Vol. 5 Issue 15

05 STAB SOCCER OUT FOR ONE LAST RUN

scr覺mmageplay THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA SPORTS AUTHORITY

VOL 5 . ISSUE 15 :: MAY 12, 2014

Playoff Sprint The race is on for a slew of Central Virginia lacrosse teams to end the year on a high note.

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the race is on for a slew of central Virginia lacrosse teams to end the year on a high note. page 7

GAINING MOMENTUM Miller baseball continues to grow

CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN Breaking down shifty local lacrosse talents

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VICTORY LAP STAB girls soccer gears up for the playoffs

19

GAME TIME Local track athletes shine at Dogwood

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SHIFTING YOUR FOCUS Consuming media in a different way

vol 5 . issue 15 :: may 12, 2014

Playoff Sprint VOL 5 . ISSUE 15 :: MAY 12, 2014

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05 Stab Soccer out for one laSt run

S TA F F Bart Isley, Creative Director Bob Isley, Infrastructure Director Ryan Yemen, Creative Editor O N T H E COV E R Covenant’s Drew Gaffney M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T Local sports are the lifeblood of every community in America, and we’re here to reach beyond the basics and give compelling accounts about Central Virginia athletes to our readers.

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Chuckin’ it

Charlottesville’s Jeremiah Jordan competes in the discus during the Dogwood Track Classic. The Black Knights’ senior placed seventh in the event with his throw of 12603.00. A stalwart for Charlottesville during football season, Jordan is heading to the University of Virginia at Wise. Both he and fellow Black Knight Will White will play for the Cavaliers in the fall. For more about the Dogwood Track Classic, turn to page 19. ✖ (Photo by Ashley Thornton)

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Family

Corner PRESENTED BY

ABOVE » For six-straight seasons, the Covenant tennis program has walked away with a state title, leaving all year-end disruptions in the rear view mirror.

Dealing with distractions When I was in high school in Virginia Beach, the lure of the oceanfront in spring was just too much for a lot of guys. We’d go pretty quickly from 100 percent attendance at lacrosse practice throughout April to half our team surfing staring in early May. I wasn’t one of those guys, but it didn’t have much to do with my dedication, I just couldn’t surf.

Looking back, who can blame those guys?

Girls were all over the beach with at least the ability to watch guys surf if they for some reason chose to do so. I’m guessing that didn’t happen nearly as often as some guys thought, but nobody was swinging by lacrosse practice to watch us, so even the slimmest chance wasn’t there.

While surfing isn’t much of a lure here in Central Virginia, it doesn’t mean spring isn’t loaded with distractions. The weather warms up, the end of school is closing in and suddenly the activities that were captivating

in winter are a chore compared to going to the pool or hanging out with friends. Maybe you’ve even started looking for or training for a summer job. I spent a significant amount of time during finals in college one year studying the menu at the rib joint I was working at for a menu test that would determine whether I’d be a server or spend another year as a food runner. At the time, I assure you, it felt like a big deal.

Any time the next chapter or activity is that close or right on top of you, it can be nearly impossible to concentrate on the task at hand.

Just like playing hard is a skill that has to be developed and honed over time, focus is a learned skill, one that we obviously need in every day life. Distractions are way too easy to come by and they’re usually welcome distractions, particularly if you’re a procrastinator. Throw great weather and fun outdoor activities on top of what television and the

internet already offer and spring is just a flat out minefield. With end of year tests, AP exams and critical academic projects looming, that’s a train wreck waiting to happen. When it comes to sports too, more championships are decided this time of year than any other high school season.

Which means focus is important to even more student athletes than usual.

You’ve got to stay vigilant. Maybe you’ve got to cut off whatever screen is your weapon of choice for stretches (or at least close out email or Twitter) to hone in on the task at hand. An hour of really intensive work could lead to two hours of fun instead of three hours of semidistracted effort.

Make planning a part of your process too with a checklist. If you’re working down a list and tracking your progress, that should lead to efficiency and, in turn, more time to take advantage of the weather. You can work through that checklist outside too. Just take your laptop and a bottle of water out somewhere and then you’re enjoying the weather and accomplishing whatever task is at hand.

It’s all about priorities and making the time for relaxing. The weather isn’t going anywhere, so don’t put surfing first. But work smart so you don’t have to leave it out either. ✖ Scrimmage Play and Triple C Camp partner up to cover family issues related to youth and prep sports in our Family Corner.

