News: Potomac Falls Honors Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Matt McLean

 All photos courtesy of Potomac Falls High School senior Heather Stewart
(Aug. 31, 2012) - The Potomac Falls High School football team opened the 2012 season with a 23-7 loss to Liberty last Friday but the Panthers had plenty to celebrate about as they honored Panther alum and London Games Olympic Gold swimming medalist Matt McLean.

During the pregame, McLean conducted the coin toss. At halftime, he received standing ovations from both the Liberty-Bealeton crowd and the proud Panther crowd as he took a 'victory lap' in the Olympicmobile/Gator, driven by current Potomac Falls swim coach Neil Costello, who was instrumental in getting Matt and his family to attend the football game.

The crowd exceeded expectations for a non-district game, played before school had begun. Over 150 people waited in line on the track to shake hands with, have their picture taken with, or get the autograph of the 2006 PFHS graduate, who became the first-ever Loudoun Gold Medalist as a member of the men's 4x200 relay squad.

Swim: Potomac Falls to Honor Alumnus Olympic Gold Medalist Matt McLean

(Aug. 20, 2012) - Potomac Falls High School will honor alumnus Olympic gold medalist Matt McLean on Friday August 24 during the season-opening football game.

Potomac Falls athletics department will be holding events to honor the Class of 2006 graduate who recently earned a gold medal in the London Games as part of the U.S. men’s swimming 4x200 relay.

Recognizing Matt McLean:
 • Matt will serve as the honorary game captain at the school’s season-opening football game and conduct the pregame coin toss.
 • At halftime, Matt will take a ‘victory lap’ around the Potomac Falls track and greet fans from both Liberty High and Potomac Falls High.
• Following the victory lap, Matt will meet fans in a tent at the end of the field, signing autographs, taking pictures and shaking hands.

Swim: Potomac Falls Grad Matt McLean Strikes Gold at London Olympics! Helps 4x200 Free Relay Take 1st

(July 31, 2012) - Potomac Falls High School grad Matt McLean struck gold in London today as part of the United States men's 4x200 freestyle relay team which took first place.

Gymnastics: Champe High School's Spivey Lived the Olympics Experience

photo courtesy Virginia Sports Hall of Fame

(July 31, 2012) - Many in Loudoun have been following the gymnastics action at the Olympics but few can claim to have lived the Olympic dream like Champ High School's head gymnastics coach Hope Spivey, who was a member of the U.S. squad at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Spivey, who recently moved to the area, has been hired as Champe's first ever gymnastics coach for the school which opens in less than a month in Aldie, becoming Loudoun's 13th public high school.  Spivey won the bronze medal in All Around at the 1985 U.S. championships and helped the U.S. take the gold medal at the 1987 Pan-American games.

Olympics: Middleburg Academy Grad Azania Stewart Playing for Host Great Britain in Olympics

photo courtesy University of Florida

Middleburg (July 30, 2012) - Azania Stewart, who graduated from Middleburg Academy (then Notre Dame Academy) in 2008, is playing for Great Britain's 12-member Olympic basketball squad, a team making its first-ever appearance in the international games.

London, her hometown, had been announced as the venue for the 2012 games just as Stewart arrived in Middleburg, at age 15, to begin her U.S. high school career.

Swim: Potomac Falls Grad Matt McLean Shoots for Gold in London

(July 28, 2012) - Potomac Falls High School grad Matt McLean, a former ACC Swimmer of the Year while at the University of Virginia, will make his Olympic debut on Tuesday, July 31 as part of the U.S. men's 800-meter freestyle relay team.

A year ago, McLean capped his Cavalier career with a NCAA title in the 500 free. He made the U.S. Olympic squad with a fifth place finish in the 200 meter free trials.

While at Potomac Falls, McLean won the VHSL AA state title in the 200 free in 2005 and 2006 and he still holds the state record in the event. Also in 2006 he captured the VHSL 500 free state title.

From 2008-2011, McLean won ACC titles in 17 events. In 2011, McLean earned Virginia its fourth national title when he won the NCAA title in the 500 freestyle.

News: 16-Year-Old Hamilton Native Ashley Caldwell Makes U.S. Olympic Freestyle Team

(Jan. 27, 2010) - Loudoun will be represented in the next month's 2010 Vancouver Olympics as 16-year-old Hamilton, Va. native Ashley Caldwell has made the U.S. freestyle team.

Caldwell is a former gymnasts who used to compete for APEX Gymnastics locally. Caldwell has been skiing since she was 3 and started freestyle aerial skiing when she was 13. Read a feature on her from Jason S. Rufner in the Loudoun Times-Mirror from 2008 that details her path to the sport .

Caldwell is the first athlete from the the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's Elite Air Program to qualify for the Olympics. She did well at the Olympic Trials and then earned her spot on the roster for Vancouver by finishing 10th and 13th in a pair of World Cup events earlier this month.

2010 U.S. OLYMPIC FREESTYLE SKI TEAM
(name, hometown, age as of opening ceremonies, birthdate, (past Olympics))

Aerials
Men
Matt DePeters, Hamburg, NY, 22, 8/20/87
Dylan Ferguson, Amesbury, MA, 21, 8/10/88
Jeret "Speedy" Peterson, Boise, ID, 28, 12/12/81 (2002, 2006)
Ryan St. Onge, Winter Park, CO, 26, 2/7/83 (2006)

Women
Ashley Caldwell, Hamilton, VA, 16, 9/14/1993
Emily Cook, Belmont, MA, 30, 7/1/79 (2006)
Jana Lindsey, Black Hawk, SD, 25, 9/18/84 (2006)
Lacy Schnoor, Draper, UT, 24, 6/12/85

Moguls
Men
Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, WA, 22, 12/25/87
Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA, 28, 4/2/81
Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 27, 3/24/82
Bryon Wilson, Park City, UT, 21, 4/7/88

Women
Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 29, 11/7/80 (2002, 2006)
Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 23, 2/26/86 (2006)
Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT, 25, 5/28/84
Michelle Roark, Denver, 35, 11/16/74 (2006)

Ski Cross
Men
Casey Puckett, Aspen, CO, 37, 9/22/72 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006) *
Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, CA, 36, 6/12/73 (1998, 2002, 2006) *

* Past alpine skiing Olympians