By Ben Brooks - sports@nvdaily.com BERRYVILLE -- The only thing, it seems, that can slow Clarke County's Andrea Gaither these days is a surgeon's scalpel. The 16-year-old sprinter, who helped lead the Eagles to a second straight girls Group A state track championship last month,...
Winning a state title in any sport is hard enough; so to repeat as state champions, even for a Clarke County track and field team that brings 22 male and female athletes to Saturday's Group A state meet at Radford University, is a rare feat in its own right.
BERRYVILLE -- It took the Clarke County Eagles approximately 49 hours, but they finally got the job done in beating the Riverheads Gladiators 7-0 on Wednesday.
STRASBURG -- Strasburg's Region B baseball quarterfinal against Riverheads on Monday night was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up tonight at 7 p.m. The winner will advance Wednesday's semifinal. The two teams took batting practice before a steady rain set in....
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Tears welled up in Cassie Frye's eyes. The Strasburg senior was in the middle of the discus event at the Region B meet on Friday when a comment from a coach made her realize this was her last regional meet.
BERRYVILLE -- One day after teammate Rachel Buckner's stellar pitching performance in the Bull Run District semifinals, Clarke County's Jordan Wolford had the dubious task of trying to match the outing and win a league championship.
STRASBURG -- Knowing that Clarke County was coming in playing its best baseball of the season, Strasburg wanted to put Wednesday night's Bull Run District semifinals matchup to bed early with a strong showing.
BERRYVILLE -- Pitching and defense will win games more often than not, and Clarke County had both going Wednesday at Charles O. Grubbs Field. The Eagles soared on the strong arm of Rachel Buckner and a couple of stellar defensive plays to down the visiting Manassas Park Cougars 6-1 in the Bull Run District tournament semifinals. The Eagles will host Madison County in today's final.
WINCHESTER -- There's an old sports adage about the difficulty in beating one opponent three times in one season. That couldn't have been more true for Clarke County on Monday night in the Bull Run District quarterfinals at Singhas Field in Berryville.
FALLS CHURCH -- The third-seeded Madison County Mountaineers faced the second-seeded Clarke County Eagles in the semifinals of Bull Run District girls soccer tournament at George Mason High School on Monday.
WASHINGTON -- With a regular season Bull Run district championship, a No. 1 district seeding, and an automatic regional birth on the line, Susan Grubbs and the Clarke County softball team found themselves tied with Madison County going into the seventh inning.
QUICKSBURG -- The Generals may have lost, but they went down fighting. In its home finale, Stonewall Jackson fell, 8-4, to Shenandoah District foe Buffalo Gap on Wednesday. But even with the loss, head coach Michael Hunt was gushing about the performance of his seven seniors.
Daily Staff Reports SHENANDOAH -- Stonewall Jackson's boys soccer team took care of business against its main competition, Wilson Memorial, and polished off the rest of the Shenandoah District in convincing fashion to claim the league title for the first time since 2006. That title,...
WOODSTOCK -- Depite his team being down by two goals at the half, Central coach Duff Rice said that he was relatively pleased with the way the lady Falcons played in the second half, when they held the Skyline Hawks scoreless for 35 minutes.
WINCHESTER -- It was the last chance for several area tracksters to qualify for their district, region, and state meets Friday at Millbrook High School, and athletes from several area schools came through with photo finishes.
Daily Staff Reports SWOOPE -- Patrick Bain put himself in the Stonewall Jackson record books on Friday night. Bain had four assists in the Generals' 8-0 Shenandoah District win over Buffalo Gap to break the school mark for assists in a season. Bain now has...
Traditionally, Clarke County and George Mason girls soccer games have huge implications, not just in the race for the Bull Run District crown, but also the state championship.
WOODSTOCK -- Ashley Ebersole found the perfect way to cap off her senior night on Thursday. The senior belted a two-run homer, her seventh of the season, in the bottom of the eighth to give the Falcons an 8-6 win over James Wood in Northwestern District action.
STRASBURG -- It did not take until the bottom of the seventh inning this time for Clarke County's softball team to scratch across the winning run against Strasburg.
