WINCHESTER -- Kim Riordan knows all about many of the volleyball teams in the area. The 1998 Sherando graduate understands all the local rivalries and now this season she gets to be a part of them as a coach.
HARRISONBURG -- Millbrook's Schavon Springer ran a different preliminary than Pulaski's Amber Church and Harrisonburg's Mandy Kaufmann on Friday night in the trials of the 100-meter hurdles.
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.
MINERAL -- Ashley Rasmussen and Tootie Jackson, who compete in the discus and shot put for the Skyline girls track and field team, are like most close teammates.
WINCHESTER -- Being one of the top scorers in the area, Sherando forward Matt Brady tends to draw a lot of attention from defenses. On Tuesday night he used that to his advantage.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando senior Nick Merchant told coach Pepper Martin on Thursday that he wanted to pitch in the Warriors' Northwestern District tournament quarterfinal against Handley. Martin decided to let Merchant start the game and put him on a pitch cout. Merchant didn't disappoint as hed led the Warriors to a 6-2 win over the Judges in baseball action on Friday.
WINCHESTER -- Handley's Brittany Myers was a bit tired after winning her second distance race in as many days. Still, the freshman had enough left in her legs to give the Judges' 4x400 relay team a win in Thursday's final event of the Northwestern District Track and Field Championships.
WINCHESTER -- Two years ago, Millbrook's soccer program was struggling. The Pioneers won only two regular season games, and they were just two years removed from a disastrous season in which the coaching staff quit and at one point the team was being coached by an injured player.
WINCHESTER -- With things not going well and his team mired in the bottom half of the Northwestern District, Millbrook baseball coach Mike Smith made the decision to move up several junior varsity players in an attempt to find better chemistry.
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...
WINCHESTER -- Handley boys soccer coach Cosmo Balio said that last night's match against Millbrook was, at the time, the Judges' most important game of the season.
WINCHESTER -- On the third consecutive day of nearly continuous rain, heavy at times, the artificial surface and excellent landscaping of Shentel Stadium at Shenandoah University provided the only usable venue in the area for outdoor prep sports Monday afternoon.
FRONT ROYAL -- Millbrook and Warren County were already locked into the Northwestern District's play-in game, which will take place once the regular season ends.
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.
NOKESVILLE -- Central hung tough with Brentsville this time around. The Falcons got a solid outing from pitcher Brea Hinegardner and another homer from Ashley Ebersole, but still fell to the Tigers, 4-1, on Tuesday in Northwestern District softball action. The two teams met last week and the Tigers came away with a 14-3 win.
QUANTICO -- Casey Williams had two solid games to lead Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy to a split of a nonconference doubleheader with Quantico on Monday night in baseball action. The Patriots won the first game, 6-0, but lost the second game, 4-1. Williams went 2-for-3...
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.
WOODSTOCK -- Central started off slowly, but led by Ashley Ebersole's fifth homer of the season the Falcons got back on track for a 6-2 Northwestern District softball win over Millbrook on Friday.
Daily Staff Reports QUICKSBURG -- For one inning, it all came together for the Stonewall Jackson baseball team. On a night when the Generals struck out 13 times, the fourth inning saw the home team make solid contact batter after batter as the 10-run frame...
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...
WINCHESTER -- Thanks to Hunter Leight's stellar pitching performance and his offense's red-hot bats, James Wood made easy work of defeating Millbrook 10-1 on Monday night.
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.
WINCHESTER -- Before every race Brad Beauregard looks up to the sky and prays. The Millbrook senior asks for his father, John, who died when Beauregard was 7, to help him out.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh and then scored the winning run in the eighth as the Warriors defeated Millbrook, 4-3, in Northwestern District baseball action on Wednesday.
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.
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Derrick Borlie won the National High School Coaches Association senior national title at 189 pounds on Sunday. The Millbrook senior beat a state champion from Nebraska in the final, pinning him in 2:52 for his first national title. "This was huge for...
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.
Daily Staff Reports Baseball Millbrook 10, Warren County 5 WINCHESTER -- Quinn Courtney went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Pioneers past the Wildcats in Northwestern District action. Michael Dillow went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs for the...
WINCHESTER -- Following Millbrook's win over Central on Tuesday night, there was a resounding notion amongst the Pioneers that anything can happen in baseball.
WINCHESTER -- Michelle Long wasted no time getting to the point. "Right now, I have a team that's playing with very little heart, very little desire and very little urgency," Millbrook's softball coach said Tuesday. "I'm trying to get through their heads how much better they can be if they decide they want to do that. This season's been a lot about personal responsibility, and it's not being taken."
