The Bishop O’Connell Knights had middle-of-the-pack finishes at conference cross-country championship meets, but saw positive signs in the performance of ninth-grade runners.
The girls placed sixth and the boys eighth at the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference races, run Saturday (Oct. 26) on the 5,000-meter Kenilworth Park course in D.C.
A state-champion Bishop O’Connell Knights football team from the past was recognized during halftime at the high-school homecoming game on Saturday (Oct. 26).
A number of members from the 1983 O’Connell squad were present. They gathered at midfield for a photo as the teammates stood behind a banner noting the squad’s Virginia State Catholic championship won during that 1983 campaign.
Leading in the second half, there was a chance the Bishop O’Connell Knights might have ended their nagging, three-season-long losing streak against conference football rivals.
But it didn’t happen. The host Knights (1-7, 0-2) lost to the Carroll Lions, 34-17, Oct. 26 in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Metro Division high-school game, its ninth straight league setback.
With a top runner missing from each team, the Bishop O’Connell Knights didn’t finish as high in the team standings as hoped.
The O’Connell boys placed fourth and the girls sixth at the Virginia Catholic State Championships held Oct. 22 on the 5,000-meter cross-country course at Occoquan Regional Park on a hot afternoon.
Arlington high schools have a full week of sports ahead, including many playoff events.
There will be just one high-school football game Friday night (Oct. 25) involving an Arlington team, because the Wakefield Warriors and Yorktown Patriots have byes this week.
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.
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.
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).
Arlington high schools have a full week of sports ahead.
Three high-school football games will be Friday night (Oct. 18) involving Arlington teams.
In sports that require them, goalies can play a vital role in a team’s success.
That’s certainly been the case for the Bishop O’Connell Knights girls field hockey team this fall.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights are in the win column.
The squad’s first victory this season came on the road in Dumfries under Friday night lights Oct. 11 with a 35-7 non-conference victory of the St. John Paul the Great Catholic Wolves (1-5) in high-school football action. The triumph snapped a nine-game losing streak spanning two seasons.
No matter what happens from this point, the Bishop O’Connell Knights already have achieved a season of firsts.
Through 11 games, the girls high-school field hockey team stands 10-1, with that number of wins being the most in a single season for the private-school squad.
