Sports Shorts For the second time in as many games, junior Kia Vaughn paced four players in double figures as Rutgers moved to the Greensboro Regional semifinals with a 69- 58 win over Iowa State in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Vaughn had a season-best 23 points, topping her previous season high reached versus Robert Morris (22 points) in first round action on Saturday. The center scored 17 points in the first half, including a string of 11 straight. Sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince had 17 points highlighted by a 3-of-5 performance from behind the arc. Senior guard Matee Ajavon added 16 points and seven assists. Senior Essence Carson chipped in 10. The upperclassman combined for 10 of the team's 11 assists and six of the squad's 11 steals. Junior Heather Ezell paced ISU (21- 13) with 19 points, followed by Amanda Nisleit with 15. The second-seeded Scarlet Knights (26-6) will face sixth-seeded GeorgeWashington at the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday, March 30. The teams met earlier in the season with RU posting a 67-42 road victory on Nov. 18 Tickets for the regional games inGreensboro will be available by calling the Rutgers Athletics Ticket Office at 866-445-GORU. Tickets are $26 per session. Rutgers led 39-31 at the break but ISU cut the lead to four three times in the first six minutes of the second half. They trailed 45-41 following a lay-in by Kelsey Bolte. Rutgers responded with a pair of threepointers by Prince, both from the far baseline and each off a feed fromAjavon. The last triple pushed the ScarletKnights ahead, 51- 41 with 12:47 remaining. A bank shot by Ajavon with 10:33 to go gave RU its largest lead of the second half at 55-44. The Cyclones would not go away, scoring 10 of the game's next 14 points. A 3-pointer by Nisleit off an inbounds possession with 5:00 on the clock cut Rutgers' lead to five, 59-55. Ajavon and Carson responded with the next two buckets for RU to push the advantage back to nine with less than four minutes remaining. After the Cyclones took a 4-3 lead at the 16:17 mark of the first half, Rutgers pieced together an 8-0 run to push ahead by seven. Four different players scored during the spurt for RU. The lead for ISU would be its only of the night. The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 12 in the first half.R utgers shot 54.2 percent from the field, including a 55 percent showing in the second half. Sophomore Jeremiah Lachaud of East Brunswick had a successful season with theMuhlenberg College indoor track and field team. Lachaud ran the anchor leg of the fourth place 4x200 meter relay team at the indoor Centennial Conference Championship meet. The relay team finished the race in an ECAC-qualifying time of 1:34.05. He also placed seventh in the 55- meter dash and competed in the 200- meter dash at the meet. The Mule men's team placed sixth at the Centennial Conference meet. The East Brunswick Wrestling Club Senior Teamcapped off one of their most successful seasons in recent memory with a tremendous third Place finish in the Mid-Jersey Senior League Tournament. The team started the season back in December with fourth Place showings in the Hazlet Holiday Tournament and the Brick Christmas Carousel Tournament. In January, the team entered many other tournaments and wrestled many non-league opponents to gain experience and hone their skills so that they would be ready once the Mid Jersey League matches began. The young team of mostly 6th- and 7th-graders wrestled well and improved throughout the year while wrestling teams of primarily 7th- and 8thgraders and the playoff was Sunday in Marlboro with the third Place result. The star of the day for East Brunswick was Vinnie Fiorello at 72 pounds. Vinnie pinned his way to the finals and then overwhelmed the #1 seed in the finals, pinning his opponent in 45 seconds and earning the esteemed Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler. This dominating performance by Vinnie in the finals set in motion the improbable run of four East Brunswick wrestlers winning their weight classes. At 87 pounds, Ricky Perrine pinned his way to the finals and then dominated his opponent in a 10-1 victory to secure his title. Michael O'Kane pinned his way to the finals at 102 pounds and then capped his day off with a pin in the finals, which not only secured his title but also clinched the third place standing for the team. Riding the