What's Up Magazines

Athletes Worth Watching
By Pat O'Malley
Photos by Kimi Raspa

Chris Hunt
Severna Park High School
Football and lacrosse

Winning championships as a playmaker in two sports, Hunt is one of Anne Arundel County's top male athletes. Last year as a junior, Hunt was All-County in both football as a wide-receiver, and lacrosse as a midfielder after leading the Falcons to Anne Arundel County championships in both sports and a state title in lacrosse. Hunt was a key player on the Falcons' county champion lacrosse team as a sophomore with his older brother, Ben Hunt and last year ran his personal string of county championships to three in a row, adding a State title in lacrosse, his best sport. He will join his brother, Ben, next fall on a lacrosse scholarship at North Carolina where he may major in business. "Basically, Ben loves North Carolina and I'm really looking forward to Chapel Hill, " said Hunt, who has a 3.6 grade-point-average and a 1,860 SAT score. In football, Hunt, who also plays defensive back and had three interceptions and thirty-five tackles, caught twenty-seven passes for 554 yards and eight touchdowns. "I'm going to miss football after this year, because you don't get to hit as much in lacrosse, but it is different at the college level,'' said Hunt, who scored thirty-two goals while dishing out twenty assists for the Falcons' 19-2 4A-3A State Champion stick team. He was third in ground balls and face-offs near the end of the season. Hunt, who also snowboards, is the son of Geoff and Ellen Hunt.

Hayley Rausch
Severna Park High School
Field hockey and lacrosse

Looks like the defending Class 3A State champion Falcons field hockey team will be next season without Rausch, Anne Arundel County's Consensus Player of the Year.

After leading the Falcons field hockey team (19-1) in the fall with thirty-four goals and nine assists, earning All-Metro honors as a sophomore, Rausch tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right leg in a game. "I kind of pivoted and my knee went one way and everything else the other way, '' said Rausch.

"[My knee] just kind of popped. I definitely want to play field hockey in my senior year, but I'm probably going to play lacrosse in college. I'll definitely be back for lacrosse [this spring]. My doctor says there is a possibility I could play in post season, but I doubt it.''

The field hockey team, coached by legend Lil Shelton, will be deprived of their "go-to" player. Rausch scored all three goals in the Falcons' 3-2 victory over South River in the Anne Arundel County championship game and drew the most attention from opposing defenses.

In her spare time, Rausch, the daughter of James and Sarah Rausch, coaches youth lacrosse. She has a 3.0 grade-point-average and is interested in attending Johns Hopkins, Georgetown or Maryland.

Jake Trantin
Archbishop Spalding
Football

Dedicated to football, Trantin has worked hard over the summer to prepare for the upcoming season that he hopes will deliver another Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship for the Cavaliers and a college opportunity for him. An All-County linebacker as a junior on last year's record-setting, 10-1 team, Trantin led the Cavaliers in tackles with 112, forced four fumbles and had two interceptions.

"I work out, squats (over 400), bench (305) and cleans every other day for about an hour and a half, '' said Trantin, who is a solid 6-foot-1 and 220 lbs. "I definitely want to repeat as conference champs and want to play in college.''

Trantin, who was born in Kentucky on a military base when his dad was in the Army, fared well at the University of Maryland summer camp and has drawn interest from several lower division schools. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, is exceptionally strong, and also plays fullback for coach Mike Whittles' Cavaliers.

Academically, Trantin, who coach Whittles describes as "a hard hitter, who loves contact,'' carries a 2.9 grade-point-average and scored 1,490 on the SAT. Trantin is looking at a career in the military down the road. He is the son of Lisa Trantin and Robert Trantin, retired military and now an intelligence analyst whom Jake calls his hero..

Kristine Wayson
Southern High School
Soccer and lacrosse

Wayson was the Bulldogs "go-to" player on the county's most improved girls soccer team (5-7) with a team-leading seven goals and eight assists. She also led the lacrosse team with 31 goals and eight assists despite missing two games to an injury. As far as college, she is leaning toward lacrosse.

"We beat Old Mill in soccer last year and that was a big deal, '' said Wayson, who boasts a weighted 3.73 grade-point-average, a 1,550 SAT score, and a ranking of 24th in her senior class of 264 at the Harwood school. She is also team captain on both her teams.

"I really want to play Division-I lacrosse and I worked on that over the summer. Towson, George Mason and maybe Louisville are schools I'm looking at. I'm going to major in accounting and business or possibly engineering."

Wayson was second-team All-County in both of her sports last year as a junior, is a member of the National Honor Society and has played for the Washington Area Girls Soccer and Chesapeake Lacrosse club teams.

"Kristine is very dedicated to everything she does, academics, family and friends, '' says her former Southern coach Katie Hicks. Hicks, now at Severna Park High, is taking a year off to take care of her new baby. "She is completely reliable," says Hicks, " always plays very hard and is a vocal leader.''

Wayson is the daughter of Kenn Wayson, who owns Hopkins and Wayson's Construction and Wayson's Corner, and Kathy Wayson.