Bart Isley,

CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR

www.scrimmageplay.com ::

04

First Quarter Gaining momentum Miller baseball continues to make big strides

By Ryan Yemen

T

Nathan Gentry’s arm and bat have been critical to Miller’s success this season. (Ashley Thornton)

{ JACK OF ALL TRADES } Pitching and hitting stats for Gentry during the regular season.

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05 :: @scrimmageplay

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IN N ING S P ITC HE D

6 HO M E RU NS

BATTING AVERAGE

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he experience heading into the playoffs with a quality seed is humbling, even for Billy Wagner, a former Major League Baseball All-Star. The Miller baseball program is still so young, but it’s truly rounding into form.

With another year under the belts of this underclassmen-laden squad and a few newcomers, the Mavericks are on to something.

“The good thing is that we’re still young but we’ve got a little more experience going into this (season),” Wagner said. “That speaks to me too because I’ve always been a player and it’s easier to play than it is to coach. You don’t have the same control.”

Moving up and competing for the first time at the Division 2 level, you would think there might be a bit of a drop off for Miller, especially with a ramped up schedule that included Georgetown Prep, Liberty Christian and Greenbrier Christian. But in his second year as coach, it’s clear Wagner has a vision for this program. Just visit the diamond at the school currently under renovation and you’ll see the physical transformation in real time.

In terms of talent, Miller is still green. But when a freshman is one of your best players, you tend to forget about age for a second.

Nathan Gentry threw 30.1 innings for the Mavericks and walked away with a healthy 2.08 earned run average. At the dish, he hit .455 with six homeruns and 26 RBI, both team bests. In the grand scheme of things, Gentry signifies what’s happening at Miller, and just like his high school baseball career, things at Miller are just getting started.

Before the season began, the Mavericks knew they were going to be better just based on their lessons from 2013, but the addition of Jack Morris (formerly at William Monroe) and Jacob Rich (formerly at Western Albemarle) gave this program a pair of true veterans.

Morris, who’s coming back from elbow

surgery over the summer, isn’t able to offer his full potential as he can’t take the mound again until this fall. However, his .439 batting average, four homeruns, 19 RBI and his 13 stolen bases have given the Mavericks’ lineup a huge boost. Also throw in that Morris was a critical element for William Monroe in its state title run back in 2012 and you’ve got someone that’s been through the playoff gauntlet and come out on top.

With Rich the Mavericks got a combination of things in a great arm to help bolster the staff, but also a formidable catcher. Rich chewed up 22.1 innings to help Gentry and junior Mike Dailey stay fresh. As a catcher, he’s already worked with some of the area’s best pitching talents including his former Western teammates Jack Maynard and Parker Morris (now at St. Anne’s-Belfield). Of the 123.2 innings pitched during the regular season, only 6.2 were by a senior. Now he’s helping to groom this young staff for the future.

In the end, what Miller has is a blossoming program. At 15-10, the Mavericks earned a fourth seed and the right to a home game to open up the Division 2 playoffs with Christchurch. It’s the next step from this team, but only one of many to come in the next few years. It won’t take long for expectations to start to mount at Miller, and that’s a good thing. That’s clearly where Wagner’s vision has the Mavericks pointed. ✖

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Full Count

We’ve gone digital

Two private programs get back where they belong

But you can have it in print too!

By Ryan Yemen It was just three years ago that both the St. Anne’s-Belfield and Covenant baseball programs left Richmond with respective VISAA Division 1 and Division 2 championships. It was a much-awaited pair of coronations for two different teams led almost entirely by seniors. And then the class of 2011 was gone and the hard work began.

At Covenant, first year coach Jeff Burton and his staff have completely overhauled the Eagles into a scrappy opponent, a truly tough out. With just two seniors on the roster, Covenant flourished thanks to a couple of breakout seasons from underclassmen. Five different underclassmen drove in at least 10 runs including freshmen Joel Wright and Will Moore as well as sophomore Matt Shobe who hit .348 during the regular season, the best of any Eagle with at least 50 plate appearances.