WINCHESTER -- Chris Haines has enjoyed a lot of success as Millbrook wrestling coach, but after five years he's decided it's time to head back home to Pennsylvania.
WINCHESTER -- James Wood overcame sloppy play in the field and scored seven runs in the fifth to pull away with a 14-4 win over Millbrook on Friday in Northwestern District baseball action. The game was called after five innings due to the mercy rule.
STEPHENS CITY -- Sherando's boys tennis squad hopes to pick up where it left off last season. The Warriors lost a couple of their top six players to graduation, but with two talented newcomers added to the team, they have good reason to be confident this year.
FRONT ROYAL -- In the early evening, with the temperature retreating from a high of 40 degrees, and the humidity 70 percent and climbing, "raw" would be an apt description of the weather as the Skyline Hawks hosted the Millbrook Pioneers for their home opener.
WOODSTOCK -- Eventually one team was going to break through in Central's 2-1 victory over Warren County in Northwestern District softball action on Friday night.
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.
WINCHESTER --Millbrook coach Michelle Long has seen enough of Nicole Musser during her high school career. Musser has always had success on the pitching circle against the Pioneers and Wednesday was no different.
WINCHESTER -- Handley used timely hitting to knock off defending Northwestern District champion Brentsville, 6-4, on Wednesday in softball action. The win snapped Brentsville's 17-game winning streak in the district.
RICHMOND -- Freedom coach Jason Eldredge ran onto the court during a timeout in the fourth quarter, looked at his school's cheering section and pumped his fist.
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.
WINCHESTER -- Millbrook has taken the approach of one game at a time all season, and now the Pioneers are one game away from playing for a state championship.
RICHMOND -- The Millbrook girls basketball team is "living the dream." Following the Pioneers' 45-40 victory over Greensville County in the Group AA, Division 3 State quarterfinal game at the Siegel Center on Saturday, Millbrook coach Debbie Sanders spoke for her entire team when she was, essentially, at a loss for words.
ORANGE -- For a full quarter, the Millbrook girls basketball team was impervious to Freedom's size, athleticism and the echoing roar of the surrounding crowd and pep band.
SALEM -- The image of Jake Crawford leaping into the outstretched arms of Millbrook coach Chris Haines spoke more to the jubilation of the moment than words ever could.
WINCHESTER -- As the Handley players finished their team meeting after the game, Vance Washington commented to his teammates that he didn't want to take off his jersey.
WINCHESTER -- Skyline tried to slow the game down against Millbrook on Thursday night. The plan worked for most of the first half, but the Pioneers were able to get their fast-paced offense going before intermission and carried it over into the final 16 minutes.
FRONT ROYAL -- The third-seeded Millbrook Pioneers met the second-seeded Skyline Hawks Wednesday night in a Northwestern District tournament semifinal contest. The Hawks had won both of the regular season matchups.
WINCHESTER -- With Millbrook center Lacey Harris sitting out with foul trouble, Courtni Green realized somebody needed to step up. The freshman delivered by taking control of the paint in the third quarter.
WINCHESTER -- It didn't matter to Dustin Pierce that his ankle was wrapped in powder blue athletic tape, or that the bruise on his right foot stretched up to his lower shin. In celebrating Millbrook's 62-51 Northwestern District tournament win over James Wood on Friday night, Pierce leapt high enough to reach the outstretched hands of the screaming Millbrook fans who hung over the guardrails of the bleachers.
STERLING -- James Wood is holding onto a slim lead over county-rival Millbrook after the first day of the Region II wrestling meet. The Colonels have 70 points, while Millbrook is in second with 68.5 points and Sherando is in third with 61 points. The tournament concludes today at Park View High School. The top four in each weight class advance to next week's state tournament in Salem.
WINCHESTER -- If players and coaches agreed on anything, it was that the Millbrook Pioneers played two very different halves of basketball Thursday night.
Both Sullivan Parkes and Mara Smith will get the opportunity to fulfill their dreams next season -- and they'll be able to do it competing against each other.
STEPHENS CITY -- Millbrook wrestler Derrick Borlie remembers the last time the Northwestern District tournament was held at Sherando High School: He was "embarrassed" and pinned in the championship bout by A.J. Bakos.
If local coaches have agreed on anything concerning today's Northwestern District wrestling tournament, to be held at Sherando High School, it's that the clash of talent will make for an intriguing and unpredictable event.
