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

Washington-Liberty girls first in showcase cross-country meet

By Dave Facinoli
The champion Washington-Liberty team (courtesy of Washington-Liberty cross country)

Led by a tight pack of runners, the Washington-Liberty Generals won a recent showcase cross-country meet.

The high-school team tallied 152 points to finish first in the girls elite race at the Oct. 19 Virginia Showcase meet in Mechanicsville, near Richmond.

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Sports

Wakefield High School students embrace competitive pickleball

By Dave Facinoli
Wakefield pickleball players (courtesy of Wakefield pickleball)

The pickleball craze has reached Wakefield High School.

With 18 members and growing, pickleball has become the latest new club at the Arlington school. Spearheaded by senior and varsity tennis player Keyla Park Hernández and her father, Paul Joseph Park, who serves as the coach, the club meets Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

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Sports

Girls golfers, including many from Arlington teams, take the spotlight

By Dave Facinoli
Washington-Liberty's Malia Perry (middle) (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Female competitors will take the spotlight for the remainder of the Virginia High School League’s 2024 golf season.

Thirteen players from Arlington schools are among 70 throughout Northern Virginia that will participate in a state-tournament qualifying event at Twin Lakes Golf Course in Clifton. Then, on Monday, Oct. 28, those who earned berths will play in the VHSL’s Girls State Open, for all enrollment classifications combined, at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg.

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Sports

Wakefield falls short, suffers third straight defeat in football action

By Dave Facinoli
Wakefield punter Ricardo Perez (photo by Ben Kutler)

The Wakefield Warriors fell to 2-6 overall with a 40-15 road loss to the Marshall Statesmen on Oct. 18.

The third straight setback kept Wakefield winless in the Liberty District high-school football standings with a 0-4 record.

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Sports

Bishop O’Connell football team hangs close until halftime in league loss

By Dave Facinoli
The O'Connell defense (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Trailing 10-0 at halftime to an opponent with many bigger linemen, the Bishop O’Connell Knights were confident they were still in the game.

In the second half, though, that size advantage for the host St. Mary’s Ryken Knights began wearing on O’Connell, which eventually lost the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Metro Division high-school football game, 38-7, Friday night (Oct. 18) in Maryland.

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Sports

Yorktown routed on the road against Langley, falls to 5-3 in football

By Dave Facinoli
The Yorktown offense had some success in the loss (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Tight games had been the norm the last few times the Liberty District rivals Yorktown Patriots and Langley Saxons met in high-school football action.

What a difference in 2024. Host Langley won big, 48-14, having taken control right from the start.

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Sports

Yorktown team extends field-hockey dominance, goes undefeated in district play

By Dave Facinoli
Yorktown's Anna Menard, front, plays defense (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Dominating its competition at times, the Yorktown Patriots finished a fourth straight regular season undefeated against district field-hockey rivals.

Yorktown (11-3 overall) was 6-0 and outscored Liberty District opponents, 26-1 with five shutouts, in play this fall. The Patriots will be the top seed in the seven-team district tournament, a competition they have won three straight times with 2-0 records each year, and have a first-round bye.

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Sports

Washington-Liberty golfers cap best-ever season with fifth in state

By Dave Facinoli
Washington-Liberty golfer James Hall (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Their fifth-place finish wasn’t what they hoped for. Yet the experience of just playing in the state golf tournament for the first time was notable for the Washington-Liberty Generals.

The squad capped its best season in program history with a 324 team score on a chilly and windy day at the Virginia High School League one-day, 18-hole Class 6 state tourney Oct. 15. The event was held on the par-72 Norman course at the Lansdowne Resort in Loudoun County.

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Sports

After 75 years, Washington-Liberty crew program readies for new home

By Dave Facinoli
Columbia Island Marina

After 75 years at the same location, the Washington-Liberty High School crew program is leaving the only home it has known.

By the end of 2024, the program will move its operation from the Potomac Boat Club on Water Street in D.C. after three-quarters of a century to the Columbia Island Marina in the Pentagon lagoon near the interchange of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Interstate 395 in Arlington.

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Sports

Three of Arlington’s four high-school football teams in action this week

By Dave Facinoli
The O'Connell offense (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

The high-school football season continues this week for three of Arlington’s four teams, with the other idle.

The undefeated and Liberty District-leading Washington-Liberty Generals (7-0, 3-0) are off with a bye this week. Their season resumes, Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. with a home game against their district rival McLean Highlanders (3-3, 0-2).

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Sports

Multi-sport Washington-Liberty athlete who died in crash remembered as upbeat contributor

By Dave Facinoli
Nicholas Rados and his parents at lacrosse senior night (courtesy of W-L Lacrosse)

Nicholas Rados, a multi-sport athlete and 2024 graduate of Washington-Liberty High School, is being remembered by coaches and teammates for his upbeat personality and commitment to constant improvement.

Rados, 19, died in a fatal crash the morning of Saturday, Oct. 12 along the 2200 block of N. Harrison Street in Arlington’s Tara-Leeway Heights neighborhood. A car being driven northbound by an 18-year-old Arlington resident, in which Rados was a passenger, struck several parked vehicles and overturned, according to Arlington County police.

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Sports

Arlington’s Craig Esherick to be inducted into high school’s hall of fame

By Dave Facinoli
Craig Esherick, far right, was inducted into the 2022 Arlington Sports Hall of Fame (courtesy of the Arlington Hall of Fame)

In a few days, Craig Esherick will be inducted into his second Hall of Fame in two years.

The evening of Oct. 19 at Argyle Country Club in Silver Spring, the Arlington resident and former Georgetown University men’s head basketball coach (and player) will be one of nine inductees into the Springbrook High School Sports Hall of Fame.

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