Wright was also Covenant’s most reliable arm as he went 5-0 in 11 appearances and three starts. At 14-7 the Eagles took the final Division 2 playoff spot, and will square off against top-seeded Greenbrier Christian For St. Anne’s-Belfield, it’s been about

sticking with what works. Coach Alan Swanson has a fistful of state title rings dating back to 2002. Now after two years, his young team is coming of age again. With a true ace in Parker Morris (6-2), the Saints have been rounding out their staff. Sophomore Bobby Nicholson (3-3) and junior Jeremy Benner (4-1) have added that needed second and third arm. But STAB’s strength is its hitting depth through the lineup. With the addition of freshman Tanner Morris and sophomore Jalen Harrison, the heart of the Saints’ order has helped flesh things out. Those two paired with Jake Allen and Nicholson gives STAB both speed and power from top to bottom. The Saints finished 14-8 to earn the seventh seed and a first round meeting with Paul VI. It’s been a long journey getting back to the playoffs for both, but with so much young talent on these two teams, they’re just making their first playoff push before coming back next season even stronger. That’s exactly how it played out between 2010 and 2011. The difference between 2014 and 2015 could be the same. ✖

BELOW » Jeremy Brenner has helped to give STAB’s pitching rotation some much appreciated depth behind number one pitcher Parker Morris. (Ashey Thornton)

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06

CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN

P H OTO S BY A S H L E Y T H O R N TO N

S TO RY BY B A RT I S L E Y

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peed is an incredible tool in lacrosse, but that’s what it is — a tool. Improperly applied, speed can result in turnovers as players run themselves into trouble or overplay an opposing

player defensively.

Instead, speed has to be manipulated properly, and in the hands of the correct carpenter, it can be used in a variety of ways to hammer out everything from goals and assists to ground balls and defensive stops.

When it comes to the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association tournaments, utilizing speed becomes an even more critical part of the equation as the stakes get higher.

There’s no sure-fire remedy for properly-utilized speed, so it’s at a premium in the postseason, where it can transform how a championship plays out.

Above, Woodberry’s Pat Shea Below, STAB’s Annie Cory

Woodberry Forest’s Pat Shea’s speed has helped him become one of the area’s most formidable two-way midfielders, in part because he’s an expert at gauging it.

“I try and measure myself when I’m running with other people,” Shea said.

“I try and use the yard markers as a good indication of when to step up my speed. I’ve just kind of got it in my mind. If you know you’re faster than a guy than you can speed up and create separation early and then slow down so you can make a better pass.”

Of course, to lean on that approach you’ve got to have pretty impressive top-end speed to draw on in the first place, and Shea, a University of Richmond commit, has exactly that. He’s a transformative player in transition because when he snags a ground ball on the defensive end while battling an opposing player, a couple of strides after he gets it, Shea is going to be way out ahead. That ability puts him in some rare company at Woodberry.

“Him and (current UVa midfielder) Carlson Milikin are probably the two fastest guys I’ve ever coached, high school or college,” said Woodberry coach Brian Hemming. “They definitely have a gear that nobody else has.”

Having a player with Shea’s refined ability is a blessing for the Tigers in practice. Combined with other burners in the midfield like fellow Canadian Todd Fedyck and Nate Ingram (a wideout in football), the Tigers can give their defense a strong look in practice and simulate exactly what an opposing offense is going to try and do since few teams have a player faster than Shea.

“He can fly,” said Woodberry defender Vance Spilman. “Even behind the goal, that’s when he accelerates almost. Playing him every day in practice is a lot of fun.”

His speed also makes him an extreme danger when he gets a chance to dodge from the top. Lacrosse offenses have in recent years re-oriented and further emphasized dodging from the top by midfielders, and containing Shea requires a quick slide by opposing defenders. Even then, things can be too much to handle.

“That really plays into my hands,” Shea said. “There’s a lot of space up at the top and once you get a good step on a guy you can just turn it on and blow past him. Then there’s still plenty of room down the alley to get your hands free and take a shot.”

There’s another option available once your speed has pushed you past that initial defender too, one that Shea employs often and Covenant’s Drew Gaffney, another two-way midfield star for a playoff squad, has effectively mastered. The St. Joseph’s University commit knows exactly how his speed impacts a defense and he uses it to his advantage not by cranking it up but by getting his teammates involved.

“The slide is coming earlier so you’ve got to know where you’re dodging,” Gaffney said. “Dodging downhill up top is the best dodge in the game. You’re not dodging to score, you’re dodging to pull the slide out and bang it back side so someone else can score. It’s the best dodge in the game and it’s a team dodge.”

Once he makes that initial pass and Covenant starts moving the ball around, they can catch opposing defenses over-rotating and hit the backside look for what often becomes an easy goal. When the Eagles, ranked No. 1 in VISAA’s Division II, get that rhythm that often starts with Gaffney going, they’re awfully tough to beat.

“With Drew, he picks his head up which adds another element to it,” said Covenant coach Mike Gardiner. “He’s going to draw that slide and he’s looking

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for where that slide is coming from, he’s got his head up all the time.”

Gaffney didn’t possess his current top end speed early in his high school career when he started on attack at Monticello as a freshman.

But as he grew up, he transformed that by putting some serious time to develop his natural ability, allowing him to move toward his more natural position as a midfielder.

“I just kind of worked at it and it’s really helped my game a lot,” Gaffney said. “Running in between the lines and being able to get ground balls and have that motor really takes you farthest.”

Guys like Gaffney and Shea are a big reason that players like St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Rob Schotta exist. The only way to counteract or attempt to neturalize the increased reliance on speed in the midfield is with some electric speed at LSM. Putting a plodder at long stick midfielder is a surefire way to get carved up in today’s game. Schotta is the counterbalance, a dangerous weapon with the ability to create in transition and recover against fast offensive players when necessary.

“The middies are getting bigger and stronger and faster,” Schotta said. “That aspect of the game has changed a lot and you have to be smarter. I can be more aggressive … so I can get up there and get on their hands and put some pressure on them.”

The ability to take risks and create turnovers without putting STAB’s defense in major peril is crucial for a Saints team that has made their defense in front of first-year starter at goalie Eric Buhle a cornerstone of what they’re doing as a team. As they’ve ascended the state rankings to become the VISAA Division I tournament’s No. 3 seed, it’s been the

“The middles are getting bigger and stronger and faster. That aspect of the game has changed a lot.” defense that’s helped lift the Saints to those heights. It’s been particularly critical as several of the Saints’ fastest offensive players including Derek Kaschak and Lang McNeely, have been hampered by injuries. While twoway midfielder Nevin Mazri has emerged offensively and given the Saints a jolt of speed, STAB isn’t as fast as it has been in recent years offensively, but Schotta’s ability in transition can help ignite fastbreaks and give STAB a quicker pace in spurts.

“He’s kind of that prototypical longstick middie that you’re seeing at the collegiate level as well,” said STAB head coach Bo Perriello.

“Guys are expected to not only be great defenders but pick up ground balls in the open field and quite frankly come down and score. Rob really does help us by getting us in the transition game with his ability to pick up ground balls and run between the lines.”

Schotta proves you can use speed to counteract an offensive player — he guards the opposition’s most dynamic threat game-in and gameout. Gaffney proves you can use speed to create for teammates. Shea

shows that in its purest form it can be an extraordinary weapon in the one-on-one game.

The best way to manipulate speed, however, might be pairing it with a lot more speed. When you’ve got an abundance of speed at different spots, you can rebuild your team’s philosophy and tempo around that electricity. That’s particularly true in a girls game that’s built for speed with defenses limited in what they can do to counteract it. Those rules and a multitude of speedy players have helped transform St. Anne’s-Belfield’s girls lacrosse team into Central Virginia girls lacrosse’s version of the Greatest Show on Turf with huge scoring tallies as the Saints are piling up 17 goals per game against a tough VISAA Division I schedule.

“We have a really fast team and it’s something we’re using to our advantage this year,” said STAB junior midfielder Julia Haney. “Just being able to trust in your teammates and know that they’re getting down the field as quickly as you are and you can hit them with a pass at any moment, that helps. It gets the other team on their toes as well and puts them at a disadvantage.”

With Haney, a junior who’s committed to Princeton, classmate Audrey Schreck who’s committed to Denver and sophomore Annie Cory who’s also committed to Princeton, the Saints have a core trio of burners on a particularly fast roster. All three are adept at taking off in transition and creating fast break opportunities, and their well-honed stick skills allow them to take advantage of that speed with pinpoint passing, as evidenced by the team’s nearly 2-to-1 goal-to-assist ratio. “(Speed) is definitely useful on attack because when you’re making

a cut, getting just one step on your defender is all you need to get the ball, shoot and score,” Cory said.

Cory in particular uses her shiftiness well on the move and can create havoc for opponents in transition. Haney is adept at making devastating stick fakes on the run, leaving defenders behind with a quick fake and a rapid re-acceleration downfield. All three can apply instant pressure, forcing the opposition to account for too many weapons at one time.

That speed also gives the Saints two different gears — they can turn the game into a track meet or slow things down and get into an offensive set. That tempo change and multi-faceted nature makes them particularly difficult to stop.

“When you only have one girl with speed, you can say slow this girl down,” said STAB coach Mary Blake. “But when she can pass it off and the girls next to her can go at the same pace if not faster than it changes the dynamics.”

While Collegiate has continued to be a thorn in the Saints’ side with three losses at the hands of the Cougars, they’ve dispatched most everyone else and ran their regular season record to 19-4.

That’s what speed, whether it’s on offense, defense, in transition or in the seismic impact it has throughout the game, can do for you.

It’s a big reason that Gaffney, Shea and Schotta’s squads are in the playoffs too.

But it’s only as good as the carpenter, and all these players have been putting on a master class in 2014. ✖

VICTORY LAP STORY BY RYAN YEMEN | PHOTOS BY ASHLEY THORNTON

O

n senior night for the St. Anne’s-Belfield girls soccer team, coach Mark O’Donnell walks off the field after his Saints have posted yet another shutout, a 1-0 win over Covenant, another game where an opponent was held without a shot. His seniors take a slew of group photos with banners made for them. There are eight of them in all.

He’s going to miss these seniors. However, they all have one last

week together to put together something memorable.

Before the season began, O’Donnell delivered a message to his players. It wasn’t about finishing on top, an attempt to put some heat on this group of seniors to finish with a state title. They already have their championship, the bulk of them having done so back in 2012 as sophomores. O’Donnell instead urges his players to embrace each other and enjoy the last few months they will spend together before ultimately each going their separate ways and before he has to go back to the drawing board and figure out what he’ll do after this mass exodus of talent. Lauren Gampper, CJ Brown, Kylie Hegemier, Haley Kent, Morgan Woodrow, Megan Wenger, NK Ilang, Maddy Lancaster. It’s an extensive list.

Of course, a lot of things change on a team that’s been together so long.

“So many of us, the seniors, were together when we made the state title run and so I think we’ve just all grown together,” Kent said. “Our team chemistry is actually a lot better now than it was back then.”

And that’s what the story of the Saints is all about. The 2014 season is what happens when you have a cohesive bond rather than just individual talent.

Above, senior Haley Kent

“THE DEFENSE IS SO SOLID I ALMOST NEVER GET TO TOUCH THE BALL.” — GAMPPER

That’s an important change that’s allowed O’Donnell to shift his philosophy for this team as they’ve gotten older. Where once this was an opportunistic group that tried to create its chances by playing perfect position and waiting for the exact moment to pounce, the plan now is dominate the time of possession, to always have the ball.

It takes a lot to go from one style to the other, but the results have been worth the effort.

“I think we’re just a lot more disciplined on the field,” Kent said. “We play a more possession-orientated style of soccer instead of the counter-attacking game we played before. That’s something that’s come with maturity, being able to work with each other.”

What it’s done is turn St. Anne’s into a team that’s nearly impossible to score on. Between March 21st and May 6th, the Saints went 9-0-2 and surrendered just one goal — a 1-1 tie with the state’s top ranked team, St. Catherine’s. During that run, STAB outscored it’s opponents 43-1. Perhaps no stat tells a better story of what kind of defensive dominance the Saints have turned in that this — goalkeeper Lauren Gampper has more shutouts than she does saves and she’s an elite keeper.

The Saints have 10 shutouts on the year.

“The defense is so solid that I almost never get to touch the ball,” Gampper said. “In some ways that’s good, in some ways it’s bad (as a keeper). So for me it’s all about staying focused, staying engaged for when that one chance happens.”

Gampper’s defenders don’t want her to touch the ball unless it’s in practice, in which case she gets peppered with shots from the quality forwards this team has. Keeping the keeper bored, that’s the defense’s source of pride. In a sport like soccer where the goal scorers get the glory (at least from a fan stand point) defensive units often develop a subset within the team’s chemistry. Defenders get excited about the really little details that can lead to or set up a possible goal. When defenders communicate and work well as a whole, it adds that extra dimension.

“When you’re playing for each other and not just to win it helps a lot,” said Wenger, who will play at Randolph Macon this fall. “I’m really close with my whole back line.

I just think we’re really strong and won’t let anything past us. At the beginning of each game we say ‘I’m going to work hard to make you look good’ and we keep that promise.”

It’s an element that gets overlooked in high school soccer. When athletes hit the club circuit they’re playing with people from all over, different schools, different towns. It’s not their everyday classmates. Winning and losing on the high school level has a more intimate nature to it. It’s more personal where winning feels a little better, and losing hurts a little more.

SUPPORTING THE FUTURE SPORTS STARS OF TOMORROW Best of luck to our 2013 student athletes as they embark on their college careers.

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Above, senior Kyle Hegemier

When it comes to that winning, obviously STAB’s defensive prowess has reaped rewards for its offense. On the scoring end of the coin, the Saints continue to thrive on the feet of Kent and Hegemeir.

