Yorktown Patriots’ wrestler Basheer Hadi was the top finisher from an Arlington school with a runner-up in the heavyweight division at the annual NOVA Classic at Fairfax High School.
Hadi finished with a 3-1 record at the two-day event, concluding Dec. 7, with a first-round bye. His victories were two by pin and the other by technical fall in the semifinals.
The March 2021 death of Antuon Townsend from colon cancer at age 39 hit many in Arlington hard.
Townsend was known by young and old across the county through a wide array of community involvement. He was a popular personal trainer, instructor and coach of basketball and sports camps in Arlington for youth of all ages.
Arlington was well-represented, with players from the county’s three public-school teams among those chosen to the 2024 all-Liberty District high-school football teams.
Making first-team on offense were quarterback Matthew Abramson (Washington-Liberty), wide receivers Jon Malatesta (Washington-Liberty) and Finn Luca (Yorktown), tight end Brady Owens (Yorktown), and offensive linemen Sam Bekele (Washington-Liberty) and Aidan Vroom (Yorktown).
Arlington high schools have a full week of sports action starting Friday (Dec. 6) as the winter season is underway following conclusion of fall campaigns.
There are basketball games, a big wrestling tournament, swim-and-dive meets, girls gymnastics action, ice-hockey matches and more coming up.
The 2024 high-school football season was plenty memorable, in multiple ways, for Arlington’s four varsity teams.
Two things from the season stood out as the most likely to be remembered in coming years:
Arlington high schools have a much more busy week ahead in sports action, with the winter schedule getting started.
There also is one big postseason region-tournament football game on tap for the Washington-Liberty Generals when they play in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Arlington high schools have a much less busy week of sports action ahead because of the Thanksgiving holiday and the transition from the fall to the winter sports season.
But there is one big postseason region-tournament football game on tap for the Washington-Liberty Generals. There also will be a few preseason basketball and wrestling scrimmage events, and a girls ice-hockey match.
Washington-Liberty Generals’ senior Emmett Engelhardt recorded the best finish by an Arlington cross-country runner at the Nov. 16 Class 6 state meet in Leesburg.
Engelhardt was a top seed and placed eighth in the Virginia High School League boys meet in 16:18 on the 5,000-meter Oatlands Plantation course. He was running in the state meet for the first time.
Five members of the Yorktown Patriots were selected to the all-6D North Region girls field-hockey teams for their performances during the high-school season.
Senior Elena Reiser, with 14 goals, nine assists and 60 shots taken through 20 matches, was selected as the Player of the Year and to the first team. Also making first team were senior Olivia Stafford, who had 18 goals and nine assists through 20 matches, and senior Quincy Greene, with 11 goals and four assists.
Update on 7/2/25: The suspect in this case was acquitted, DC News Now reports.
Earlier: An Arlington Public Schools employee has been arrested after allegedly soliciting sex from an underage female student.
Arlington high schools have a much less busy week of fall sports action ahead, but there are postseason tournaments still in progress for some teams.
There will be two football playoff games Friday night (Nov. 15) involving three Arlington teams, plus the semifinals of the Class 6 state girls field hockey tournament for the Yorktown Patriots.
From game one, the Washington-Liberty Generals were highly motivated to pull off an undefeated regular-season record this fall.
On Saturday (Nov. 9), it was a case of mission accomplished.
