Led by runners from all four grade levels — some experienced, others not as much — the Washington-Liberty Generals had a strong showing at the annual Arlington County high-school cross-country championship meet.
The varsity event was held on the sunny afternoon of Oct. 7 on the 5,000-meter Bluemont Park course.
The Generals won the girls race with a low team score of 17 points. The boys finished second with 34, just six points behind the repeat champion Bishop O’Connell Knights.
“We ran well and I’m real excited for our teams. The county meet and winning it and doing well is a big deal,” Washington-Liberty coach John Bacon told ARLnow.
The W-L girls were led by individual runner Susie Richard. The freshman and first-year runner ran the course in 20:10. Her junior teammate Maddie Brys was second in 20:11.5 with another freshman, Allison Ervin, third in 20:11.5.
Washington-Liberty runners also placed fifth, sixth, seventh, 13th, 14th and 15th. Three of those were freshmen Lilia Thompson (seventh, 21:05), Eva Von Mertens (13th, 22:08) and Avery Andrade (14th, 22:10).
Also, senior Sophia Collins was fifth (21:00), junior Caroline Kaplan sixth (21:03) and junior Ella Engelhardt 15th (22:22).
“I made my move and went for the lead about mile two and I was able to stay there,” Richard said. “It was fun to win.”
Richard only began running cross-country this fall. The victory was her second this season. In September, she won the girls seeded 5,000-meter race in 18:29 at the Georgetown Prep Classic, helping the Generals win the team title.
“Those freshmen will be good runners for us for years,” Bacon said.
The Washington-Liberty boys at the county meet were led by third-place finisher and junior Alessandro Piosa in 17:28. In addition, junior Elijah Purdy was fifth (17:55), senior Justin Wilson sixth (18:06), junior Axel FitzHarris ninth (18:18) and sophomore Heath Snyder 11th (18:23).
“The boys race went right down to the wire with O’Connell,” Bacon said. “We ran well.”
On Oct. 10 at the Third Battle Invitational in Winchester, Richard placed 17th in 19:09 and Ervin 19th in 19:11 in the girls varsity A race. The W-L team placed fourth. In the boys varsity B race, W-L won with Piosa sixth individually (16:54) and Purdy ninth (17:15).
In other Washington-Liberty sports action:
Football: The Generals’ most recent win accomplished two notable things for the high-school football team.
First, the 34-14 home victory over the Marshall Statesmen in Liberty District action on Oct. 9 assured the Generals (5-2, 3-0) they will not have a losing overall regular-season record for the fifth straight season. That’s the team’s longest such string in recent history.
Second, the win was the 100th career victory for longtime Washington-Liberty head coach Josh Shapiro. All of those wins have come at W-L.
The triumph kept the Generals tied for first in the district with the Langley Saxons, also 3-0. The teams meet Friday, Nov. 6 at Langley.
“We game-planned well for them,” Shapiro said. “We were pretty physical on defense, made some big fourth-down stops and we moved the ball on offense and had some big plays.”
With the score tied at 7 against Marshall, Washington-Liberty then built a 34-7 lead to take control.
Washington-Liberty amassed 363 total yards against Marshall. Senior quarterback Tyler Flint-Steinig led the attack by completing 19 of 27 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns. His TD passes went to Colby Arenson, Jamar Sullivan and Amin Elgindy.
Arenson caught six passes for 90 yards and Jasper Dennis caught six for 121. Mikale Gray-Fenny ran for 56 yards and a score and Sullivan had a touchdown run. Ethan Foster kicked five extra points.
Leading the defense for W-L was Benjamin Kerr with eight solo tackles, Grant Johnson and Tyler Hawkins with seven each, Levi Fullen with six and Miles Whitaker and Liam Sloan with five each. Dennis had an interception and Elgindy a fumble recovery.
In its previous game, W-L blanked the Wakefield Warriors, 30-0, in an all-Arlington clash. Sullivan ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He caught a scoring pass, as did Dennis, who had four catches. Flint-Steinig passed for 76 yards. Gray-Fenny ran for 62 yards and recovered a fumble on defense, while Foster booted four extra points.
“We came out blazing on offense and defense and we played lights out on defense,” Shapiro said. “We could throw the ball like we wanted and we never felt threatened in any way.”
Of the 23 head coaches in the program’s 100-year history, Shapiro has more wins than any other during his 19 years in charge. He has also coached longer than any of the others.
“With winning 100 games, so many things have gone right here in our recipe and ingredients for us in the time I’ve been head coach,” Shapiro said. “I don’t want to overshadow the support, commitment, teaching, learning and coaching in the run we have had here.”
Shapiro has the second most career wins, after Bruce Hanson’s 303, of any head football coach in the history of Arlington’s three public-school programs: Washington-Liberty, Wakefield and Yorktown. Hanson coached at both Wakefield and Yorktown.
Field hockey: The Generals continue their strong girls field hockey season with a 12-2 overall record and are in third place in the Liberty District with a 4-2 mark.
The team’s two losses were against district rivals Marshall, in first place, and Yorktown, in second. Since those setbacks, the Generals have defeated Wakefield, 6-0, McLean, 5-0, and Herndon, 3-1, in district action.
Flag football: In girls flag football, the Generals stand 3-0-1 after four games, with victories over Yorktown, 13-7, Langley, 26-6, and Herndon, 33-6. The Generals tied McLean, 6-6.
Volleyball: In boys volleyball, the first-year Generals team has a 5-4 overall record and stands 3-1 in the Liberty District. The Generals defeated Wakefield, 3-1; Marshall, 3-1; and Yorktown, 3-0, in recent league matches.