The two are both headed to play soccer at the Division 1 level in college, Kent at William and Mary, Hegemeir at James Madison. They’re both lightning quick and they’re both exceptional passers. They were the building blocks this team started with three years ago. They remain the foundation, but they’ve found some extra help to do some of the heavy lifting.

To defend against STAB this year for a lot of opponents meant packing it all in and basically giving up on the offensive end. Some teams realized that the only thing you could hope for was to win a 1-0 game and hope your defense and goalkeeper plays out of their mind.

Other teams tried to matchup and were quickly exposed.

“Teams try and man-mark one person and that doesn’t help them because someone else is going to get the ball and do just as well,” Brown said. “We’re not reliant on one person.”

And it’s shown. It’s easy to try and circle Kent and Hegemier as the biggest threats this team has, but then a player like TaylorAnne Berry or Maddi Mazzola comes along and makes you pay. That’s where the

depth becomes truly daunting for the opposition. Berry and Mazzola are juniors, but honorary seniors in that they both contributed as freshmen on the state championship team in 2012. Berry currently leads the Saints in scoring heading into the playoffs with eight goals and seven assists. Mazzola has six goals and six assists this year.

“MY EXPERIENCE IS THAT GOOD TEAMS WIN 1-0 GAMES.” — O’ DONNEL

Above, junior TaylorAnne Berry

There are simply so many options for the Saints to chose from.

“Every game is a puzzle to be solved,” O’Donnell said.

With the playoffs underway, things are tightening up. While it put the first blemish on their record, the Saints 1-0 loss in the LIS Championship to St. Catherine’s should help in the grand scheme of things. It’s a reset button, but also a reminder of how close the games are going to be from here on out even for a group as good as this.

“I told them that my experience is that good teams win 1-0 games,” O’Donnell said. “The first goal is the most important goal.”

The next loss this team takes would only be its second, but it would also be the last for this season and this senior class.

There are potentially three games left to play and each one is going to be harder than the next. To win it all, the Saints likely have to beat a Cape Henry team that ended their playoff run in 2013, and then likely either St. Catherine’s or Norfolk Academy. Of those latter two, both are teams they’ve seen before and played with closely. The bottom line is that starting Tuesday May 13, STAB’s demeanor on the field will be even more intense, and despite the numerous blowouts they played in, this wasn’t a team just jogging around on the field. This team has been all business since play began in March.

The Saints have been in three 1-0 games so far. They’re 2-1 in them right now. One of those wins was against Trinity Episcopal, it’s first round opponent in the VISAA Division 1 tournament. One of their ties (1-1) was against St. Catherine’s, the top seed in the tourney. So while they’ve got their work cut out for them, the regular season should have prepared them well for the swan song this senior group would like to put together. Yet given the strides this group has made over the years, the chemisty it’s developed to revamp its style, the total success for this team is all going to come back to the relationships these athletes have with one another.

“This is just the best team I’ve ever been on,” Lancaster said.

“These are just the greatest people and I’m going to miss them so much.”

So, as he was hoping for, O’Donnell’s message at the beginning of the year was cleary heeded.

The seniors on this team will feel just like their coach when it all comes to an end. However, there’s still one week left and an opportunity for one last chapter and it starts with Trinity Episcopal.

It’s familiar territory for this veteran group that's already been through a lot. ✖

Game Time The Dogwood Track Classic

By Bart Isley

Louisa’s Raeshawn Bishop had three top-10 performances at the DTC meet. (Ashley Thornton)

19 :: scrimmageplay

The Dogwood Track Classic is 50 years old now, and one of the area’s premier track events kept chugging with an exciting 50th edition as several locals put together monster days.

Fork Union’s Peter Lomong legs out the final stretch of his victory in the 800-meter race Saturday at the Dogwood Classic.

On the boys’ side, Fork Union and Woodberry Forest played out their age-old rivalry in an impromptu battle Saturday as the Blue Devils took second overall behind E.C. Glass while the Tigers grabbed third place.

Peter Lomong’s win in the 800 with a time of 1:56.19 gave FUMA some huge points, but it was depth, not event winners that sparked the Blue Devils to the runner-up finish. The squad’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams took second and third place while Alex Lomong grabbed third in the 1600. O’Neill Combs took fifth in the 100 for FUMA while Drake Davis and Dante Price took third and seventh respectively in the 200. Micah Keels finished sixth in the 400 and Marc Uptegraff took sixth in the discus and fourth In the shotput while Conrad Shewalther took third in the pole vault. Davis also took fifth in the long jump.

Woodberry’s third-place finish got a big boost from Michael Davenport’s double championship outing in the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Josh Hillary gave Woodberry a boost with a runner-up finish in the 110-hurdles and a third place in the high jump.

