(May 9, 2013) - Briar Woods High School seniors Holly Johnson and Brigham Shellenberger, who helped the Falcons win four consecutive VHSL AA state competitive cheer state titles, will continue their cheer careers in college.
Johnson will cheer at Penn State while Shellenberger will cheer at Alderson-Broaddus.
There are now 149 athletes on the Class of 2013 College Choice Chart. The Class of 2012 had a record 207 athletes move on. The Class of 2011 had 145 and the Class of 2010 had 159.
Purcellville (Jan. 24, 2013) - Defending VHSL AA girls soccer state champion Woodgrove High School has eight seniors that will play at the college level next year and the Wolverines will celebrate the talented group with a ceremony on Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. in the school's library.
Six of the seniors will sign their National Letter of Intent on Feb. 1 to play NCAA Division I soccer:
Brittany Basinger (Penn State)
Ashley Bonner (American)
Maggie Buxton (James Madison)
Bergen Elkjer (Indiana State)
Sarah Hardison (George Mason)
Ashley Tilly (Coastal Carolina)
And two of the seniors have committed to play at the NCAA Division III level next year:
Purcellville (May 4, 2012) - Woodgrove High School held a ceremony Thursday evening to recognize several senior track and field athletes who will be continuing on to compete at the collegiate level in track & field: Lydia Cromwell (Christopher Newport), Anna Harpster (James Madison) and Audrey Houghton (Penn State).
Purcellville (May 1, 2012) - Woodgrove High School will hold a ceremony on May 3 to recognize several senior track and field athletes who will be continuing on to compete at the collegiate level in track & field: Lydia Cromwell (Christopher Newport), Anna Harpster (James Madison) and Audrey Houghton (Penn State).
Cromwell has been a major contributor in both cross country and track as a middle distance runner. She has committed to run at Christopher Newport University.
Harpster has been a major contributor in sprints, hurdles, relays and jumping events. She has committed to attend James Madison University.
Houghton has been a force in both cross-country and track where she has been a top middle distance runner and an anchor of two relays. She has committed to Penn State University.
Woodgrove will be having a special ceremony to celebrate their commitments to compete at the next level on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the school's library.
(Jan. 12, 2012) - It has been an exciting winter already for Woodgrove High School junior Brittany Basinger as the starting point guard has helped the Wolverine girls basketball team to a 12-2 start, she committed early to play NCAA Division I soccer at Penn State University and now the talented athlete has been selected to the U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team training camp in February.
Basinger is one of 24 players invited to the training camp in Sunrise, Fla, which will be held Feb. 3-11. The camp will feature two international games with Germany. This training camp will play an important role in the evaluation of players as this age group continues to progress and prepare for CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament in Guatemala City from May 2-13. The finalists and third-place match winner will qualify for the 2012 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
(Dec. 19, 2011) - Woodgrove High School junior defender Brittany Basinger, who helped the Wolverines to the AA state semifinals in the school's first season in 2011, has make an early commitment to play soccer at NCAA Division I Penn State starting in 2013.
Basinger is a defensive standout for FC Virginia, one of the top teams in the ECNL Mid Atlantic Conference. Basinger is ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com as the No. 97 prospect nationwide in the Class of 2013.
(Nov. 21, 2011) - Briar Woods High School celebrated last week the college signing of two talented seniors that have helped the Falcons win state titles. Pitcher Macy Jones, who led the Falcons to a AA state title in the spring, has signed to play for NCAA Division I Penn State next year, and Alli Haufler, who has helped the Falcons win 200 medley and 400 free state titles, will swim next year at NCAA Division I North Carolina. More on Haufler's swim career. More on Jones' softball career. More photos from the signing!
VivaLoudoun is proud to introduce a new columnist for the site -- Dave Scarangella of DullesDistrict.com!
(Nov. 8, 2010) - If you have been following the incredibly disgusting events at Penn State these days, you’re aware that Saturday a 23-page grand jury report was released documenting unspeakable actions allegedly committed by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The report is so graphic, I won’t even link it here. Google it if you’d like, but I warn you it will make you sick reading it.
