By Carl Little
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Damascus High School senior Wil Zahorodny took the explosive 500-meter dash times he ran indoors last winter with a grain of salt. For him, they were feats with an asterisk.

"Not all the nation does indoor, so some places don't do the 500," said Zahorodny, who owned the fastest time in the country for most of the season and finished ranked No. 3.

Nearly every high school track team in the country runs the 800, however, and at the Montgomery County championships last Thursday at Churchill High School, Zahorodny won the event in 1 minute 51.15 seconds, the second-fastest time ever in the state of Maryland and the fifth-fastest in the country.

Zahorodny, All-Met athlete of the year indoors, blasted through the first 400 meters in about 52 seconds with Antonio Palmer of Gaithersburg, the eventual runner-up, right on his heels. But he separated himself on the backstretch and powered the rest of the way for a three-second victory.

"I knew I could do it," Zahorodny said. "It definitely proved what happened indoors wasn't a fluke." . . .

Danielle Williams's performance at Saturday's ISL championships at Potomac School in McLean could be an indication of what's in store this weekend at the Virginia Independent Schools' state meet in Richmond. The St. Stephen's/St. Agnes junior won three events -- the 100, 200, and the 4x100 relay -- a few days after suffering a hamstring injury.

In the 4x100 relay, after receiving the baton in fourth place, Williams stormed from behind and crossed the line first, giving the Saints the victory in 51.57 seconds.

Later, she won the 200 in a mild upset. Her lean at the line gave her the win in 24.83 seconds, a meet record. Williams used another lean to win the 100 in 12.23 seconds.

"The injuries, the [rainy] weather, nothing mattered to me," Williams said.

Robinson boys' basketball coach Matt McKeag has accepted a similar position at Varina High School in Richmond.

In three seasons after Robinson's 1-21 finish in 2005, McKeag rebuilt the program, going 27-44 and earning back-to-back Northern Region tournament berths, including a first-round upset win over top-seeded W.T. Woodson in 2007.

Varina, which posted a 9-16 record last season, is "a very similar position," McKeag said. "It has its differences because I don't think it's as far down as Robinson was, I think, four years ago, but it's certainly a chance for me to come in and reestablish the program and bring it back to where it should be and where it needs to be." . . .

Quince Orchard Coach Dave Mencarini said Monday that Terrence Stephens -- a 6-foot-2, 285-pound junior All-Met defensive lineman, has orally committed to Stanford.

Stephens also has offers from Maryland, Nebraska, West Virginia, N.C. State, Syracuse, Connecticut and Penn State. . . .

Right-hander Michael Mitchell threw a no-hitter yesterday as Paul VI Catholic beat Collegiate of Richmond, 10-0, in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Independent Schools AA baseball tournament. . . .

Bethesda-Chevy Chase junior attacker John Tschiderer (two goals, one assist) scored from five feet out on the right side on an assist from junior midfielder Gus Vita (one goal, two assists) with 18 seconds left in the first overtime period yesterday to give the Barons (14-2) an 8-7 victory over visiting Churchill (12-4) in the 4A/3A West Region boys' lacrosse semifinals. B-CC will visit Wootton, 10-5 winners over Walter Johnson, at 7 tonight for the region title. . . .

The IAC lacrosse championship between St. Stephens/St. Agnes and No. 3 Landon will be played at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Landon.

Special correspondents B.J. Koubaroulis and Jon Goldberg contributed to this report.