Evan Miller's story is one of those stories that got lost in the frenzy of a busy winter sports season, but it shouldn't have.

 It was easy to miss because it's not about All-State performances or championship celebrations, but it's definitely about winning.

 Miller is a 17-year old Lincoln High junior who was a member of the Lions boys swim team for the past three winter seasons.

 He hasn't won any races, but he has won a lot of friends and admirers in his quest to be a high school student/athlete despite dealing with autism - the brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication and restrictive and reparative behavior.

 "He doesn't score a lot of points, but he competes," Lincoln swim coach Tom DiOrio offered about Miller. "He probably has only scored a dozen points a year the past few years, but he's an inspiration to the rest of the team to see how he has progressed. He has totally adjusted to everybody on the team and they have adjusted to him."

 "He has his days, but everybody has bad days," said DiOrio. "He's always a work in  progress, but it's worth the challenge for him, for me and for everybody on the team."

 It's an ongoing process that DiOrio first became involved with about seven years ago while coaching the youth swimming program at the Cumberland-Lincoln Boys and Girls Club.

 "He started in a part-year program then moved into the full-year program," DiOrio added about Miller, who also competes in national Special Olympics swimming meets. "For years his father stayed at every practice, but now that he's in high school his father just drops him off for practice."

 "He has mastered all the strokes," DiOrio continued. "I work all my swimmers into our meets so he swims on a relay team and sometimes he swims an individual event. He has been on the team since his freshman year and the kids love him."

 To the point where when the Lincoln swimmers held their annual awards dinner a few weeks after the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, it was announced that Miller would be one of the co-captains of next season's boys team.

 "There will be three captains of the girls team and two captains of the boys team and Evan is one of the boys captains," said DiOrio.

 It isn't just some honorary position given to a special-needs student. It's something DiOrio, who names the team captains, feels Miller has earned.

 "A captain is not a head coach. He doesn't have to give orders. It's somebody who cares about being a member of the team. Of course it can be taken away just like it's given," the coach added.

 "I've done it before with (non-special needs) students who some people didn't think fit the mode of a captain. People would say ‘you made that kid a captain, he doesn't have a responsible bone in his body'. But they did a good job. Some of them came back after they graduated and thank me for giving them the opportunity."

 So next winter it will be captain Miller when the Lincoln boys swim team hits the water.

 Some of the big victories don't show up on the scoreboard, but they shouldn't go unnoticed.

 Bennett scholarships

 Once again this year Wendy's and the Peter Bennett Scholarship Fund will award scholarships to the Providence Journal Honor Roll Girl and Honor Roll Boy.

Any principal and/or athletic director who has not submitted their school's nominees for the Honor Roll awards should contact Kevin Mailhot in The Providence Journal promotion department, 277-7637. Each school can nominate one senior boy and one senior girl for the Honor Roll awards, which recognize the top male and female scholar/athletes in this year's Rhode Island high school graduating class.

Kudos for Burke

His sensational comeback in Sunday's title match of the Interscholastic League boys state singles tennis tournament has earned South Kingstown's the HS GameTime Athlete of the Week honor. Burke won his third straight title as he came back from being a point away from losing the match in the second set to winning the title with a three-set victory over Wheeler's Jesse Frieder.

Jeannotte to BC

 The word is Narragansett High's Jay Jeannotte, this year's Rhode Island Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year, is headed to Boston College in the fall, but will play baseball, not basketball for the Eagles.

Jeannotte, whose play led the Narragansett boys basketball team to a berth in the Division II boys state basketball game last winter, currently is hitting .465 for the Mariners baseball team.

Goniprow a preseason All-American

Joe Goniprow, the former Barrington High football star who now plays for the University of Pennsylvania, has been named a pre-season All-American by the Consensus Draft Services.

 Goniprow, a 6-1, 275-pound defensive lineman who will be a Penn senior next season, was fourth in tackles for losses last season in the Ivy League with 32. He was named the Rhode Island High School Gatorade Football Player of the Year in 2005 when his performance on the Barrington offensive and defensive lines led the Eagles to the Division I state title.