VivaLoudoun's 2009-10 High School Sports Year in Review - Part 1: Fall

(July 14, 2010) - It was quite a first year of high school sports coverage for VivaLoudoun.com so we thought we would give you a three-part review of last year's highlights in Loudoun.

Following a year when Loudoun County Public School athletes and their teams brought home a then-record five Virginia High School League (VHSL) state titles, it would seem that the 2009-10 school year had a lot to live up to and the local athletes not only met the high expectations but exceeded them with an amazing eight state titles strung out across five sports and seven schools.

The state titles captured in 2009-10 fell into several categories from the rare three-peat title run to the difficult back-to-back title defense to several historic firsts. All of them were testimony to the level of skill and teamwork displayed on the Loudoun playing fields.

In the area of three-peats both the Loudoun County girls volleyball team and Broad Run girls soccer squad won a third consecutive state title.

In both sports, Loudoun ruled the postseason. In volleyball, on the same afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth University that the Raiders won the AA state title, Loudoun Valley captured the AAA state title. In soccer, four of the final eight teams left in the AA and AAA state tournaments were from Loudoun with Stone Bridge winning the AAA state title, Loudoun County finishing runner-up in the AA finale to Broad Run and Loudoun Valley losing in penalty kicks in the AAA state semifinals.

Some teams in 2009-10 were able to turn their historic first state titles from the previous years into back-to-back state titles as Broad Run football, which won its first state title in 2008 after 40 years of competition, made it two straight in December by winning the Division 4 crown again. Stone Bridge just missed its second Division 5 title as the Bulldogs fell to Phoebus in the finals.

In girls basketball, Freedom, which had become the first Loudoun school, along with the Loudoun County girls, to ever win a state basketball crown in 2009, repeated in 2010 as the Eagles moved up in classification to capture the Division 4 state title a year after winning the Division 3 championship.

Then there were the historic first state titles as Potomac Falls became the first boys basketball team to ever win a state title with a heart-stopping double overtime victory in the Division 4 finals at VCU in Richmond. Another historic state title was won by the Briar Woods competitive cheer team as the Falcons brought home the first ever state title in the school’s 5-year history by winning the AA crown.

And there were some near misses as Stone Bridge just missed adding a AAA state competitive cheer title and Potomac Falls baseball fell in the AA state finals as did the Loudoun Valley boys lacrosse team in the VHSL open tournament finals.

In swimming, Broad Run High School junior Mark Sarman captured both the 200 IM and 100 fly titles at the VHSL A/AA state meet and helped the Spartan 200 free relay team to a state title as well. On the girls side, Briar Woods won not one but two relays as the Falcons swam away with the individual medley and 400 free titles.

Individually, Stone Bridge junior Hayley Springman won the AAA state discus title and the Park View High School boys 4x100 relay was crowned AA state champion as the quartet of Nathan Santana, Daryus Beale, Takim Gayle and Dennis April turned in a winning 42.48 time.

Finally, to show how far Loudoun athletics has come, several former Loudoun athletes were in the news as Ed Wang (Stone Bridge/Virginia Tech) and Adrian Tracy (Potomac Falls/William and Mary) were chosen in the NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants and Conor Mullee (Broad Run/Saint Peter’s) was selected in the Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees. Loudoun was even represented at the Winter Olympics as former Harmony Intermediate student Ashley Caldwell made the U.S. Freestyle Ski team at age 16.

Here’s how it broke down by season:


Fall 2009

Competitive Cheer
Briar Woods High School had made small improvements coming into 2009, having finished sixth, seventh and eighth place in the Dulles District the previous three years, but then the Falcons competitive cheer team jumped up to the top winning not only the district title but winning a Region II crown and then capturing the school’s first ever state title with a win in the AA state meet.

The district win, with Broad Run coming in as runner-up, came as the Falcons hosted the meet. Freedom was third followed by Potomac Falls.

At the Region II meet, Briar Woods edged Brentsville by a point for the title and again it was Brentsville as runner-up at the state meet.

Stone Bridge came within two points of taking home the school’s fifth state title as the Bulldogs fell to Liberty District rival Fairfax, 261.5 to 259.5. Earlier SB had edges Fairfax by a half point to take a third Northern Region title in five years and the Bulldogs also won the district meet.

In the Cedar Run District, Heritage was runner-up to Battlefield with meet host Loudoun Valley third..

Boys’ Cross Country
The Potomac Falls boys cross country team continued its decade long tradition of great runs as the Panthers took third at the VHSL AA meet held on a muddy Great Meadows course. Loudoun County junior Tommy Curtin crowned his incredible season with a runner-up finish, just three seconds from a state title at 16:04.

The Panthers, led by junior Juan Campos, 16th overall at 16:45, and five other runners finishing between 17:11 and 17:27, finished just three points from runner-up Spotswood.

Freedom sophomore Thorpe Lichtenburg took 19th overall with a 16:55 after grabbing eighth at the Region II meet.

Earlier at the Region II and Dulles District meets it was titles for both the Potomac Falls boys and individually for LC’s Curtin.. For the Panthers, led by Alvaro Morales, it was a second straight regional title and a ninth straight district title.

The Loudoun Valley boys took second at the Cedar Run meet behind Ben Walker’s third place finish.

Girls’ Cross Country
Loudoun County senior Julie Strange ended her brilliant XC career with a fifth place run of 18:57 at the AA state meet. Strange’s finish helped the Raiders to a suprising sixth place in the team competition but it was Potomac Falls with top honors for Loudoun as the Panthers took fourth place on a muddy Great Meadows course.

The Panthers were led by senior Natalie Wright, 11th overall, at 19:22 and senior Christina Lee, a mainstay for four years in Loudoun on the cross country and track and field scene, finished at 19:47.

