dougroberson
05-14-2007, 05:33 PM
Dukes' soccer girls ready for week off
Gloucester’s girls soccer team finished its unbeaten and unscored upon season in the Peninsula District with a 1-0 victory Thursday against Menchville to win the Peninsula District regular season title. The Dukes (11-4, 9-0 Peninsula District) received an automatic bid into the Eastern Region tournament and a bye into Monday’s district tournament semifinals.
This idle week usually either helps or hinders the recipients of the byes, the second of which went to No. 2 seeded Denbigh. The Patriots finished tied for second with Kecoughtan but received the second seed based on a preseason draw.
"I think (a week off is) going to be all right," said Gloucester coach Bob Fisher. "The girls seem really focused this year, and we’re trying to organize an alumnae game this week for past Lady Dukes players.
"We’re holding practices as normal with the same conditioning, same intensity level. This tournament is not our final goal, it’s our second goal and third goal is to advance as far as we possibly can through regionals."
MENCHVILLE STILL SURGING
Jayvee coach Luther Elmore coached Menchville’s girls soccer team Thursday against Gloucester. Varsity coach Dave Giunti was with family as his mother-in-law went through heart surgery.
Giunti said he plans to be back at the helm at Wednesday’s district tournament quarterfinal. Fourth-seeded Menchville (10-4, 6-3) is the four-time defending district champion and still hopes to earn the district’s second regional spot.
"I think if they play like they did against Gloucester, I don’t see why we can’t," Giunti said.
BROWN FAMILY HEAVILY REPRESENTED AT GRAFTON
Three brothers are peacefully coexisting in Grafton’s soccer program this season. One of them is playing his final season.
Senior Jason Brown, a forward who was honorable mention all-Bay Rivers District last season, is joined by sophomore Jarod on the varsity team. Jalon, an eighth grader at Grafton Middle School, plays on the Clippers’ JV squad.
"They don’t really get on my nerves that much, so it’s kind of cool," Jason Brown said. "You’d expect them to be annoying little brothers, but they’re really not."
Jarod is playing outside midfielder, and in his first game he sent a through ball that Jason almost scored on.
"Around the dinner table (soccer) tends to be a pretty common topic of conversation," Jason Brown said. "But it’s not the whole focus for the family, although it is one of the biggest things we do as a family."
Jason, a team captain along with Virginia Wesleyan-bound Justin Clark, will walk on at James Madison in the fall.
INDY BASEBALL
Hampton Christian High begins its quest for a first Independent Schools state baseball title since 2002 at 4:30 p.m. today, when it hosts No. 6 Steward School in the Division II quarterfinals. The Warriors (23-4) enter the state tourney as the No. 3 seed after winning the Metro Athletic Conference regular season crown and finishing second in the conference tournament.
Left-hander Jake Cave will start today for the Warriors. The 8th-grade sensation is 8-2 with a 1.75 earn run average, in addition to hitting .380 with two home runs and 26 RBI.
Pitcher/third baseman B.J. Fritzintger enters state play with a .463 batting average with 32 RBI and four homers. Center fielder Austin Bennett (.443 batting average, 41 runs, 26 stolen bases) and catcher Josh Wilson (.425 batting average, 31 RBI) - the Metro MVP - have also hit big for the Warriors this season.
"Sure, we have a chance of contending," said coach Mike Moore, who guided the Warriors to state titles in 2001-02. "But we've got to stay focused and take it pitch by pitch."
INDY SOFTBALL
Isle of Wight Academy (19-1) begins Independent Schools state softball tournament play today at 4:30 p.m. by hosting No. 8 Southampton Academy in the Division III quarterfinals. The top-seeded Lady Chargers won the Metro Athletic Conference regular season title, then won the tournament on Saturday by beating Alliance Christian 2-1 in nine innings.
Metro co-Coach of the Year Jack Reynolds said that either Casey Mansfield or Casey West will pitch today for the Lady Chargers. Both girls earned All-Metro first team honors. IWA is going for its fourth consecutive state title.
TRACKSTERS CLOSING IN ON STATE
Hampton’s Tierra Brown is rounding into peak form as she prepares to defend her Group AAA state titles in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles. A love of music may be pushing her towards success.
Saturday at the Nike Victor Cahoon Track Classic in Manassas, she broke her own local record, while producing one of the best national times this season with a time of 13.67 seconds in the 100 hurdles. That clocking set a state-wide standard for 2007, as she overwhelmed the second place finisher by more than 1.5 seconds.
