J.E.B. Stuart Boys Varsity Tennis
The Raiders’ undefeated season ran aground in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament Tuesday evening when Fairfax ousted them, 5-1.
In the loss, Stuart Head Coach Matt Hills believes he saw his worst fears realized, that his team’s smooth sailing through district play would come back to haunt them as the competition increased.
“These guys are good,” Hills said, referring to Fairfax. “They play in a conference that really tests them throughout the season.”
The same could not be said of the National District, which posed no obstacle at all to the Raiders. Stuart’s team cruised through their district schedule, losing just one individual match all season and winning every other match by a score of 9-0.
Entering the match with Fairfax, Hills believed his team needed to win its Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles matches to be competitive. The Raiders only won one of the three, with Stuart’s Deniz Babaoglu winning at No. 6 (6-7, 6-0, 6-0) over Gabriel Lin. The Rebels meanwhile claimed victories at Nos. 2 through five, turning the titanic battle between Fairfax’s Sidarth Balaji and Stuart standout Justin Shane into a must-win for the Raiders. Balaji and Shane, both of who are among the top high-school-aged players in the Mid-Atlantic region, split the first two sets before Balaji put away his rival 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Hills, who will return his entire top six from this season, said he will make some adjustments to next season’s schedule to add some tougher matches in the run up to Regionals. He also notes that the loss to Fairfax is not entirely without benefit.
“This will be something [the players] will learn from,” he said.
Falls Church High School Girls Varsity Lacrosse
The Lady Jags experienced a disappointing end to a highly successful season, losing 9-6 to Yorktown in the first-ever appearance in the National District title game for the Falls Church High School girls program.
The Jaguars’ fortunes did not improve any in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament, as Westfield got the better of Falls Church, 15-4.
Falls Church finishes the season with a record of 10-5 overall.
Thomas Jefferson Crew
The boys varsity eight from Thomas Jefferson High School quickly took the lead in the finals and raced to a first-place finish at the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships. Also claiming first place for Jefferson were the girls second eight and the boys third. The boys second eight and girls third eight snagged silver for the Colonials. Jefferson’s crew teams will next compete in Philadelphia for the prestigious Stotesbury Cup, with the boys varsity eight and girls second eight defending their championship titles.
McLean High School Crew
The McLean Crew Club claimed 14 gold medals, nine silvers and 18 bronze during a banner day at the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships Regata held at Sandy Run Regional Park in Occoquan, Va.
The girls varsity four boat won its heat by seven seconds, while “The Quad” crushed its opponents by 20 seconds to bring home the Regatta Director’s Trophy for the second straight year. The girls second four also beat its rival boats by a wide margin to claim gold. The girls lightweight eight narrowly fell to T.C.Williams, ultimately taking silver.
For the first time ever, two boys eights made an appearance on the awards dock. The boys lightweight eight and the boys varsity eight both claimed bronze.
The McLean Crew Club will travel next weekend to the Stotesbury Regatta in Philadelphia, the largest high school regatta in the world and to the Scholastic Rowing Association Championships the following week in Oakridge, Tenn.
