2011-12 Sports Year in Review: Part 3

This is the third of a 4-part series as Viva Loudoun editor Dan Sousa takes a look at the 2011-12 high school sports year in Loudoun

Winter 2011-12: Freedom gymnastics shined; Wrestlers Brought Home Gold; Potomac Falls Boys Hoops Makes Another Run; And Much More!

Basketball

Loudoun did not bring home a state basketball title for the first in four seasons but there was still plenty to cheer about on the court, especially on the boys side where a record-number of points were scored in 2011-12.

Local teams had their shots in the state tournament with Potomac Falls boys (21-9) making a run for a third straight state title that ended in a state semifinal loss to Christiansburg, 66-52, at VCU. The Panthers were led by 6-7 senior Gregory 

Graves who helped the Panthers to three straight regional and two state titles in his tenure. Graves graduated as one of the only players in VHSL history to finish with 1,000+ career points as well as 1,000+ career rebounds.

The Woodgrove girls (25-5) advanced to the Division 3 state semifinals, falling to R.E. Lee-Staunton, 58-34. In the regular season, it was Woodgrove and Loudon County (21-9) battling all the way to a one-game playoff in the Dulles District after the each finished 15-1 in regular season play.  Woodgrove took the playoff for the district’s top seed, 61-53, but Loudoun 

County bounced back to win the Dulles District tournament title with a 39-33 victory behind Maggie Phillips’ 17 points.

In the Dulles District regular season for the boys it was Loudoun Valley (24-5) celebrating its return to AA classification with a regular-season district title after a 14-2 finish, one game ahead of Briar Woods (18-7) and three clear of Potomac Falls. The Vikings then rolled by Potomac Falls, 57-37, to claim the district tournament title.

Potomac Falls, however, turned it on in the postseason and upended Loudoun Valley for the Region II title, 48-44, after erasing a 9-point fourth quarter deficit in Purcellville before a packed gym. The Panthers  then beat Tabb for the third straight year in the state quarterfinals. The Vikings great season came to an end on the road in the state quarterfinals, the school’s first state appearance since 2004, with a tough 58-56 loss to Grafton.

The Loudoun County girls fell at VCU in the Division 4 state quarterfinals, 56-46, while Woodgrove advanced to the Final Four with a 55-52 win over James Monroe in the Division 3 state quarterfinals.

The continued expansion of the regional playoffs left a lot of Loudoun teams with postseason dreams as 14 boys and girls Dulles District teams advanced to the Region II tournament including Loudoun Valley, Potomac Falls, Briar Woods, Woodgrove (12-13), Loudoun County (13-11), Heritage (9-15) and Park View (9-15) on the boys side and Woodgrove, Loudoun County, Tuscarora (17-9), Heritage (13-12), Dominion (11-13), Briar Woods (11-13) and Potomac Falls (7-17) on the girls side.

Graves earned Region II Player of the Year honors with Loudoun Valley’s John Yoxthimer and Briar Woods’ Myles Tate also first team.  Graves and Woodgrove’s Gilson were named the Dulles District Players of the Year.

Broad Run (17-8) had a high-scoring season in AAA and advanced to the Northwest Region tournament with junior Nigel Johnson being named the Cedar Run District Player of the Year. Johnson’s 55 points against Osbourn was a likely all-time Loudoun single-game scoring record and just one of many big nights on the season.

Brad Gilson threw down 54 points against Park View and 43 against Handley. Graves scored 44 points and another likely all-time record 31 rebounds against Park View. Loudoun County’s Michael Anderson scored 43 against Park View while Park View’s Ryan McCarter scored 44 against Dominion.

In all, there were 30 games on the boys season with 30+ point performances and Loudoun may never again see so many 1,000-point scorers on the court for one season again as Graves, Gilson, McCarter, Tate and Yoxthimer all exited with the milestone.

The girls didn’t have as many big scoring performances but Stone Bridge’s Murielle Tiernan scored 39 against Madison and teammate Niki Prince scored 31 against Langley.

Loudoun County’s Erica Linnemann and Woodgrove’s Sarah Hardison shared Dulles District Players of the Year honors.

Gymnastics

Freedom sophomore Arianna Robinson took third place in the All Around at the 2012 VHSL open state meet in Salem and helped her team to a third place finish behind state champion Cox and runner-up Washington-Lee.

Robinson scores 38.375 to finish third in the state. Loudoun County’s Victoria Miner was 15^th at 36.675 just ahead of teammate Jessica Drews (36.000). Woodgrove’s Amanda Huebner scored 35.775 and Loudoun County’s Hannah Powell 35.000.

Robinson was second on the vault (9.850), eighth on bars (9.525), and tied for fourth on beam (9.700). Miner tied for sixth on vault at 9.475.

While Freedom was able to compete for a AAA state title, the AA postseason for gymnastics only extends to individuals but the Loudoun County girls made the most of it, sending a record five onto the state meet.

Freedom’s road to the state meet was paved with Cedar Run District and Northwest Region titles. At the Northwest meet, Robinson won the All Around title as the Eagles edged Stafford, 144.225 to 143.8, to win it.  Stone Bridge was denied a return trip to States after placing fifth at the Northern Region meet.