WINCHESTER -- The host Colonels haven't won the Apple Blossom Invitational in so long that not one James Wood coach could remember how many years it's been.
WINCHESTER -- There's a little extra excitement in the air for James Wood's boys track team as it gets ready to host today's 41st annual H. Brian Landes Apple Blossom Invitational.
Chandler Rhoads is coming home ... sort of. Just 11 months after committing to play basketball at Air Force, the former Clarke County hoops star has signed a letter-of-intent with the University of New Hampshire. Rhoads said his comfort with UNH's coaches, particularly head coach Bill Herrion, and a desire to be back in the East so his family could watch him play were the mitigating factors in making the move.
BERRYVILLE -- A pitchers' duel was brewing between Clarke County ace Jordan Wolford and Warren County's Nicole King on Wednesday as fans watched from the edge of their seats.
Daily Staff Reports Softball Handley 12, Millbrook 3 WINCHESTER -- Handley played a near-flawless game against Millbrook, scoring in all but two innings and exuding patience at the plate. "We were happy about the win," Handley coach Tim Mondell said. "Millbrook's a young team so...
STRASBURG -- The Rams overcame a 3-0 deficit after the top half of the first inning to rout the visiting Madison County Mountaineers, 13-3, in a five-inning Bull Run district baseball game on Friday.
WINCHESTER -- James Wood took advantage of two Handley errors and came up with some timely doubles to pull out a 3-1 Northwestern District baseball victory over the Judges on Thursday.
BERRYVILLE -- It was as subtle an entrance as it could have been. With no announcer to bellow his name over the Clarke County P.A. system, and with designated hitter Mitchell Wilson hitting in his place, Rams outfielder Will Orndorff made his presence known only when he quietly marched out to his spot in left field and turned to face the Eagles batters.
FRONT ROYAL -- Central picked up its first win of the season rallying for a 2-1 Northwestern District win over Skyline on Tuesday night in girls soccer action.
LURAY -- Sam Herndon went 3-for-4 with six RBIs, inlcuding a two-run homer to lead Clarke County to an 18-2 nondistrict softball win over Luray on Tuesday.
BERRYVILLE -- Stonewall Jackson stretched the sixth inning out so long on Friday night at Clarke County that, after they shut down the Eagles down in the bottom half of the inning, the game was halted because of darkness.
BERRYVILLE -- Clarke County's Brianna Smith was in a hurry to get the game over with. Smith hustled around the bases with seven steals, swiping home twice as the Eagles pounded Stonewall Jackson, 15-0, in a five-inning game.
BERRYVILLE -- On paper, everything was in Stonewall's favor. The Generals were undefeated through two games, while the Clarke County Eagles had yet to win a boys soccer match this season. Stonewall had the upperhand in the always competitive rivalry, sweeping their Group A counterparts last season.
WOODSTOCK -- The spring of 2007 was a special time for the Central softball team. Following a winless campaign in 2006, Jill Yew's first season as the Falcons' head coach, pitcher Brea Hinegardner and catcher Ashley Ebersole were reunited at Central, after playing years together in various leagues, and paraded the Falcons to nine wins in 2007 and 11 in 2008.
QUICKSBURG -- Stonewall Jackson coach Nate Hissong stands in the middle of a barren field, his soccer team scrambling in every direction around him and dribbling soccer balls as they go.
WINCHESTER -- Often meaningless before a pitch has been thrown, the early-season expectations for James Wood -- as they were last Tuesday -- haven't always been so high.
GOOCHLAND -- With leads that numbered four points to 14 in the fourth quarter and the clock dwindling, Goochland head coach Oliver Courtney instigated Clarke County out of its preferred zone defense and into a man-to-man set.
BERRYVILLE -- There was a running joke at Clarke County High School in early January that the school's basketball team would finish with less wins than the football team.
FRONT ROYAL -- Until he was in seventh grade, Rueben Shanks' athletic focus was baseball. That's when he found that throwing shot put and discus came easy to him.
MADISON - The Bull Run District tournament final featured the expected, and the unexpected, Friday night. The expected being the undefeated, and state's top ranked Group A team, Madison County Mountaineers, playing for the trophy. The unexpected being their opponent, the third seed Clarke County Eagles, who beat the second seed George Mason Mustangs in overtime Wednesday.
MADISON -- Zach Shiley scored 21 points and twin brother Sam Shiley added 19 as third-seeded Clarke County upended second-seeded George Mason, 71-69, in overtime of the Bull Run District boys basketball tournament semifinals on Wednesday. The Eagles squandered a chance to clinch the game...
FALLS CHURCH -- Its season seemingly on the line with every possession, Clarke County's girls basketball team had a victory against rival George Mason within reach.
CUMBERLAND -- About the same moment the time keeper ventured over to inform the referee of the third period's waning seconds, Strasburg 130-pound wrestler Jay Silvas noticed the clock: it read 10 seconds.
MANASSAS PARK -- On Saturday, Colin Barnes, alongside his jubilant Strasburg teammates, approached head coach Rick Bowley, who had a moment of respite in the stands following the Bull Run District tournament's trophy presentation.
BERRYVILLE -- Try as it may, Clarke County simply couldn't mar George Mason's unblemished Bull Run District record, as the Eagles fell 67-59 to the visiting Mustangs on Thursday night.
BERRYVILLE -- Clarke County heeded the message to play physical with and box out Madison County's Logan Terrell and David Falk a quarter too late in its 54-49 loss at home on Wednesday.
FRONT ROYAL -- Handley head coach Marvin Scott said it's too late in the season to be turning the ball over as much as the Judges did against Skyline on Friday. However, he added that this late in the season, he'll also take a win.
FRONT ROYAL -- The Clarke County Eagles had only nine players suited up when they visited the Skyline Hawks for a non-district basketball game Saturday night.
STRASBURG--Colin Barnes rose to his knees, kissed his index finger, and pointed to the gymnasium rafters at Strasburg High School; a makeshift cast wrapped his sprained right wrist.
BERRYVILLE -- Must-win talk was fodder for victory for Clarke County before Thursday's game against Strasburg. Now the team can savor a feeling that's mostly been missing this season.
Clarke County, which hadn't lost a Bull Run home game in four seasons, was routed by George Mason, 68-48, giving its long-dominated district opponents hope for a chance at redemption the rest of this season.
STRASBURG — The Strasburg Rams were punched in the mouth by the Clarke County Eagles. And the strawberries on Jaclyn Ayers’ knees, the result of diving for loose balls and getting pushed to the floor in the paint, were evidence that the Rams had to fight for every one of their scoring opportunities in their 50-42 win over the Eagles.
Clarke County's Sam Shiley and Cord Keating came up with many big plays throughout the season to lead the Eagles back into the playoffs . On Sunday, they received some recognition for their accomplishments by making the All-Group A football team of The Associated Press, chosen by a panel of sports writers. Shiley made second-team as a running back, while Keating made second team as a linebacker.
QUICKSBURG -- The Clarke County Eagles were down by 18 points at halftime and appeared to be giving an early Christmas present to the Stonewall Jackson Generals in non-district girls basketball on Friday night.
WINCHESTER -- Handley's boys basketball players don't feel like they've played any home games this season. Because of renovations at Handley, the team has had to play its home games at Daniel Morgan Middle School. On Saturday night, the Judges showed they're the same dominant team no matter where they play.
WINCHESTER -- Erin Drumheller understands how bright Handley's future could be, and that's why the sophomore point guard has learned to be patient with her young teammates this season.
FRONT ROYAL -- It took Clarke County roughly a quarter of turnover-prone and sloppy basketball to get going. But once the visiting Eagles did get rolling, there was no looking back.
STEPHENS CITY -- Clarke County coach Brent Emmart leaned against a wall just outside of the Sherando gymnasium and emitted a deep sigh, a sign of his frustration with the numbers 29 and 23 -- Sherando's offensive rebounds and his team's turnovers in the Eagles' 48-44 loss on Wednesday.
