Faces in the Crowd

Alford, a sophomore goalie at Maryland, stopped 15 shots in a 9--5 win over Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and was tournament MVP. He was Inside Lacrosse's national player of the week twice this season, the only player to receive the honor more than once.

Shana Welch

LARKSVILLE, PA. > Water Polo

Welch, a sophomore driver at Michigan, helped the Wolverines win their fourth consecutive Collegiate Water Polo Association divisional title. She set regular-season school records with 14 hat tricks, 80 goals and 93 points and was named the CWPA Western Division MVP.

Krystal Lewallen

CRESTWOOD, KY. > Softball

Lewallen, a junior righthander at Northern Kentucky, had a 30--0 record and an NCAA-best 0.34 ERA, helping the Norse put together a record 53-game winning streak and qualify for next week's Division II World Series. She was named Great Lakes Valley Conference pitcher of the year.

Brad Lowery

PIERRE, S.DAK. > Track and Field

Lowery, a senior at South Dakota State, won the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Division I Independents Track and Field Championship. Earlier this month he won the open mile run at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays in a state collegiate record time of 4:01.67.

Corey Wimberly

JACKSONVILLE > Baseball

Wimberly, a sophomore second baseman at Alcorn State, led the nation in batting for the third straight week, with a .472 average. He was also Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason player of the year and tops the Braves in hits, stolen bases and runs scored.

Katie Chrest

HAMPSTEAD, MD. > Lacrosse

Chrest, a junior attack at Duke, led the Blue Devils to a 17--3 record and a spot in the Final Four, with team highs of 67 goals, 25 assists and 92 points. She is fifth in the NCAA in goals per game (3.33 average) and was the first Duke woman to be Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything