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A 13-year-old Chevy Chase student came out on top in a national competition that pitted 1,500 of the country's best snowboarders against each other.

Westland Middle School eighth-grader Collin Ruginski competed in the United States of America Snowboard Association's national championships earlier this month at Copper Mountain in Colorado. Ruginski took home the gold medal for boys in his age group in Snowboard Cross — a sport in which a group of snowboarders race down to the same course. He also took home a bronze medal in slalom and placed second in the overall national champion competition, which encompasses five different snowboard disciplines.

The national championships were a culmination of a season of snowboarding for Ruginski and other snowboarders, who first took part in regional competitions to seek an invitation to the nationals.

Since the launch of his snow training program in November, Ruginski has traveled more than 4,500 miles to compete in regional events under the tutelage of his coach, Neil Sunday. He hopes to one day represent the U.S. in the Winter Olympics.

Support the explorers

The Montgomery County Department of Police Explorer Post 1986 will play host to a silent auction in an effort to raise $25,000 to travel to Atlanta in July to participate in the National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference and Competition.

The event will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Dave & Busters in White Flint mall on Rockville Pike.

Explorers are young men and women between the ages of 14 and 20 who have expressed a desire to pursue a career in law enforcement. Training includes classes in many aspects of police work. 

Each year, Explorers contribute thousands of volunteer hours to the police department, as well as various civic organizations.

This year, the Montgomery County Department of Police Explorer Post 1986 has been selected to compete in the National Conference and Competition.  The competition, July 19 through 24, will include hundreds of other Explorer Posts from across the nation. Post 1986 wants to send 25 Explorers and advisors to the event.

Tickets to attend the silent auction, which includes a buffet, are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Explorer Post 1986 is a 501(c) (3) tax exempt organization. Donations of cash, goods and services can be made via the donation and Pay Pal links on the Explorer Web site, www.mcpexplorers.org. For more information, contact Explorer Advisor, Officer Charles Carpenter at 301-840-2697.

The hunt is on

Saddle up for the 58th annual Potomac Hunt Races in Seneca next month.

The event, one of the area's final steeplechase races of the season, will be May 16 at the Kiplinger estate at Partnership and River roads. Gates open at 11 a.m. and the races start at 12:30 p.m.

In addition to the races, there will be tailgating, pony rides, a moon bounce, face painting, horseback riding demonstrations, vendors and a color presentation by the Maryland-National Capital Park Police. Proceeds benefit the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a nonprofit serving wounded service members and their families.

General admission tickets are $30, and rail side parking passes are $200. The last day to order tickets online is May 14. For more information, visit www.potomachuntraces.com.

Campus Congratulations

Congratulations to Bethesda native Jeremy Guterl, who has been awarded the 2010 Greenwood Prize Scholarship at Tufts University.  The prize honors those who demonstrate excellence in stage production and technical arts at the university. Guterl, a junior at Tufts, has worked as a lighting designer for student and faculty shows at Tufts since his freshman year.

Running for life

Join walkers and runners at the second Wilhelmina E. Bell-Taylor Race for Lung Life from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Meadowbrook Park, 7901 Meadowbrook Lane, Chevy Chase, to benefit lung cancer research.

Donations from this year's race will go to a Johns Hopkins clinical trial focusing on the impact and early detection of lung cancer among nonsmokers.

The race will celebrate the life of Wendy Balazik, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and died two weeks after the first race in 2009. Balazik, who never smoked, had planned to help develop this year's Race for Lung Life noncompetitive event. For more information, visit www.raceforlunglife.com.

Portrait of an artist

Potomac artist Martha Lechner Spak, a painter of more than 10 years, is finishing up her one month artist residency at the Stone Tower Studio at Glen Echo Park. The residency launched earlier this month and wraps up April 29. Demonstrations of Spak's work are open to the public Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to noon.

The Stone Tower artist-in-residence program allows members of the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery — the painting residency at Glen Echo Park — the opportunity to use space at Glen Echo as a personal art studio. It also affords residents of the county a chance to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into an artist's life.

This program, aimed to enhance awareness of the arts, is run in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture. To learn more about Spak, visit www.MarthaSpak.com. For more information about April demonstration topics, contact Spak at 301-469-0189.

This column is for you! Send items to Erin Donaghue via e-mail at edonaghue@gazette.net, fax at 301-670-7183 or snail mail to 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.