Andrew Shofner took third in the discus while Christian Asher took second in the 100.

Brady Logan took third in the discus while Shofner grabbed fifth. Jack Claiborne pulled off a fourth place in the 300 hurdles.

Raeshawn Bishop had a strong day for Louisa County with a title in the long jump on a leap of 22-11.25, a fifth place in the triple and a

eighth place outing in the 300 hurdles. He went toe-to-toe with Monticello’s T.J. Tillery much of the day as Tillery took fifth in the 300 hurdles and third in the triple jump. Marcus Jackson snagged sixth for the Lions in the 300 hurdles.

Caleb Rider of Western Albemarle won the pole vault while Gannon Willcutts took second in the 3200-meter race as the Warriors finished a respectable sixth place as a tam. The Warriors’ 4x800 squad took third while Louisa’s took eighth. Andrew de Jong took sixth in the 800-meter and Blake Tolan snagged fifth in the vault.

For Albemarle High, Kevin McCarthy’s fifth place in the 200 gave the Patriots a spark while Arun Turay took third in the 400.

Ryan Thomas took sixth in the 1600. Noah Smith took fifth in the 800 as well.

On the girls side, Charlottesville’s Taylor Watkins didn’t win any championships but she piled up points against a tough field, taking third in the 200 and second in the 400.

Group 5A Patrick Henry-Ashland’s Tiffany Harris won both events.

Western’s Annie Taylor held her own in a loaded middle distance group with a third in the 1600 and a runner-up finish in the 800.

Teammate Averi Witt took fourth in the 1600 while Western’s Katrina Barredo took fifth in the 100 hurdles and second in the pole vault.

Fluvanna’s Hannah Meador won the vault for the Flucos. Brandy Brown of Louisa snagged fourth in the 100-meter dash and eighth in the triple jump.

Western’s Lydia Gardner won the high jump for the Warriors while Albemarle’s Kathryn Mayo took ninth in the 1600. Jannie Kamara finished sixth for Albemarle in the discus.

Monticello’s 4x800 relay squad took third while Louisa’s 4x100 team took fourth place in that race. ✖

ACADEMIC EDGE SPONSORED

BY

HARGRAVE

MILITARY ACADEMY

ALBEMARLE’S SAM CALHOUN

Sam Calhoun has a laundry list of clubs he’s involved in, which is impressive in and of itself considering his course of academic study is in Albemarle High’s challenging MESA program, which focuses on engineering, science and math in an academy environment. He’s involved with the PALs club (Patriot Athletic Leaders), FCA as well as the National and Math Honor Societies. He’s even the co-founder of the school’s official Lumberjack Club, which meets monthly for pancake breakfasts.

But that’s far from where it ends. He played two years of football early in his time at AHS and is now in his fourth year of lacrosse where he’s a key piece of the puzzle for the Jefferson District’s first place squad as a close defender. He even threw in a year of cross country back in the fall for good measure.

Calhoun has posted a 4.69 GPA in the MESA program and plans to attend Grove City College in Pennsylvania and major in mechanical engineering while playing club lacrosse for the Wolverines.

ABOUT HARGRAVE MILITARY ACADEMY Hargrave believes individual achievement is a gamechanger for all students, both on and off the field.

With a college acceptance rate over 99% and a heavy emphasis on academics, your son will have competitive advantages ahead of his peers including leadership and character development.

The Academic Edge is selected by Scrimmage Play’s staff with the consultation of coaches and athletic directors. To nominate an athlete email info@scrimmageplay.com

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TEAM SPOTLIGHT WESTERN ALBEMARLE GIRLS LACROSSE Western Albemarle’s girls lacrosse team participated as a program in the 2014 Run for Autisim 5K that benefits the Virginia Institute for Autism. The Warriors won the coveted Golden Stick Award for the highest participation by a local lacrosse team in the 5K. Congratulations to the Warriors and great job supporting a worthy cause!

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Overtime

Instant info

Getting your sports infortmation a la carte

L

ast weekend I followed the NFL draft entirely on Twitter. I never watched ESPN or NFL Network’s coverage. That’s not to say I’m not invested in the draft. I read nearly everything I could about it, particularly anything that has any inkling of who Green Bay could potentially take.

That’s also not to say I’ve evolved beyond the need to watch an event like the draft or I’m not as passionate about the teams I’m a fan of now that I’m older…that’s just not true.

I ran out of a restaurant in Roanoke, Va. right after the Packers beat Chicago to clinch a playoff spot, cheering and chanting like no 30-year old really should while loudly mocking the bartender, a good-natured Bears fan.

