The statewide Torch Run Relay for the benefit of the Maryland Special Olympics Summer Games will include individual relay runs carrying the Special Olympics “Flame of Hope” in different regions all over the state. The mission is to safely escort and protect the Flame of Hope as it makes its way toward the 43rd Annual Summer Games at Towson University on June 7-9.

This year marks the 28th anniversary of the very first Torch Run for the benefit of the Special Olympics. The movement began in 1986 with a handful of participating law enforcement officers raising $5,000. It has grown into a year-round effort that now involves thousands of officers and sponsors and raised over $3 million in 2012. Since its inception, the Torch Run has taken very seriously the role of “Guardians of the Flame” and the relay is an important and celebrated part of every Special Olympics competition.

The Ocean City-Worcester County leg takes place next Monday, June 3 at 27th Street and the Boardwalk. Pre-event ceremonies will start at 8 a.m. and the Torch Run Relay will start at 8:30 a.m. The run starts at 27th Street and heads south along the Boardwalk to its conclusion at North Division Street. After the Ocean City leg, participants will board a bus to Berlin for the second leg of the local portion of the Torch Run.

At 10 a.m., participants will meet at Worcester Prep for a pre-run pep rally and the second leg of the local race will be run through downtown Berlin to its conclusion at the Berlin Fire Department. The local portion of the race part of a larger statewide relay that includes legs in the eastern, western, southern and central parts of Maryland throughout the week.

Thousands of Torch Run participants will cover hundreds of miles before eventually converging in Towson where the individual flames will be united in the final leg ceremony.

Law enforcement officers will travel the final 2.5 miles to Towson University where the torch will be passed to Special Olympics athletes, who will have the honor of taking the final lap with the torch and lighting the cauldron to signal the opening of the 2013 Special Olympics of Maryland Summer Games.

For the 9th straight year, the Greene Turtle West, along with partner OC Tri-Running, will host the annual 5K run and walk for the benefit of the Ocean City EMTs. From modest beginnings eight years ago, the annual event has grown by leaps and bounds. Last year, over 150 competitors from all over the country participated in the annual event.

The course begins at the entrance to the Greene Turtle and heads south on Route 611 before making a loop through the Mystic Harbor community and returning to the finish line in front of the restaurant. A post-race party will immediately follow the with food and refreshments music, door prizes and awards presentations.

The race gets underway at 8:30 a.m. with late registration open at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. The entrance fee is $20 up to tomorrow, Saturday, May 26 and $25 on the day of the race. For more information, contact info@octrirunning.com

The fourth annual Memorial Day Bluefish Tournament gets underway today with registration and a captain’s meeting, but the real action starts tomorrow, the first of two fishing days in the event. Participating anglers and boat captains must choose to fish one of the two days, and as the name suggests, the target species is bluefish.

Anglers can fish from boats, docks, piers or the shore during the tournament, making it event wide open to all anglers. Cash prizes will be awarded for the top three fish caught during the two-day event. Weigh-ins will be held each day at Sunset Marina each of the two fishing days from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., creating a fun atmosphere at the marina for participants.

In the spirit of the Memorial Day holiday, proceeds from the event will be dedicated to the Catherine and Charles Kratz Memorial Park and Scholarship Fund. Catherine and Charles Kratz are long-time members of the Ocean City Marlin Club who recently started a foundation to provide support, encouragement and a better way of life for the men and women who served in the armed forces.

Incidentally, local fishing enthusiasts will recall Kratz was the skipper on the “Five C’s,” the fishing boat that landed the largest white marlin ever caught in the state of Maryland. The whopping 135-pounder was caught by angler George Pierson aboard the “Five C’s” back in 1980 with Kratz at the helm. It is now permanently displayed at the foot of the Boardwalk after Kratz donated it to the town in 2008.

Collins won the regional title in the pole vault, while teammate Emily Kolarik finished sixth. The Decatur girls were especially strong in the field events. Alexandra Saunders was sixth in the high jump. Ameerah Lewis finished second in the shot put, while Antonia Green finished fourth in the event.

Rebecca Lederman finished eighth in both the 100 and the 400, while Katie Hoffman was 17th in the 400. Alison Alvarado was 18th in the 800, while Emily Cook finished 15th in the 300 hurdles. The relay team of Chloe FauntLeroy, Liz Rougcher, Alvarado and Hoffman finished eighth in the 4x800 and ninth in the 4x400.

