Author: Dave Facinoli

Dave Facinoli grew up in Prince George’s County, Md. and attended Friendly High School. After attending Prince’s George Community College and James Madison University, where he covered sports on both college papers, he launched a local newspaper career that included roles as the sports editor of the Alexandria Gazette, the Arlington Sun Gazette and GazetteLeader, and other local papers.

Sports

As always, expectations are lofty for O’Connell’s softball team

By Dave Facinoli
The 2025 O'Connell softball team (courtesy of O'Connell athletics)

Considering its vast past success over many years, lofty expectations are the case every season for the Bishop O’Connell Knights girls softball team.

Nothing will be different this spring, with the high-school squad coming off a perfect 23-0 season, owning a three-season 54-game winning streak and having won a combined 15 straight conference and private-school state-tournament championships.

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Sports

Yorktown gymnast caps strong season at Class 6 state meet

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown gymnast Anya Clemmer (courtesy of the Clemmer family)

Yorktown High School junior Anya Clemmer was the lone gymnast from Arlington to participate in the recent Virginia High School League Class 6 state competition.

The junior team captain competed in three individual events, finishing among the top 30 in each at Lake Braddock Secondary School.

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Sports

Marymount men win third straight conference swimming crown

By Dave Facinoli
The champion Marymount team (courtesy of Marymount athletics)

Led by five first-place relays and individuals winning six races, the Marymount University Saints won a third straight Atlantic East Conference men’s swimming championship.

The Division III team was first with 917 points, nearly 100 more than runner-up St. Mary’s College of Virginia.

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Sports

Arlington jumper, runner each fourth in Va. track & field meet

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown's Reid Dalley (photo by Dave Facinoli)

Fourth-place finishes were the highest recorded by Arlington athletes at the Virginia High School League Class 6 girls and boys state track-and-field championship meets, held March 3-4 in Virginia Beach.

The fourths were achieved by the Wakefield Warriors’ Travon Buckner in the boys triple jump (44-10.75) and the Yorktown Patriots’ Reid Dalley in the boys 1,600-meter run (4:20.74).

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Sports

Yorktown wrestler goes 3-1, places second in state tournament

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown wrestlers placed at the state (courtesy of Yorktown wrestling)

Basheer Hadi turned in the top performance from an Arlington school at the state wrestling tournament, when the Yorktown High School senior placed second at the 285 heavyweight division.

Hadi lost by a 7-2 score in the title match at the Virginia High School League Class 6 state competition in Virginia Beach.

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Sports

Chasing a state title next in line for W-L girls track-and-field team

By Dave Facinoli
The champion Washington-Liberty team (courtesy of W-L track & field)

With district and region girls indoor track-and-field championships already won this winter, the Washington-Liberty Generals now go after the biggest prize in the sport.

On Monday and Tuesday, March 3 and 4, in Virginia Beach, the Generals will attempt to win the Virginia High School League Class 6 state championship.

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Sports

O’Connell basketball teams finish 0-1 in conference tournaments

By Dave Facinoli
O'Connell's Daniya Brown (Photo by Rena Schild)

The Bishop O’Connell Knights had short-lived, one-game stays in the girls and boys Washington Catholic Athletic Conference basketball tournaments, each finishing 0-1.

The fourth-seeded boys high-school team (22-9) lost to the visiting and No. 5 seed St. John’s, 65-57, in a first-round game. The sixth-seed O’Connell girls (17-15) fell on the road, 80-41, to the No. 3 seed Bishop Ireton Cardinals.

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Sports

Tradition continues of athletes competing in two sports at once

By Dave Facinoli
Washington-Liberty's Emmett Engelhardt (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

For years, Arlington has been somewhat unique in having high-school varsity athletes successfully participate in two sports during the same season.

One year, during the winter campaign, Yorktown High’s Ari Molina won a Liberty District wrestling championship in Arlington in the early evening.

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Sports

Delay in state swim/dive meet likely to work in Yorktown’s favor

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown is as favorite to win the state (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

It has been postponed a couple of times due to weather. But yes, the Virginia High School League Class 6 state-championship swimming-and-diving meet is still scheduled.

And one Arlington team is preparing to defend its state crown.

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Sports

Arlington varsity basketball players chosen to all-region teams

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown's Eleanor Mahshie (photo by Becky Cullinan)

A number of players from Arlington were selections to all-6D North Region girls and boys basketball teams for their performances during the 2024-25 high-school season.

Boys players chosen to the first team from Yorktown High School were junior guard Jake Coulam and senior guard/forward Brennan Pilot. Yorktown senior forward Jack Rubin made the second team.

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Sports

Wakefield, other crew teams begin preparing for spring competition

By Dave Facinoli
Wakefield shells row on the Anacostia River (courtesy of Wakefield crew boosters)

High-school crew teams from Arlington began practice in recent days for the upcoming spring season, which starts in April with area regattas.

As shown in the photo with this coverage, a couple of Wakefield High School girls eight shells practice in the early morning on the Anacostia River. The Wakefield boys and girls teams alternate morning practices on the Anacostia.

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