It took four seasons and a lot of determination, but Arlington resident Josie Whitaker achieved a goal of amassing 400 career strikeouts.
The senior right-handed pitcher for the Thomas Jefferson Colonials girls high-school softball team reached that milestone in the team’s semifinal loss to the Hayfield Hawks in the National District tournament.
Of the 50 athletes participating in the outdoor track-and-field league championships for the Bishop O’Connell Knights, sprinter Cam Bowser was the top performer.
The junior won the boys 400-meters in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference high-school meet record of 47.7 seconds, was second in the 200 (21.59) and ran on the third-place 4×200 relay at Good Counsel School in Maryland.
May 15 will not soon be forgotten for high-school baseball in Arlington — but for the wrong reasons.
All four squads suffered season-ending losses that Thursday in first-round tournament action. In a matter of a five-hour stretch, the county’s high-school baseball season was all over.
Highlights were few for Arlington crew teams at famous, but this year weather-shortened, Stotesbury Cup Regatta.
Storms, heavy rain and dangerous water conditions on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia caused the semifinal and championship races to be canceled. Only the first-round heats were held.
With three senior athletes combining to win seven events and as many as 11 others scoring team points, the Washington-Liberty Generals were big winners in the boys Liberty District track-and-field championships.
The Generals were first with 171 points, far more than the runner-up and host Wakefield Warriors with 114 in the high-school competition spread over two different weeks.
On the same cool and rainy night at different sites, the Yorktown Patriots defended their girls and boys Liberty District lacrosse tournament championships with victories over the Langley Saxons.
The undefeated and top seed Yorktown girls (16-0) built a 7-1 lead and won 16-8 on their home field over the second-seeded Saxons. The No. 2-seed boys (10-7) played at top-seed Langley and rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to win 11-10 in sudden-death overtime.
The spring high-school sports season for Arlington’s private-school Bishop O’Connell Knights is complete, while the county’s three public-school teams are competing in region-playoff action over the next week.
The Wakefield Warriors, Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots all have teams or athletes entered in individual and team region competition, with one team playing in a district-tournament championship game Friday, May 23.
Dual third-place team finishes were highlighted by a number of winning relays and individuals for the Bishop O’Connell Knights at the Virginia State Catholic School track-and-field high-school championship meets.
“The teams each scored more than 100 points and it was an exciting day for O’Connell,” Knights’ coach Jim Connor told ARLnow.
Arlington’s long and proud history in high-school crew was embellished at this spring’s second weekend of the state-champion regatta.
That’s when two varsity eight girls and boys shells from Arlington schools finished first in the premier races at the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association competition on the Occoquan Reservoir.
The winningest season in program history included multiple first-time achievements for the Marymount University Saints women’s lacrosse team.
The Division III squad’s overall record of 17-3 was its best (most wins and fewest losses in a season). Being the top seed in a conference tournament also was a first, as well as winning the title. The Saints’ 12-game winning streak was their longest ever, and Marymount scored its most goals in a season.
Bri Lencz created many positive memories on the George Mason University women’s softball field during four years of high school. And now, the Bishop O’Connell senior will become a member of that college team next year.
Lencz made the commitment several months ago to play Division I college softball for George Mason.
The Yorktown Patriots’ latest victory over the Washington-Liberty Generals in baseball action accomplished two things.
The 7-2 win extended Yorktown’s long winning streak over its Arlington rival to 16 games, starting with a victory during the 2017 high-school season.