The mainstream media has done a good job following up on it (Mike Wise had this excellent piece on it in Sunday’s Washington Post), but there is one point in all this that has gone largely unnoticed: Apparently with the information known by many highly ranked Penn State officials, including the school president, athletic director and even legendary football coach Joe Paterno, the people who actually stood up and got the authorities on the situation were high school officials.
Yup, high school football coaches, teachers and administrators. They were the ones who didn’t worry about image, national attention, football legacies, etc. They worried about one thing: the kids.
Ashburn (Apr. 14, 2011) - The talented Class of 2012 continues to make college recruiting waves in Loudoun with two Briar Woods juniors making early verbal commitments as Lina Granados will play soccer at Vanderbilt starting in 2012-13 and Macy Jones will play softball at Penn State.
Jones, pitcher/outfielder, helped the Falcons to the state playoffs last season and Granados has already trained with the Colombian Women's U-20 National Team.
J.J. White on his decision to play baseball at Penn State
(Nov. 18, 2010) - Stone Bridge High School senior J.J. White has formally signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball next year at Penn State.
White, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound catcher for the Bulldogs, has played varsity baseball under coach Sam Plank since his freshman season.
“J.J. walked through the doors his freshman year and I knew he was going to be special," said Plank. "When great hitters hit a baseball the sound speaks for itself. JJ is not only a talented baseball player but also a great teammate and role model in school as well. Penn State is getting gem."
Over the years, White has played for several elite teams, beginning in Austin, Tex., qualifying for the Elite 24 tournament at age 13, and placing 8th in the country with the Austin Eagles.
White's family moved to Leesburg in the summer of 2006. In Virginia, he played for the 14U Virginia Mavericks who won the VA State Championship that year. White has since been trained by Dan Gitzen and played summer and fall baseball with the Mid-Atlantic Red Sox organization. More photos from this signing.
"From the time I met J.J., it was obvious at a young age that J.J. was going to be a special talent. He is highly motivated and from what he puts into the game, I knew he would be playing in a big time program one day,” said Gitzen.
White was All-District for each of the past two seasons at Stone Bridge. He hits in the four hole and has great hands and power, including three home runs for the Bulldogs. He had seven doubles in both his sophomore and Junior seasons.
At catcher, no team wants to steal on him. White had 10 throw outs last season as catcher.
"I would like to thank my parents and coaches Plank and Gitzen for helping me get to where I wanted to go," said White. "Penn State is an amazing school, and I am so excited. I look forward to helping Penn State win the Big 10 and advance beyond Regionals."
(Feb. 25, 2010) - Three talented soccer players, who formerly played together on the Loudoun Explosion, have already made NCAA Division I verbal commitments prior to their junior high school systems including Ellie Zoepfl (Virginia Tech) and Whitney Church (Penn State) of Broad Run and Emily Fredrikson (William and Mary) of Stone Bridge.
Zoepfl and Church, who now play for the aptly named Loudoun Legends, have helped Broad Run to back-to-back VHSL AA state titles the past two seasons and will take a 48-game unbeaten streak into this season, having never lost a game in a Spartan uniform.
Fredrickson currently plays club ball for the Braddock Road Azul.
Tampa (Dec. 20, 2009) - Loudoun Valley High School graduate Blair Brown, a junior at Penn State, helped the No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions to their third consecutive NCAA title Saturday night with a 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13 dramatic come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Texas.
Brown had 13 kills with senior Megan Hodge leading Penn State (37-0) with 21. The Nittany Lions have now won 102 straight matches and Penn State coach Russ Rose has reached 1,001 career victories.
In Brown's first three seasons with Penn State, since she redshirted her first year, the Nittany Lions have gone 110-2 and won three titles. Brown was second the team with 347 kills this season after notching 217 her sophomore year and 210 her redshirt fresman year. She will open her senior season with 774 career kills.
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