Four new champions — two individuals and two teams — were crowned at this year’s Arlington County high-school cross-country meet, held Sept. 29 at Bluemont Park.
Among those was a rookie in the race: Molly Hardwick, a sophomore for the Yorktown Patriots, who helped her squad win the girls team crown. Hardwick was running the Bluemont Park course for the first time, briefly making a wrong turn, but still winning in 17:51.
An atypical, and unplanned, winning formula has evolved for the Yorktown Patriots in the team’s past two football games.
Yorktown (3-2, 2-0) has won despite being outgained in total yards, but has countered with a takeaway and bend-but-don’t-break defense that sets up points for an offense that is running error-free.
For two seasons now, the Bishop O’Connell Knights have won little during the early portion of their high-school football campaigns.
Through four contests this fall, the private-school squad owns a 1-3 mark, losing to the Washington Patriots (2-2) of Charles Town, W.Va., by a 29-14 score in its most recent contest, played the night of Sept. 19 in non-conference action.
All finally was well for the Bishop O’Connell Knights, and the result was the team’s first victory of the football season.
In the third week of the high-school campaign, host O’Connell (1-2) defeated the winless St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes Saints, 38-12, the afternoon of Sept. 13 in non-conference private-school action.
It wasn’t a matter of if, but when, Alberto Starace — a highly accomplished girls high-school soccer coach — eventually would be inducted into the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame.
That time has come, with induction ceremonies slated for Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Knights of Columbus main hall.
The Brefczynski brothers — Jayse, a junior, and Landon, a freshman — posted breakout performances in high-school cross-country competition during an early-season fall meet.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights siblings and teammates finished second (Jayse in 15:37) and fourth (Landon in 15:42) at the boys Monroe Parker Invitational, run the morning of Sept. 6 on the 2.9-mile Burke Lake Park course.
Points were abundant in blowout victories by Arlington’s three public-school teams in their second games of the 2025 high-school football season.
Two of the Sept. 5 wins were home, non-district blowouts for the Yorktown Patriots and Wakefield Warriors, now both 1-1, in public-school contests.
Strong performances by quarterbacks proved a major highlight for Arlington’s four high-school football teams during opening games of the 2025 fall season.
On the night of Aug. 28, the foursome combined to complete 53 passes for 772 yards and eight touchdowns, throwing just three interceptions. Their strong play could continue to be a big positive point for the remainder of the campaign.
They had not met in 42 years. But when the 2025 football season kicked off the night of Aug. 28, the Washington-Liberty Generals used a balanced attack to defeat the Bishop O’Connell Knights in high-school action.
W-L won 55-22 in what served as the season-opener for both squads.
He came close in his final meet, but Emmett Engelhardt’s goal of winning a state championship during his high-school career eluded the Washington-Liberty senior runner.
At this season’s outdoor Class 6 state championship boys track and field meet in Virginia Beach, Engelhardt finished second in the 1,600-meters in a 4:13.98, one of his top high-school times in the race.
Bishop O’Connell Knights baseball players Noah Haught and Jack Woda were chosen first-team Division I all-state for their performances during the 2025 private-school season.
Haught, a senior infielder and pitcher, batted a team-high .443 during the high-school campaign and had a team-best 35 hits. Haught scored 27 runs, had 20 RBI, seven doubles, two triples and two home runs. He stole seven bases.
Make it a baker’s dozen — 13 — consecutive state softball championships for the Bishop O’Connell Knights.
The top seed and undefeated girls high-school team (20-0) captured its 13th straight Division I private-school crown by nipping the second-seeded St. Catherine’s Saints of Richmond, 1-0, in the 2025 tournament final in a season-ending victory.