Needless to say, my wife was really proud she’d joined me for the second half.

The Twitter conversion was really just about how much information has changed. I don’t need all the analysis from Mel Kiper and Jon Gruden, I just like to know what’s happening and Twitter just hits that out of the park. I didn’t even follow guys like Chris Mortenson or Adam Schefter who were trying to beat the pick to the podium. I just kept up via some basic information feeds and some of the writers that I like following.

It’s still kind of stunning to me that I could keep up with it that way, since during high school and college a group of buddies and I would settle in and watch the entire first day of the draft. Parking yourself in front of the television and ordering Chinese food was the best and most efficient way to stay on top of the draft. Now, Twitter is a pretty excellent substitute.

National sports coverage’s transformation in my lifetime is insane and I’m not that old (seriously, I’m not that old). I remember when the majority of my knowledge about the sports world came from a short stretch at 25 minutes and 55 minutes past the hour.

That’s when the tagline “DU-wane Walker…Heeeeadline Sports” punctuated five minute highlight reels of nearly every single professional and major college sporting event at the close of each cycle of CNN’s Headline News. My dad was big on watching the news, so I had to wait for the sports segment to pop up. If I missed it while getting my lunch together or going to the bathroom, tough. I’d go to school not really having a clue what happened because nobody had 30 minutes to just wait around for the next segment to roll around.

Just like now, the idea of watching an entire Sportscenter in the morning while you’re trying to get ready for school was laughable. That’s why Duane Walker was my go-to go guy. But not on Mondays.

We didn’t have the Sportscenter Top 10 then. We had Plays of the Week on Mondays.

That was an awfully long time to wait for a full-tilt highlight package and they were highly scripted by the anchors back then, with puns and everything including an intro with a strange graphic with a blimp flying overhead. Look at a screenshot of that graphic up at the top of this page, tell me that doesn’t look insanely ancient. Those segments were always great, but I think my friends and I would have done anything to keep up with sports at the speed we’re able to now.

Take advantage of that customization by reading the best stuff you can find. Follow writers of your favorite teams and figure out who can help you learn about that squad.

You don’t have to take what a media conglomerate feeds you now, you can discover and

22 :: @scrimmageplay

“You don’t have to take what a media conglomerate feeds you now.”

tailor information to what you want to see.

But be careful, because that’s a pitfall itself. If you just read and learn about things through sources you agree with, you won’t challenge yourself. Whether it’s sports or news, you should be seeking out a diverse group of opinions.

We’ve got options now, we can control what we want to see and learn about. That’s powerful. I can assure you, waiting for the 25th minute of the hour or for Monday to roll around was painful. It’s all we knew, but it wasn’t easy. ✖

Bart Isley,

C RE ATIVE DIRECTOR

back talk »

How do you track your sports or your news? Contact Bart at: bart@scrimmageplay.com

Success stories begin here.

Success Story: Morgan Moses Morgan Moses was a two-time AllState standout at Meadowbrook High in Chesterfield. He wanted to play for the University of Virginia and he had the talent to do so. To connect the dots, he reached out to Fork Union.

In 2009 Moses (photo via UVa Sports Information) enrolled at Fork Union where he was able to help better prepare himself for not just the challenges of being a collegiate student, but the even larger task of being a student athlete at a premiere academic institution. With strides in the classroom and more on the gridiron while playing for John Shuman’s celebrated postgraduate team, Moses became one of the most sought after talents in the country as he earned a four-star rivals rating and clocked in at number 49 overall on their list. In the end, he got the deal he wanted as he signed a NLI to play for Virginia.

In 2010 Moses appeared in 11 of 12 games to earn the first of his four letters during his collegiate career. When he started at tackle at UNC, he became just the seventh true freshmen in the country to start at either tackle spot.

The following two seasons Moses continued as a fixture up front for UVa. In his final year for the Cavaliers, Moses moved to left tackle and logged 12 starts. He was instrumental in giving the Cavaliers their first 1,000 yard runner since 2004.

With his performance in practice at the Senior Bowl, Moses was picked off the board at the 2014 NFL Draft, selected 66th overall by the Washington Redskins in the third round. From Chesterfield to Fork Union to Charlottesville to Washington D.C. There aren’t a lot of miles between those four, but the journey’s taken Morgan Moses an awfully long way.

Fork Union Military Academy is the leading Christian military boarding school for boys in grades 6 - 12 and PG. www.forkunion.com — 1-800-GO-2-FUMA