4:20.86) at the Mason Dixon Conference indoor championships held at Christopher Newport University.

Graves, a 2004 Catonsville High graduate, helped the Sea Gulls take second in the team standings (114.5 points) and set new school records in both events.

Ex-Crusader helps St. Mary's to first NCAA hoops tourney

Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but St. Mary's College (19-12) lost, 82-73, in the NCAA Division III sweet 16 to Millsaps.

Franz had 10 points in St. Mary's 82-72 victory at second-seeded University of Mary Washington in the 2008 Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Men's Basketball Championship title game.

It was the program's second Capital Athletic Conference tournament crown in the 18-year history of the conference and earned the league's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament.

In their first-ever NCAA appearance, the Seahawks faced Guilford Friday, March 7 and won, 89-77. They followed that with an 83-74 victory over Widener, earning a trip to the sweet 16.

Franz, a 6-foot-1 freshman guard, led the Seahawks in steals (60) and was second in assists per game (3.5) while averaging 8.0 points.

Against Widener, Franz had 11 points and four steals after scoring 10 points and totaling five steals against Guilford.