When Bishop O’Connell and St. Mary’s Ryken meet in girls softball, the games are close and action is pressure-packed.
Nothing was different this spring, when the showdown of teams with the same “Knights” nickname met in the championship contest of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference high-school girls tournament at George Mason University.
The high-school regular-season sports schedules for Arlington’s teams are concluded, and now it’s on to the postseason for public-school teams.
The playoffs are underway with district-tournament competitions.
Led by speedy sprinters, winning relays and other top performers, the Bishop O’Connell Knights girls and boys teams had winning and runner-up performances at the annual Draper Invitational outdoor track-and-field meet.
The 30-team high-school event was held May 2-3 at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria.
The website Novahoops.com recently named a number of high-school basketball players from Arlington to its girls and boys all-Northern Virginia freshman and sophomore teams for the 2024-25 season.
On the girls sophomore team was Arlington’s Sabrina Anderson, a guard for the Potomac School private squad, who already has scored 1,000 career points. Bishop O’Connell’s Mia Morrill was chosen a reserve on the sophomore team.
For Dick Abood, coaching high-school lacrosse has become a habit with no firm end in sight. He’s been doing so for 38 years.
Turning 69 this month, the grandfather likes the work so much, he continues in his current position for a third year as an assistant junior-varsity boys coach at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington.
With two opening-round victories, the top seed and undefeated Bishop O’Connell Knights (16-0) have reached the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference girls softball tournament.
Three-time defending champion O’Connell won both of those high-school contests on its home field at Tuckahoe Park. The Knights blanked the Bishop Ireton Cardinals, 13-0, behind 14 hits in the quarterfinals, then downed the St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers, 8-0, in the semifinals.
In addition to his vast success as a high-school basketball coach throughout the metro area, the late Jim Spiridopoulos is being remembered for his unique, passionate and tireless involvement and dedication to the sport and to his players.
Spiridopoulos, known to many as “Spiro”, died April 29 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 80.
The high-school regular-season sports schedules for Arlington’s teams wrap up this week and early next as postseason competition begins.
For the private-school Bishop O’Connell Knights, postseason action already is underway with conference and district action.
With an 11-game winning streak, the Bishop O’Connell Knights baseball team finished the regular season very strong.
Now the postseason begins for the 20-4 high-school team as the No. 2 seed in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference tournament, followed by the Division I private-school state tourney.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights boys and girls track and field teams enjoyed some significant highlights at the famous Penn Relays.
Now in its 129th year, the relays are America’s oldest and largest track-and-field competition, held since 1895 at the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in west Philadelphia.
The high-school sports schedule for Arlington’s three public high schools continues in full swing, with a full slate of competition in the many spring sports.
The regular seasons last only another week or so, followed by the start of postseason action.
The Yorktown Patriots (8-6) split two games with their Arlington public-school neighborhood baseball rivals in recent days, defeating the Washington-Liberty Generals, 4-2, then losing to the Wakefield Warriors, 8-4.
The win over W-L was the Patriots’ 15 straight against the Generals (10-6).