At the A/AA state qualifier, Loudoun gymnasts swept the top 4 All Around spots with Drews, Huebner, Miner and Powell taking the spots. Drews, who was honored at the meet as the Outstanding Senior Gymnast by the Northern Virginia Officials association, won the beam with a 9.450. Huebner took the floor with a 9.525. And Miner scored a first on the vault at 9.400.

Potomac Falls’ Abbey Tsao won the bars.

The Drews-Miner 1-2 punch led the Raiders to the Dulles District meet title with a school record 139.125 points. It was the Raiders first Dulles gymnastics title since 2009. Drews and Miner were 1-2 in the All Around and finished top three in all four events at the meet with Drews winning beam and Miner, a freshman, winning the bars and vault.

Woodgrove’s Huebner took the floor to prevent a Raider sweep.

Freedom also set a school record at the district meet level as the Eagles piled up 147.2 points to win the Cedar Run District. The Eagles had four of the top five in the All Around including Robinson (1^st), Alli Gibbs (3^rd), Shannon Landry (4^th), and Alexis Chaet (5^th).

Stone Bridge saw its three-year reign as Liberty District champion come to an end as the Bulldogs finished runner-up to McLean at the district meet in Ashburn.

Swim

Heritage junior Kaleigh Rosenburg captured the VHSL A/AA state title in the 100 breast at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center that highlighted a strong showing by Loudoun girls that included three teams in the Top 10 and six teams in the Top 20 in the final team standings.

At the AAA state meet Stone Bridge High School freshman Andi Mack made splash at her first Virginia High School League AAA state meet with a second place finish in the 200 free and a fourth in the 100 free.

On the boys side at the A/AA state meet, Potomac Falls led area schools with a 9^th place finish.

It was the Potomac Falls girls leading the way as well with a 7^th place finish, just ahead of Dominion (9^th) and Tuscarora (10^th). Loudoun’s depth in the water was evident as the Loudoun County girls took 16^th with Heritage 17^th and Briar Woods 19^th.

Rosenburg was the lone state title winner from Loudoun with a 1:03.21 win in the 100 breast. Also in the finals of that race, Amanda Presgraves of Tuscarora was 5^th and Ariana Staffen of Potomac Falls was 8^th. Rosenburg was also 4^th in the 200 IM.

Loudoun County’s Sophie Newton placed third in the 50 free and was fifth in the 100 fly.

Potomac Falls freshman William Linn was 4^th in the 200 IM. Dominion’s Aidan O’Hara was 6^th in both the 500 free and 100 

back.

The Potomac Falls boys 200 free relay (Lin, Gavin Saunders, Riley Jamison, Eoghan Foley) took third, while the Panthers were 7th in the 400 free (Saunders, Sean Hurrell, Jamison, Lin). The Potomac Falls girls were 7th in the both the 200 medley (Karen Hood, Staffen, Carson Newton, Kiri Harvey) and 400 free relay (Newton, Lindsey Oteyza, Staffen, Harvey). 

Tuscarora girls were 8th in the 200 medley race (Imelda Ogango, Presgraves, Pim Silpacharn, Bailey Jenkins), as well as 7th in the 200 free relay (Silpacharn, Jenkins, Presgraves, Ogango).

Briar Woods' Brennan Maxwell was 5th in the 100 fly with Jake Koenig of Loudoun County 8th. Koenig also took 6th in the 100 breast. 

Potomac Falls' Harvey was 7th in the 200 free, just ahead of 8th place Rachel Williams of Dominion. Williams placed 7th in the 100 fly. Lizzie Mittan of Briar Woods was 5th in the 500 free with Jalyn Marks of Dominin in 7th.

The Dominion girls were 6th in the 200 free relay (Ashley Brock, Maura Mazurowski, Casey Tinius, Williams).

At the AAA state meet, Mack swam a 1:52.45 in the 200 free finals to finish runner-up to senior Audrey Kula of Osbourn Park who touched in 1:52.31. In the 100 free Mack turned in a 52.38 in a race won by another freshman, Sofia Revilak of Battlefield in 51.44.

Broad Run senior Jacob Leidy finished 8th in the 100 fly with a 52.43. He turned in a season-best for Loudoun of 51.67 in the prelims.  Leidy also helped the Spartan 200 free relay team to a seventh place finish with Leidy, Michael Kopecky, Jack Morrisroe and Alan Horback clocking at 1:29.66. Frank W. Cox High School won the race in a state record time of 1:24.85.

At the AAA Northwest Region Swim Championships Leidy took gold in the 100 fly in 53.00. Leidy also swam on Broad Run’s first-place 200 free relay. Leidy’s relay teammates, Horback, Morrisroe and Kopecky, dropped more than 2 seconds from their districts time to finish in 1:29.75.

Stone Bridge’s Mack moved onto States with top six finishes in the 100 and 200 free at the Northern Region meet.

Prior to AA States, Loudoun swimmers flexed their muscles at the Region II meet in Warrenton with the Potomac Falls High School boys and girls runner-up and Panther Lin and Heritage's Rosenburg both double winners.

