Carroll Hires Houchens

Rick Houchens, suspended as coach for the final nine games last season in the wake of his alleged involvement in recruiting players at Eleanor Roosevelt, has been hired as the new football coach at Carroll.

Houchens had built Roosevelt into a powerhouse in Prince George's County, compiling a record of 80-32 with seven playoff appearances and one state championship. (Ten of the losses were on-field victories that later were forfeited.)

In September a county athletic infractions committee found Houchens and an assistant to have been in violation of county rules regarding the recruitment of athletes, which is not permitted in public schools. As part of his punishment, Houchens was suspended from coaching, and any Prince George's school that wanted to hire him as its football coach was required to obtain permission from the county superintendent of schools and supervisor of athletics.

Carroll Athletic Director George Leftwich said the school was aware of the suspension, but that Houchens was the unanimous choice of the school's players and search committee.

"That's like saying if a person goes to prison, does he have to pay with the rest of his life or is he going to be given another chance?" Leftwich said. "I don't know the conditions [of the suspension] or anything about it. He impressed the people here, and I'm willing to work with the guy. Just because a person has a problem one place doesn't mean they're going to have a problem somewhere else."

Houchens, who worked as a security officer at Roosevelt, also will be an assistant athletic director at Carroll. He begins work there Jan. 22 and said he will double his salary, though he declined to provide specific details.

"It's a good opportunity," Houchens said about taking over after Joe Howard-Johnson compiled a 9-41 record in five seasons at the Northeast Washington school. "It's a challenge, but financially they made me an offer that for my family and at the point I'm at in my career, there is no way I could turn that down. Of course, money is not everything; they're trying to do something special."

Bax, Kelly honored

Nick Bax of St. Albans and Juashaunna Kelly of Theodore Roosevelt were named the Gatorade boys' and girls' cross-country runners of the year, respectively, for the District.

Bax, a two-time All-Met and IAC champion, plans to compete for the crew team at Princeton this fall. Kelly, who won the 2007 DCIAA girls' championship in 20 minutes 57 seconds and helped the Rough Riders to the city's team title, also coaches the track team at McFarland Middle School in Northwest. . . .

Natalie Baird, a two-time All-Met and five-time individual state champion at Park View and holder of the Virginia AA discus record, has orally committed to compete in track and field at William & Mary.