By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
06/23/2002

Their names have become synonymous with spring high school sports in Delaware:

Katherine Bushey, Jackie Homiak, Jason Lilly and Mark Romanczuk.

They each graduate this year, leaving a remarkable imprint on their respective sport.

Now, these familiar faces are facing their futures.

One wants to pilot the space shuttle. Another hopes for a nursing career. Two envision playing sports professionally.

Whatever the four achieve, it will stem from the labors that made each of them such a successful high school athlete.

"Just the idea of working hard at anything, and competing in anything, helps with whatever you want to do," said Bushey, the St. Mark's tennis player who became the first to win four championships at girls first singles since the state tournament installed a five-draw format in 1974.

She is also The News Journal's High School Girls Tennis Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row.

Bushey is scheduled to report Wednesday to Colorado Springs, Colo., for basic cadet training at the Air Force Academy.

It was the first and only college choice for Bushey, who received a full commitment at Air Force and will play tennis. That kind of dedication also lifted Homiak, Lilly and Romanczuk to the levels they have reached.

"Whenever you've put in quite a bit of effort and set goals, it teaches you to work at something, how to stick with something," said Bushey's mother, Patricia. "Katherine will always feel she's accomplished something. She found something she liked well enough that she could put a lot of energy into. And she found it early. That's a really great thing for a kid."

Ultimately, Bushey will shoot for the stars. Literally.

"I'd like to be an astronaut," Bushey said. "To fly the space shuttle would be a dream come true. They [tend to] send up scientists. If that means getting my Ph.D., I'll get on that ship whatever way I can."

Homiak, Lilly and Romanczuk have big dreams, too.

For Homiak, Caravel's standout softball pitcher, it's the rush of the hospital emergency room.

"I love science. I'm really fascinated by the human body," Homiak said. "I want to eventually get my master's, get married and have kids, [and] I do want to be an ER nurse or an intensive care trauma nurse."

Homiak, The News Journal's High School Softball Player of the Year, this year became Delaware's first five-time, first-team All-State athlete in any sport that makes its All-State selections subjectively.

She had a 15-3 record in the regular season, with 118 strikeouts and 15 walks in 110 innings and an ERA of 0.29.

For five seasons she started every Caravel game, winning a state title each of the past four years.

"I learned how to handle pressure, and that's important for life in general," Homiak said.

Homiak was never one to rest on her laurels, in anything. She was class valedictorian and will attend the University of Delaware on an academic scholarship.

This will be her first sports-free summer in 14 years, and she said she has yet to decide whether she will play softball at UD.

"Softball has always been a big part of my life. I don't think I could give it up just like that," she said. "There are adult [recreation] leagues, so it wouldn't be that I'd stop playing softball even if I don't play in college."

Extending their athletic career is something Lilly and Romanczuk give great thought.

Lilly, from Dover High, is The News Journal's High School Boys Track Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. The sprinter was also a three-time indoor track athlete of the year.

He is also a two-time All-State wide receiver who will attend Boston College on a football scholarship, and Lilly has entertained thoughts about playing in the NFL.

But Lilly is not quitting track just yet. He is considering doing both sports at BC, a difficult decision that he said crosses his mind every day.

"Managing two sports and academics, that's going to be real tough. I'm used to it at high school, but college is a whole new atmosphere," Lilly said.

His 400-meter dash in 47.3 seconds at the Henlopen Conference championships this year matched the state record. His best 200 time (21.43) ranks fourth in state history, his 100 (10.88) 10th.

As with Bushey, Homiak and Romanczuk, Lilly also did well in the classroom. All were high honor roll students.

"Academics always came first with him," Vernelle Lilly said of her son. "Jason is the type of kid that never wanted to miss a day of school. And who knows where football will take him? It would be great to say he's going to the pros. But the most important thing is getting his degree."

Since he learned to pitch, Romanczuk's goal has been to reach the major leagues. His dominant 2002 season for St. Mark's made him The News Journal High School Baseball Player of the Year.

"Right now, I am looking forward to the opportunity to play professional baseball. That's what I have been striving for," Romanczuk said.

Romanczuk went 9-0 in the regular season with an 0.47 ERA, striking out 134 while yielding 23 walks and 14 hits in 59 innings.

He set several St. Mark's career pitching records, including wins (23), complete games (24), strikeouts (315) and innings pitched (172 2/3 ). He had three no-hitters this year, including a perfect game.

Those numbers, plus a 92 mph fastball, made the left-hander a top pro prospect, and Romanczuk was a fifth-round pick by Tampa Bay in the baseball draft in early June.

Romanczuk also has a full athletic scholarship to Stanford University. If this summer's negotiations with Tampa Bay are unsuccessful, he has Stanford to fall back on, but his ultimate aim is to play professionally.

"The toughest part of minor league baseball is that it's your job," he said. "You have to remember it's still a game, but now that's your meal ticket. But this is the time I've worked for."

For the past four years, spring has been the time to shine for Bushey, Homiak, Lilly and Romanczuk. Few in Delaware have achieved such enduring accomplishments.