The Crabbers senior is pointing towards her state title defenses said coach Ron Bayton, but she also finds motivation from a faulty iPod that stopped working last summer.
"I made a deal with her that if she goes under 13.6, I’ll give her an iPod," Bayton said. "Every time she steps on the track, she says she wants to go for 13.5, so she’ll get that iPod."
Brown also posted a state-best time of 42.92 seconds in the 300 hurdles, inching closer to an individual goal that stems from a desire to gain some notoriety for the Hampton track program.
"Our goal is to make Track & Field News," Bayton said, "and a time of 42.9 seconds will get us there. Her ultimate goal is 40.9 seconds (the national record), though. I think that’s in the back of every hurdler’s mind."
SOUTHERN TRACK CLASSIC NOTES
Last Friday, the Southern Track Classic in Richmond provided the venue for 14 state-best performances of the outdoor season. While Denbigh’s victorious boys 1,600 meter sprint medley unit generated the only state-best time (3:33.86) by Peninsula District or Bay Rivers athletes, several other local performances were also noteworthy.
Denbigh’s girls 1,600 sprint medley unit finished third, but remarkably, their time of 4:26.40 knocked almost 24 seconds off their seed time.
Bethel’s 1,600 relay squad benefited from a hotly contested pace, and was one of four teams to post a rare clocking under 3:20, dropping their time to 3:16.64, while finishing second behind Western Branch’s state-best 3:15.86.
Jamestown’s Andrew Mearns finished third in a tight 1,600 race. His time of 4:16.50 left him a mere 26 one-hundredths of a second behind winner Ermin Mujezinovic of Herndon, and let Mearns claim one of the top 1,600 times in Peninsula prep history.
Bethel’s Shakia Forbes fell one-half inch short of her season and state-wide best performance with a winning long jump of 19 feet, 7½ inches, but that did shatter the meet record.
RahSheeta Hundley of West Point stepped up against big-time competition, recording a second place finish (12.01 seconds) in the 100 meters and a third in the 200 (25.37 seconds).
JENNIFER L. WILLIAMS, MARTY O’BRIEN, DANIEL MAHER
Gloucester’s girls soccer team finished its unbeaten and unscored upon season in the Peninsula District with a 1-0 victory Thursday against Menchville to win the Peninsula District regular season title. The Dukes (11-4, 9-0 Peninsula District) received an automatic bid into the Eastern Region tournament and a bye into Monday’s district tournament semifinals.
This idle week usually either helps or hinders the recipients of the byes, the second of which went to No. 2 seeded Denbigh. The Patriots finished tied for second with Kecoughtan but received the second seed based on a preseason draw.
"I think (a week off is) going to be all right," said Gloucester coach Bob Fisher. "The girls seem really focused this year, and we’re trying to organize an alumnae game this week for past Lady Dukes players.
"We’re holding practices as normal with the same conditioning, same intensity level. This tournament is not our final goal, it’s our second goal and third goal is to advance as far as we possibly can through regionals."
MENCHVILLE STILL SURGING
Jayvee coach Luther Elmore coached Menchville’s girls soccer team Thursday against Gloucester. Varsity coach Dave Giunti was with family as his mother-in-law went through heart surgery.
Giunti said he plans to be back at the helm at Wednesday’s district tournament quarterfinal. Fourth-seeded Menchville (10-4, 6-3) is the four-time defending district champion and still hopes to earn the district’s second regional spot.
"I think if they play like they did against Gloucester, I don’t see why we can’t," Giunti said.
BROWN FAMILY HEAVILY REPRESENTED AT GRAFTON
Three brothers are peacefully coexisting in Grafton’s soccer program this season. One of them is playing his final season.
Senior Jason Brown, a forward who was honorable mention all-Bay Rivers District last season, is joined by sophomore Jarod on the varsity team. Jalon, an eighth grader at Grafton Middle School, plays on the Clippers’ JV squad.
"They don’t really get on my nerves that much, so it’s kind of cool," Jason Brown said. "You’d expect them to be annoying little brothers, but they’re really not."
Jarod is playing outside midfielder, and in his first game he sent a through ball that Jason almost scored on.
"Around the dinner table (soccer) tends to be a pretty common topic of conversation," Jason Brown said. "But it’s not the whole focus for the family, although it is one of the biggest things we do as a family."