On the district level, Leidy was the sole boy's double-winner at the Cedar Run District Championships posting season-best times en route to his wins in the 100 fly (52.62) and 100 back (55.20). In the girls meet, Broad Run junior Caroline Ruttenberg swam to her first district title in the 200 free by knocking nearly two seconds off her seed time and finishing in 2:02.86. 

Stone Bridge freshman sensation Mack turned in a 1:54.58 to win the Liberty District meet 200 free  and she finished second in the 100 free with a 52.73. Both times were tops for the year for Loudoun swimmers.

At the Dulles District meet, The Potomac Falls High School boys and girls swim teams started and ended the 2012 meet the 

same way -- touching the wall first in relays -- and in between the Panthers boys were overwhelming and the Panther girls fought off a brave challenge from Briar Woods as both claim district titles.

The Potomac Falls boys, winning all three relays, and picking up two first place finishes from freshman Lin (200 IM, 500 free) and a first from Eoghan Foley (50 free), had too much depth for the field, nearly doubling second-place Briar Woods (245 points) with 433.5 total points.

The Potomac Falls girls also got two wins from a super freshman as Kiri Harvey took the 200 free and 100 back. The Panthers came into the final race of the night, the 400 free relay, just 0.5 points ahead of Briar Woods and Potomac Falls with Carson Newton, Lindsey Oteyza, Ariana Staffen and Harvey finished ahead of Briar Woods to take the team title, 349.5 to 343.

Wrestling

Loudoun had an amazing weekend in the winter at the respective Virginia High School League AAA and AA state wrestling meets

Freedom sent two athletes to the finals with DaQuante Timbers becoming the school's first ever state champion at 285 pounds and Tyler Young taking runner-up at 182. Stone Bridge senior Jonathan Faul finished his career with a school record 123 victories as he took third at 152.

The two Eagles had very different roads to the finals as Timbers was the favorite to win his weight class, dominating his competition in Virginia this year and Young was predicted by many not to even place. 

Despite this, Young battled throughout the entire tournament winning close matches, including a win with six seconds left in sudden death over undefeated Stacey Kennedy of Oscar Smith in the semifinals.

Timbers finished his impressive 55-2 season with three pins in four wins at the state finals including a fall in the title match.

At the AA meet in Salem, Potomac Falls senior Batchka Zulkhuu's state title at 152 pounds highlighted Loudoun's good showing with Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley each sending two wrestlers to the awards podium.

Loudoun Valley's David Garvis finished fourth at 182 and teammate Josh Cassada-Maple finished at 160. In that same weight class, Joe Cavallaro of Woodgrove took seventh.

For Loudoun County, Logan Smith was fifth at 132  and A.J. Pittas took sixth at 138.

Zulkhuu won by technical fall over Andrew Saunders of Northside in the finals, 21-6, to cap a 52-4 season.

Loudoun County High School finished fourth at the Region II meet with Smith winning a title at 132. Also winning a regional title was Potomac Falls’ Zulkhuu at 152.

Regional runner-ups went to Josh Hawk of Loudoun Valley at 126, Pittas of Loudoun County at 138, Cassada-Maple of Loudoun Valley at 160 and Garvis of Loudoun Valley at 182.

Qualifying for the VHSL AA state meet in third: Michael Hulcher (Briar Woods) 120, Joe Cavallaro (Woodgrove) 160 and Michael Williams (Dominion) 182.

Moving on in 4th place: Reggie Miller (Briar Woods) 113, Micah Hotz (Park View) 160, Dionte Fitts (Tuscarora) 182, Emile Khattar (Dominion) 195 and Ronald Cruz (Park View) 285.

Freedom, which had dominated in the AA Dulles District, found the going tougher at the AAA level but the Eagles still took 6^th at the Northwest Region meet with Timbers winning at 285.

Young was runner-p at 182 for Freedom. Broad Run’s Angel Rios was third 120 and teammate Tarkan Martin took third at 132.

Freedom lost the Cedar Run District crown by the slimmest of margins as the Eagles were edged by Battlefield, 191.5 to 190. 

The Eagles crowned four champions: Matt Allison (126), Young (182), Brandon Kammerdeiner (195) and Timbers (285). Broad Run crowned two champions: Rios (120) and Mustafa Ahmet (152).

Loudoun County took home the Dulles District meet title, becoming the first Raiders team to accomplish that feat since 1974.

The Raiders showed their depth starting at 126 where Scott Rossell was edged by Loudoun Valley’s Hawk in the finals. The next three title bouts were the Raiders as Logan Smith (132), A.J. Pittas (138) and Hunter Day (145) all climbed to the top of the podium. Cory Dickey was runner-up for LC at 220.

Potomac Falls and Woodgrove each had five in the finals like the Raiders with Louis Ives (106), Zulkuu (152) and Zach Causey (170) winning for the Panthers and Bryce Rohrer (220) winning for the Wolverines.

Also winners: Saxon Downs of Tuscarora (113), Hulcher of Briar Woods (120), Cassada-Maple of Loudoun Valley (160),Garvis of Loudoun Valley (182), Khattar of Dominion (195) and Cruz of Park View (285).