WINCHESTER -- Andrew Oates heard the Handley crowd. After the Millbrook point guard and quarterback missed on a long pass to Dustin Pierce in the first half, Handley fans chanted "Just like football." Oates didn't miss when he got a shot at redemption late in Millbrook's 63-59 overtime victory Tuesday night.
FRONT ROYAL -- It was Brandon Seal's finest moment of the day. Seal, a sophomore at Millbrook, was trailing Matt Murphy by four points in the Pioneers' 152-pound bout against Freedom (Loudoun) at the Wildcat Scramble Duals held at Warren County High School on Saturday.
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.
WOODSTOCK -- It's not that Andrew Oates was unusually jazzed for the second half; he just happened to be the first player to exit the locker room after halftime for visiting Millbrook on Thursday.
WINCHESTER -- Millbrook guard Andrew Oates and James Wood forward Matt Johnson are good friends off the basketball court. Occasionally, the two even go to the beach together.
FRONT ROYAL -- It took the Skyline Hawks nearly a quarter to re-adjust to playing basketball. Head coach Andrew Lacey had given his team "three-to-four" days off from practice -- measures for flu-like conditions that had plagued his team. Once they found their rhythm on...
WINCHESTER -- Erin Drumheller sank four free throws over the final minute and 30 seconds Friday to lead Handley to a 48-43 girls basketball victory over Central. Drumheller led the Judges with 18 points and helped seal victory for the formerly beleaguered club, which had...
WINCHESTER -- Seth Fauver just had to hold on. The James Wood junior knew all he had to do was keep from being pinned or lose by technical fall by Millbrook's Allen Silver to give the Colonels a win Wednesday night.
WINCHESTER -- His missed free throw with 0.7 seconds left in the game was his only mishap -- one that was softened as Millbrook's futile attempt from three-quarters court clanked off the ceiling.
FRONT ROYAL -- Take away one quarter, specifically the third quarter, and Skyline could have easily scored the upset it was looking for over Millbrook.
STEPHENS CITY -- Dustin Pierce's shot didn't roll around the rim, it just sat there, balancing on the edge, steadied by the backboard. After what seemed an eternity, the ball fell through the basket, giving the Millbrook Pioneers a one-point lead over the Sherando Warriors in overtime. The Pioneers maintained that lead, eventually ousting the Warriors, 57-53.
STEPHENS CITY -- The Millbrook Pioneer offense was more hard and blunt than precise and surgical. Either way, the Pioneers defeated the Sherando Warriors 69-35 as they rode a 19 point performance by Tylesa Harper-Scott at Sherando High School.
WINCHESTER — When Clayton Rodney’s first shot of the evening successfully swished through the basket with five minutes remaining in the first period, he was momentarily confused by the sound of the buzzer and his Millbrook teammates rushing onto the court toward him. It wasn’t until the announcer proclaimed seconds later that he had scored his 1,000th-career point that he realized what he had done.
WINCHESTER -- Jefferson County (W.Va.) has only one starter returning from last year. Despite a young squad the team continues to rack up big wins early in the season.
WINCHESTER -- The adrenaline was flowing through Aaron Heishman's body as he had the ball in his hands. The student section was ready to storm the court as emotions ran high. The Central guard had a dilemma in the final seconds.
WOODSTOCK -- Millbrook coach Debby Sanders liked what she saw in the Pioneers at the start of the game. Now she would just like her team to be able to play that way for an entire 32 minutes. The Pioneers used an early 18-0 run to pull out a 51-30 girls basketball victory over Central on Monday night.
FRONT ROYAL -- With only a two-point advantage over Old Mill (Md.) in the semifinal bout of the Border Wars Tournament at Skyline High School, the James Wood Colonels weren't yet in desperate need of points from junior Gage Swartz, but they certainly could have helped the Colonels' situation.
FRONT ROYAL -- Even during the team's warm-ups, there was little reluctance in the shooting hand of Terrell Matthews to release a shot well beyond the arc before Monday's tipoff. And in the first half of Skyline's 66-55 victory over Millbrook, there was little doubt Matthews was well within his range.
WINCHESTER -- They worked as a group in Millbrook's wrestling room, coping with a sweat-inducing temperature, ripe for shedding weight, and converging on a dark-colored mat, supple enough to absorb a fall.
WINCHESTER -- Derrick Dehaney ran around the court and gestured to the Sherando crowd as the clock hit all zeroes, and teammate Matt Brady let out a yell as the Warriors headed to the locker room.