wave of emotion started by his teammates, Jonathan Shleyfer pinned his way to the finals at 112 pounds and earned a hard-fought 8-0 victory to win his title. Placing third was a total team effort and all of the kids that wrestled on Sunday placed in the top five of the tournament. Michael Nicolaro capped off a fantastic year by placing fourth at 97 pounds and showed tremendous improvement from the beginning of the year to the tournament on Sunday. Garrett Kohn had a great tournament and just missed out on making the finals by losing in the semifinals to the tournament winner by 1 point but rebounded and pinned his final opponent to take third place at 107 pounds. First year wrestler Jacob King took his lumps all season but practiced hard and kept learning, and it paid off with a great fourth place showing at 122 pounds on Sunday. We will miss Jacob next year, as he is the only 8th-grader on the team and will be heading off to EBHS and joining their team - Good Luck!! DominickMaselli took fifth place in arguably the toughest weight class in the tournament at 128 pounds and will be a favorite to win his weight class next season. Connor McCarthy fought his way to fourth place at 133 pounds while weighing much less than his opponents after wrestling the majority of the season at 120 pounds. Unfortunately due to injury and illness, teammates Ryan Fahy, Tyler Gallegos, Crispin Prott, Joe Exarchakis, Travis Lutzko and Joe Colella couldn't wrestle on Sunday but participated throughout the season and contributed to the success of the team. The team is coached by Mike Duhigg and Keith Yarnall. Ryan Fahy, Vinnie Fiorello, Ricky Perrine, Michael O'Kane and Jonathan Shleyfer have all qualified for the N.J. Kids State Wrestling Championship Tournament in March and will battle to be crowned N.J. State Champ. The Old Bridge Girls Blue Thunder U-12 soccer team has ended their winter season by repeating as U-12 champions in the Tab Ramos Sports Center Indoor 5-on-5 league. The Blue Thunder clinched the championship by winning their three playoff games by a combined 14-1 score (including impressive 4-1 and 3-0 wins against the top two regular season teams). The Blue Thunder players are now looking forward to their spring season where they are playing in both the Monmouth-Ocean (MOSA) Premier and Jersey Area Girls (JAGS) Premier flights. Members of the Blue Thunder are: Victoria Beake, Jessica Betines, Courtney Durstewitz, Cassidy Flynn-Rozanski, Amanda Freno, Lexi Grillo, Hannah Hallos, Kaylan Haughney, Erin Honan, Kelly Kracsun, Gina Maschenic, Alley Maurer, Nicolette Modica, Christina Shannon, Elizabeth Thoresen, and Stephanie Walz. The Old Bridge Hustlers U14 girls travel softball teamis looking to fill one roster spot for the spring/summer season. The team is looking for a dedicated wellrounded player seeking a higher level of play. The team will be attending nationals in Georgia as well as many local tournaments. Contact oldbridgehustlers@ yahoo.com for tryout info. Darren Ankosko of East Brunswick played a key role in the University of Virginia's (UVA) thrilling victory at the recent 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. The Cavaliers dominated the event, scoring 833 points, the fourth-highest total in ACC history, and capturing their 9th title in 10 years. Runner-up North Carolina finished with 560 points, while last year's champion Florida State took third (524). Ankosko and teammates John Azar, Scot Robison, and Matthew McLean clinched the 800-yard freestyle relay with an ACC-record-setting time of 6:22.93, nearly 4 seconds faster than the record set by North Carolina 15 years ago. The time was also a UVA team record as well as a qualifying time for the upcoming NCAA Championships. The time for Ankosko's 200-yard relay split was 1:36.21. The foursome will swim the 800-yard freestyle relay again at the NCAA Championships March 27-29 in Federal Way, Washington. In addition, Ankosko will swim the 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley and attempt to achieve Olympic qualifying times in his individual events. At the ACC Championships, Ankosko also took 3rd place in the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 4:21.72 and finished 4th in the 400-yard individual medley (3:52.67) and 12th in the 1650- yard freestyle (15:37.08). The Cavalier's triumph was a breathtaking comeback from last year's loss to Florida State, which ended UVA's 8-year ACC winning streak.