JIM MULLEN

SCHOOL: Mt. Lebanon

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior, who is regarded as one of the top lacrosse players in the state.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette Mt. Lebanon High School lacrosse player Jim Mullen. Click photo for larger image.

LAST WEEK: Mullen had two goals an assist Saturday against Detroit Country Day.

SEASON: In nine games, Mullen has 21 goals and five assists for the Blue Devils, the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked team in the WPSLA.

FOOTBALL STAR: Mullen was Mt. Lebanon's running back in football and rushed for 1,322 yards on 210 attempts.

"We have a problem in that Western Pennsylvania football coaches don't realize the value of playing lacrosse," said Mt. Lebanon lacrosse coach Jon Moriarty. "The sports complement one another. What the kids say is there is nothing like Friday night football games. But football practice stinks. Lacrosse practice is fun."

ABOUT DAD: Mullen's father, J.R., played football at Central Catholic and got a scholarship to Boston College. He lettered in 1976 as an outside linebacker.

LACROSSE NO. 1: Despite Jim Mullen's success in football, he said lacrosse always has been his favorite sport. He started playing lacrosse in fourth grade and didn't play football until seventh grade.

He played baseball only in third grade.

"I just kept getting hit with pitches, and it became a miserable experience," Mullen said.

As for lacrosse, Mullen said: "I just think lacrosse is more fun. I like the practices a lot."

BIG GREEN FUTURE: Mullen will attend Dartmouth College in the Ivy League and play lacrosse for the Big Green. Dartmouth was ranked No. 11 in the most recent national rankings.

"He's an extremely talented player," Moriarty said. "He may be the best athlete playing lacrosse between here and Detroit. I'd hate to say that definitely because you just can't, but he's on everybody's radar screen."

Mullen was an All-American selection as a junior.

PROM, ANYONE? Mt. Lebanon's senior prom is just around the corner, but Mullen isn't sure if he'll go. "I have to find a date," he said, with a laugh.

-- By Mike White

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MYCAIAH CLEMONS

SCHOOL: Valley.

WHO IS SHE? One of the top sprinters and hurdlers in WPIAL track.

PAST WEEK: At the Westmoreland County Championships Thursday at Latrobe, Clemons raced to victories in the 100- and 200-meter runs and the 100 hurdles.

"There were two races -- hers and everyone else's," said Valley coach George Webb.

Clemons also competes in the 400 relay but said the 100 hurdles "is definitely my best event."

CAREER: A senior, Clemons has been a varsity performer for four years. She won WPIAL and PIAA Class AA championships in the 100 hurdles as a freshman, defeating older sister Mycah, the defending champion in each.

Clemons transferred to Penn-Trafford as a sophomore, moving in with her father, then returned to Valley before her junior year.

PIAA WOES: Shippensburg University, site of the PIAA championships, hasn't been a pleasurable venue for Clemons the past two springs.

As a sophomore, she was disqualified after a false start in the final of the Class AAA 100 hurdles, shortly before Mycah won the AA title in that event.

A hamstring injury dashed Mycaiah Clemons' championship hopes last year. "It happened in the WPIAL final," she said. "I worked on it for two weeks, trying to make it better, then got to states and reinjured it in the long jump."

Winning the 100 hurdles at Shippensburg, she said, is her main objective this season.

SEE HOW THEY RUN: Mycah, now a sophomore and pentathlete at Pitt, won four PIAA championships at Valley -- two each in the 100 hurdles and long jump. She and Mycaiah were teammates for one season, in 2002.

They and their other three siblings started competing in track during their early elementary years, and all five are athletes. The oldest, Wesley, was a running back at California University of Pennsylvania. Toney, a sophomore at Valley, was an all-conference receiver in football last fall and is on the boys' track team. Little sister My'Iesha, an eighth-grader, is in track and volleyball.

FUTURE: A National Honor Society student, Clemons committed to the Virginia Tech track team two weeks ago.

-- By Rick Shrum