On the boys’ side, Decatur also did its best work in the field events. Sonny Aroh finished second in the pole vault, while Zach Watters was fourth. Lucas Duker finished third in the high jump, while Jamel Showell finished ninth in the triple jump. Patrick Phillips was third in the discus and fourth in the shot put.

Duker was third in the 110 hurdles, while James Phillips finished fifth. Ruben Ortega was 12th in the 300 hurdles, Aroh was 12th in the 400, and Dan Winters was 14th in the 800. In the 4x800, the Decatur team of Winters, Aroh, Kevin Herbert and Gary Frick finished 10th, while the team of Aroh, Winters, Herbert and Lance Ward finished 11th in the 4x400.

The Seahawks entered the state playoffs as the number-three seed and won a pair of tight, one-run games to reach the 3A-East region championship game at home last Friday. Decatur topped Reservoir, 3-1, on Friday to win its first regional championship in recent memory and advance to the state semifinals and a date with La Plata. However, after leading the entire game, the Seahawks came a little unglued in the end and fell to the Warriors, 5-4, ending what was otherwise a remarkable season.

The Seahawks started the state playoff run with a 1-0 win over Mount Hebron, followed by 5-4 win over River Hill to reach the regional championship game. With each win, the Seahawks stayed at home with a little help and a few upsets on the other side of the bracket. Last Friday, the Seahawks faced Reservoir in the 3A-East region final and followed its trend of outstanding pitching and timely hitting to capture the title with a 3-1 win.

In the bottom of the first, Chase Church led off with a single and later scored on a single by Chase Coursey to take a 1-0 lead. Reservoir tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Seahawks took the lead again when Dallas Harrington reached on a two-out single and came home on a hit by Zach Adams. The Reservoir outfielder attempted to make a sliding catch on Adams’ hit and the ball got passed him, allowing Harrington to score the go-ahead run. Decatur padded its lead in the bottom of the fifth when a Justin Meekins single scored Andrew Borradaile to extend the lead to 3-1.

The insurance run was all starting pitcher Grant Donohue would need. Donohue was dominant throughout the game, allowing just two hits and one run through five innings. Because Donohue had pitched two days earlier against River Hill, he had reached his quota of 14 innings per week and was relieved in the regional title game by Sean Colgan.  Colgan got off to a rough start, allowing the first two runners he faced to reach. However, he settled down and pitched out of the jam and closed out Reservoir in the seventh to secure the Seahawks’ 3-1 win and the regional title.

Against La Plata in the state 3A-East semifinals on Tuesday, things started well for the Seahawks, who got on the board in the first inning when Meekins doubled and later scored on a single by Jacob Hickman to take a 1-0 lead. With Donohue again dominating on the mound, the Seahawks appeared poised to advance to the state championship game. In the top of the third, Hickman doubled to score Coursey and Harrington later hit a sacrifice fly to score Meekins as Decatur took a 3-0 lead. The Seahawks made it 4-0 in the top of the fifth when a Harrington single scored Coursey.

With Donohue throwing goose eggs and a 4-0 lead, Decatur inched closer to reaching the state championship game before things started to unravel. La Plata scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Decatur lead to 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors got a lead-off double and the runner advanced to third on a fly ball to the outfield.

Donohue then issued an intentional pass to set up a potential double play to end the game. After a pop up, the situation remained runners on first and third with two outs and the Seahawks were one out away from advancing. However, during the next La Plata at-bat, the ball got passed the Decatur catcher allowing the tying run to score. The next La Plata batter walked, putting runners on the corners with two outs again. Donohue attempted to pick off the runner at first and the ball sailed wide of the bag, allowing the winning run to score from third.

Carpenter, a former Stephen Decatur Seahawk, now plays on the James Madison Club team that last week won the U.S. Lacrosse Division II championship. All club teams from Division I schools across the country are broken down into two divisions and James Madison was ranked number one in the second division to earn a spot in the National Tournament in Colorado Springs.

The Dukes beat Santa Barbara in the first round, then knocked off Loyola in the semifinals to earn a spot in the national championship game against Utah. Against the Utes, James Madison got out to a 9-5 lead at the half and cruised to the 19-11 win in the championship game. JMU was playing in its first-ever national tournament and became the second straight team from the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Lacrosse League to win the national championship. The University of North Carolina accomplished the feat last year.