Jason, a team captain along with Virginia Wesleyan-bound Justin Clark, will walk on at James Madison in the fall.
INDY BASEBALL
Hampton Christian High begins its quest for a first Independent Schools state baseball title since 2002 at 4:30 p.m. today, when it hosts No. 6 Steward School in the Division II quarterfinals. The Warriors (23-4) enter the state tourney as the No. 3 seed after winning the Metro Athletic Conference regular season crown and finishing second in the conference tournament.
Left-hander Jake Cave will start today for the Warriors. The 8th-grade sensation is 8-2 with a 1.75 earn run average, in addition to hitting .380 with two home runs and 26 RBI.
Pitcher/third baseman B.J. Fritzintger enters state play with a .463 batting average with 32 RBI and four homers. Center fielder Austin Bennett (.443 batting average, 41 runs, 26 stolen bases) and catcher Josh Wilson (.425 batting average, 31 RBI) - the Metro MVP - have also hit big for the Warriors this season.
"Sure, we have a chance of contending," said coach Mike Moore, who guided the Warriors to state titles in 2001-02. "But we've got to stay focused and take it pitch by pitch."
INDY SOFTBALL
Isle of Wight Academy (19-1) begins Independent Schools state softball tournament play today at 4:30 p.m. by hosting No. 8 Southampton Academy in the Division III quarterfinals. The top-seeded Lady Chargers won the Metro Athletic Conference regular season title, then won the tournament on Saturday by beating Alliance Christian 2-1 in nine innings.
Metro co-Coach of the Year Jack Reynolds said that either Casey Mansfield or Casey West will pitch today for the Lady Chargers. Both girls earned All-Metro first team honors. IWA is going for its fourth consecutive state title.
TRACKSTERS CLOSING IN ON STATE
Hampton’s Tierra Brown is rounding into peak form as she prepares to defend her Group AAA state titles in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles. A love of music may be pushing her towards success.
Saturday at the Nike Victor Cahoon Track Classic in Manassas, she broke her own local record, while producing one of the best national times this season with a time of 13.67 seconds in the 100 hurdles. That clocking set a state-wide standard for 2007, as she overwhelmed the second place finisher by more than 1.5 seconds.
The Crabbers senior is pointing towards her state title defenses said coach Ron Bayton, but she also finds motivation from a faulty iPod that stopped working last summer.
"I made a deal with her that if she goes under 13.6, I’ll give her an iPod," Bayton said. "Every time she steps on the track, she says she wants to go for 13.5, so she’ll get that iPod."
Brown also posted a state-best time of 42.92 seconds in the 300 hurdles, inching closer to an individual goal that stems from a desire to gain some notoriety for the Hampton track program.
"Our goal is to make Track & Field News," Bayton said, "and a time of 42.9 seconds will get us there. Her ultimate goal is 40.9 seconds (the national record), though. I think that’s in the back of every hurdler’s mind."
SOUTHERN TRACK CLASSIC NOTES
Last Friday, the Southern Track Classic in Richmond provided the venue for 14 state-best performances of the outdoor season. While Denbigh’s victorious boys 1,600 meter sprint medley unit generated the only state-best time (3:33.86) by Peninsula District or Bay Rivers athletes, several other local performances were also noteworthy.
Denbigh’s girls 1,600 sprint medley unit finished third, but remarkably, their time of 4:26.40 knocked almost 24 seconds off their seed time.
Bethel’s 1,600 relay squad benefited from a hotly contested pace, and was one of four teams to post a rare clocking under 3:20, dropping their time to 3:16.64, while finishing second behind Western Branch’s state-best 3:15.86.
Jamestown’s Andrew Mearns finished third in a tight 1,600 race. His time of 4:16.50 left him a mere 26 one-hundredths of a second behind winner Ermin Mujezinovic of Herndon, and let Mearns claim one of the top 1,600 times in Peninsula prep history.
Bethel’s Shakia Forbes fell one-half inch short of her season and state-wide best performance with a winning long jump of 19 feet, 7½ inches, but that did shatter the meet record.
RahSheeta Hundley of West Point stepped up against big-time competition, recording a second place finish (12.01 seconds) in the 100 meters and a third in the 200 (25.37 seconds).
JENNIFER L. WILLIAMS, MARTY O’BRIEN, DANIEL MAHER