Sam Carchidi | Va. Tech athletes show resilience following tragedy

The Virginia Tech massacre still leaves us speechless, but the students' resiliency is shedding some positives.

I saw that first-hand while watching the Virginia Tech women's track team, each having a "32" written on their body in honor of the number of victims, valiantly compete in the recent Penn Relays.

And a former local athlete, Sean McQuade, who was a talented baseball and basketball player at Clearview High in Mullica Hill, is another triumphant reminder of the human spirit.

Before too long, McQuade, 21, a Virginia Tech senior, could become the national symbol of hope and recovery for the Blacksburg, Va., campus.

In fact, to many, he already is that symbol.

McQuade was listed in fair condition yesterday at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Va., and he continues to make progress, according to hospital spokesman Eric Earnhart. McQuade was shot in the face during the massacre.

A Web site (www.seanmcquade.faithweb.com) has been set up, and it gives heartfelt updates from McQuade's mom, Jodie, and offers information on fund-raising events that have been established.

McQuade is the last person hospitalized from the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16.

Perhaps you've heard the whispers - whether on the radio or at school or in the office - that former Haddonfield basketball star Brian Zoubek was transferring from Duke to Villanova.

Well, forget about them. They're not true, said a family member yesterday. The 7-foot-1 freshman is happily staying at Duke.

Zoubek played sparingly as a freshman and did not play in the Blue Devils' NCAA tournament game.

Spencer Reed, the 6-4 senior forward who helped Haddonfield compile a 26-5 record and reach the NJSIAA Group 2 state final this past season, is going to play basketball at Catholic University, a Division III school in Washington, D.C.

"They like his athleticism and his intensity," Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman said. "And they like the fact that he's coming from a winning program, and think he has the opportunity to play right away."

By the way, Wiedeman's father, Dave, a former coach at Haddonfield and Eastern, recently was hospitalized for a week after falling off a ladder and suffering a brain contusion, five broken ribs and a collapsed lung, his son said.

"He's back home and doing much better," Paul Wiedeman said.

Junior first baseman Andy Meyers, a former Inquirer all-South Jersey baseball selection from Sterling, has led Monmouth to a 26-14-1 record and is one of the Northeast Conference's leading hitters.

The lefthanded-hitting Meyers is batting .406 with 46 RBIs in 40 games. In Sunday's doubleheader sweep of Central Connecticut State, Meyers went 5 for 7 with six RBIs.

The NJSIAA's advisory committee, in one of its most important decisions of the school year, had only 10 of its 28 members attend a recent meeting in which a proposal to change the face of high school football was discussed.

An NJSIAA official yesterday said the attendance was typical for one of its meetings.

That's a sad commentary on the committee's makeup.

Baseball alert: In a key makeup game between Tri-County Conference Classic Division powers, Pitman will play at Pennsville at 4 p.m. today. A berth in the 34th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic could be at stake.

The 16-team Diamond field won't be determined until Sunday. Seneca is the defending Diamond champion.

There is a lot of parity in South Jersey this year, so the Diamond figures to be a wide-open tournament.