High School Sports Year in Review: Winter 2012-13 - Local Athletes Go for Gold

This is the second of a 3-part series by Viva Loudoun looking at the 2012-13 high school sports season:

(July 1, 2013) -Some habits are hard to break such as the Potomac Falls boys and Loudoun County girls basketball teams making another state tournament run to Richmond.

The Panther boys needed a one-game playoff to take the Dulles District top seed from Loudoun Valley and then the Panthers rolled to a fourth straight Region II Division 4 title. The Panthers bid for a third state title in four years fell short as they lost to eventual state champion Salem in the sate semifinals.

Potomac Falls (26-5) will be primed for another run in 2013-14 as they were led last year by sophomore Wanya Allen.

The Loudoun County girls (24-6) were a surprise in the Division 4 state semifinals – also falling to eventual state champion Salem – as the Raiders had spent most of the season in the shadow of Dulles District and Region II champion Woodgrove. The Wolverines, led by Samantha Purnell the Region Player of the Year, fell by four points in the state quarterfinals.


The Loudoun Valley boys finished 25-5 after a bizarre “stall ball” loss in the state quarterfinals as eventual state champion Brunswick beat the Vikings 24-22 after choosing to hold the ball most of the game against the Vikings zone defense. It was one of the lowest-scoring state games in VHSL state history.

The Briar Woods boys made a postseason run that ended in a 3-point loss to Millbrook in the Division 4 regional semifinals. Potomac Falls knocked off Loudoun County in the other semifinal.

Loudoun Valley, led on the year by senior Josh Grimard who was named the district’s Player of the Year along with Loudoun County’s Michael Anderson, beat Heritage in the regional quarterfinals and Potomac Falls ran past Tuscarora. Woodgrove girls defense led the way to a 25-4 season and the district and regional titles.

Heritage made Division 3 girls playoffs and fell in the semifinals after an opening regional win.

The biggest night of the season, crowd wise, came at a packed Dulles District doubleheader at Tuscarora as the Loudoun Valley boys won their second straight tournament title over Potomac Falls and Woodgrove beat County in the girls final.

In wrestling, Loudoun County had its best season in school history. The Raiders finished second in the Region II meet at Champe High School by just three points and if not for some contested officiating moments earlier in the tournament, the Raiders would have been hoisting the regional banner.



Individually it was one of Loudoun’s best showings ever at the AA state meet, led by Hulcher’s state title at 126. The Falcon junior was one of several non-seniors to make All State: Dominion Junior Brandon Thien was runner-up at 106; Woodgrove junior Chris Walker was 3rd at 120; Loudoun County junior Hunter Day was 3rd at 160; Potomac Falls junior Tad Haugen was 6th at 170; and in the AAA state meet, Freedom junior Andy Hinrichs was 8th at 145. Seniors going out in style included Loudoun County’s Logan Smith (6th at 138), Potomac Falls’ Zach Causey (4th at 195); Park View’s Ronald Cruz (3rd at 285), Woodgrove’s Dylan O’Connor (7th at 285); and in AAA Broad Run’s Tarkan Martin (7th at 138) and Freedom’s Brandon Kammerdeiner (6th at 195).

Woodgrove made history when it won the Dulles District tournament title for the first time.

In swimming the UVa-bound Rosenburg went out on top as she shaved more than three seconds off her prelim time to win the 200 IM going away. She saved the best for her last individual event as she broke the state record in the 100 breast with a 1:02.12 swim, finishing more than three seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Rosenburg also swam on the Pride's sixth place 200 Medley and 400 free relay teams.

There were other double medalists from Loudoun including Briar Woods Lizzie Mittan (6th 200 free, 4th 500 free), Heritage's Carrie Lee (4th 100 fly, 3rd 100 back), Potomac Falls' William Lin (4th 200 IM, 3rd 500 free) and Dominion's Aidan O'Hara (2nd 500 free, 4th 100 back).

The Potomac Falls and Heritage boys each medaled in two relays.

Most of the year, Stone Bridge sophomore Andi Mack battled Rosenburg for the lowest times in events across the board. Freedom sprinter Michael Harman set schools records in 50 and 100 meters.

The Freedom girls won the Cdar Run district title with coach Brent Miller at poolside, just two weeks after he donated his kidney to a family friend.

At the Dulles District meet, Potomac Falls took its 8th boys title in 12 years while Dominion claimed its first ever girls championship.

In gymnastics Loudoun County fought off Briar Woods to capture its second consecutive Dulles District title. The Raiders scored just over a point more than the Falcons, 135.700 to 134.475 to take the top step on the podium. The well-balanced meet had Loudoun Valley (127.975), Potomac Falls (125.700), Woodgrove (122.675) and Tuscarora (122.100) all breaking 122 points.

Loudoun County's Hannah Powell, fifth in the All Around last year, jumped to the top with an All Around score of 35.2 to beat out teammates Lauren McCullough (34.525) and Victoria Miner (34.4) as the Raiders showed their depth with the 1-2-3 finish.

Briar Woods Sara Connors took the All Around at the A/AA state qualifier.

In AAA, Freedom’s Alli Gibbs and Broad Run’s Kerry Stolcenberg finished 1-2 in the All Around at the Cedar Run District meet. Freedom and Stone Bridge finished in their respective regional meets.

Finally in the winter, the Briar Woods club ice hockey team upset power Stone Bridge in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League semifinals and then knocked off Langley to claim its first ever championship.

Part 1: Intro and Fall Season
Part 2:  Winter Season
Part 3: Spring Season