It was Potomac Falls and Loudoun County finishing 3-4 at the Region II meet with Strange second at 19:03 and Lee (19:41) and Wright (19:42) again leading the Panthers. The Panthers team and Strange, individually, also took top honors at the Dulles District meet.

The Loudoun Valley girls were 12th at the AAA state meet with sophomore Audrey Houghton taking 18th at 19:29. Earlier Houghton led the Vikes to a third place finish at the Northwest Region meet. Houghton also won the Cedar Run District meet to help the Vikes take the team title as well.

The Stone Bridge girls took third in a tough Liberty District to advance to the Northern Region meet.

Football
In two shorts years, Broad Run went from two playoff appearances since the school opened in 1969 to back-to-back Division 4 state football titles.

The Spartans were once again a perfect 14-0 in 2009 following a 14-0 campaign in 2008 and like the previous season it was Amherst County that fell victim to Broad Run in the finals, this time 21-16 at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium.

Broad Run – which has now completed three consecutive 10-0 regular seasons – won the state title game despite a first half injury to 2,000-plus yard rusher T.J. Peeler, who watched the second half from the sidelines on crutches. Peeler, the Region II Offensive Player of the Year, had led the Spartans into the finals with 173 yards rushing and two TDs in the 20-7 win over Powhatan in the state semifinals.

In the finals the Spartans used the heady play of sophomore quarterback Connor Jessop and a late defensive stand to wrap up the title. Jessop’s brother Chris was the starting quarterback in 2008 as a senior but it was Connor standing out in the bright lights last season with a 12 of 20 performance for 135 yards and TD passes to David Weaver, Adrian Flemming and Derril Thomas in the state title win.

Loudoun schools have now won four state titles in football all-time and was nearly five as Stone Bridge (13-2) fell in the AAA finals at UVa’s Scott Stadium to back-to-back Division 5 state champion Phoebus.

The Bulldogs lost despite out-gaining the Phantoms, 221-87, holding the ball twice as long (30:03 of possession to 17:57) and a record afternoon from junior running back Marcus Harris who carried the ball 47 times for 191 yards.

An interception, 99-yard kickoff return and safety were too much for Stone Bridge to overcome in the 15-10 loss as Phoebus ran its winning streak to 30 games with the last loss coming to SB in the 2007 state semifinals.

It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Bulldogs but Stone Bridge rolled to a fifth straight Liberty District title and third straight Northern Region title.
Park View (8-4) made the Division 3 playoffs and advanced to the regional finals before falling at Handley.

Loudoun County (8-3), led by Region II Defensive Player of the Year Chase Williams, made the Division 4 playoffs but fell in the first round when a game-winning field goal missed by inches on the final play of the game in a 27-25 loss to James Wood.

Golf
The Loudoun Valley High School golf team ended its spectacular 2009 season in a tie for third place in the AAA state tournament played at the Waterfront Country Club in Smith Mountain Lake.
The Vikes were led at the state meet by junior Tanner Welsh with a total of 161 for the two days while Scott Davidson shot 163.

The third place tie was the highest finish of any Loudoun Valley team since their state championship team of 1994 and concluded a year when the team went 86-8-1 in tournaments and dual meets.

Loudoun Valley High won the Northwest Region tournament with seniors Zack Bosse and Brian Hickey finishing second and sixth overall.

In AA, Loudoun County was not able to defend its Region II title but the Raiders advanced to the AA state meet with a runner-up finish to Western Albemarle. Andrew Brenneman and John Youst posted 79s for the Raiders.

Regular-season champion Loudoun County ran away with the Dulles District title, but Potomac Falls stole the spotlight by earning a regional bid after a dramatic one-hole playoff with Briar Woods at the South Riding Golf Club.

Raider junior Brantley Kushner won the individual title with a one-under par 71 after finishing runner-up as a sophomore. Kevin Cook was one shot behind his teammate Kushner at 72.

Girls’ Volleyball
Loudoun had the two best volleyball teams in the state with Loudoun County winning a third straight AA state title and Loudoun Valley winning a AAA state title. Loudoun had the two best volleyball players in the state with Juliane Hanna of Loudoun County winning the Gatorade Player of the Year for the State as well as AA Player of the Year and Loudoun Valley’s Morgan Clark winning AAA State Player of the Year.

Loudoun had the two Coaches of the Year as Valley’s Laird Johnson was for AAA and County’s Jarod Brown, who stepped in for part of the season for his sister Jenica Mathias as she was on maternity leave, won for AA.

Simply, Loudoun had the best volleyball, especially when you factor in the talent that was also on the court at Broad Run (with Elisa Scudder first team all-state), Heritage (with Megan Beckwith second team all-state) and Stone Bridge (with Christine Beckham, second team all-state).

The Raiders defeated unbeaten Grafton in the AA finals, rolling to a 25-17, 25-12, 25-10 straight set win with Robin Marsala, first team all-state, serving 21 points and Hanna registering 17 kills. County’s big test was their five-set thriller win in the state semifinals over Cave Spring.

The Vikings had a tougher time, falling down 1-0 to South County in the AAA finals before rallying for a 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 win. Lindsay Gill and Nicole Bennett were also named first team all-state for the Vikes.

Broad Run split with Loudoun County in the Dulles District regular season and then the two teams split again in postseason as the Raiders won a one-game playoff for the district’s top seed and then the Spartans captured the district tournament title but while Broad Run was upset by Sherando in the first round of regionals, the Raiders rolled to a fourth straight Region II title.

Valley captured a Northwest Region title and Stone Bridge came up one game shy of making states as South County knocked them off in the Northern Region semifinals.