FC-A 13U Wins District Tourney, Heads to States

The Falls Church-Annandale (FC-A) 13U all-star team heads to the state tournament today, July 17. After taking the win in Virginia’s District 6 tournament Sunday, July 13, the team will be hitting the diamond at Langley High School, to be hosted by McLean-Great Falls Babe Ruth.

On Sunday, the FC-A “Green Machine” was led by Mimi Azor, Koa Yamaguchi, John Todd and Chris Clayton, all of whom batted over .500 for the district tourney. Todd and Matt Stevens punched across five RBIs apiece. On the mound, Liam Glennon and Michael Evans combined for 15 strikeouts and held their opponents to only three runs.

Lee Graham Hosts Wally Martin 3-Meter

More than 100 divers, all ranging from ages eight to 18, came out to Falls Church’s Lee Graham Pool to compete in the Northern Virginia Diving League’s 41st Annual Wally Martin 3-Meter Championship. Competing divers represented 31 of the league’s 47 pools from across Fairfax and Arlington Counties and the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria.

Tony Taylor, the second vice president of NVSL-Dive, said, “We are particularly indebted to Lee Graham for hosting the meet. The LG pool is an ideal site for this meet with an outstanding diving environment, ample space for spectators and a comfortable snack bar area. The league really appreciates the LG board’s willingness to host the 2008 meet.”

Divers from four different age groups, each do a different number of dives: Seniors, 15 – 18 years, six dives; Intermediates, 13 – 14 years, five dives; Juniors, 11 – 12 years, four dives and Freshman, 10 years & younger, do three dives.

Winning the championship were Kim Pilka for senior girls (219.30 points), Trevor Michalak for senior boys (238.95), Maggie Cullather for intermediate girls (170.67), Nathan Michalak for intermediate boys (138.65), Allison Stickel for junior girls (135.12), Alex Daloane for junior boys (102.09), Teal Schuppin for freshman girls (70.62) and Lee Graham’s very own Tucker Smith for freshman boys (93.18).

The Wally Martin meet is the only 3-meter competition of the Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL) season and is named in honor of the late Wally Martin, who was one of the leaders who brought diving to the NVSL.

Past champions of this meet include U.S. Olympian and the University of Texas Dive Coach, Matt Scoggins of Great Falls, 1996 Olympic Trials Qualifier Kristin Link of Parliament, 2004 Olympic Trials Qualifier Andrew Bradley of Sideburn Run and 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials Qualifier Mary Yarrison of Springfield. For a complete list of results, visit nvsl.nvblu.com.

McLean 10-11 All-Stars Win District Championship

McLean American won the upper bracket for District 4 on Friday, July 11. Winning 10-9 against Alexandria, McLean will advance to the State Tournament in Virginia Beach, Va. next Friday, July 25 for their first game up against District 14 from Troy, Va. On the afternoon prior to their head-to-head, McLean will join the rest of the competing teams for an opening ceremony in Virginia Beach, where they’ll walk their district championship banner in the Parade of Champions.

Oakton Otters Place First at Rutherford

Winning first place not once but six times were the Oakton Otters at their meet against Rutherford on July 8. Their second win of the season, the Otters made out with a score of 37-23. In the freshman girls division, Elana Colbert took first place, Alana Moore took second place and Layne Stikeleather took third place. Michael Tischler finished in first for freshman boys. For juniors, in the girls division, AJ Colbert took first place and Haley Worsham took second. Andrew Sargent took first place for the boys.

First place finisher for intermediate girls was Laura Branton, and for intermediate boys Daniel Nugent won first. The Oakton Junior Girls and Intermediate Girls remain undefeated in their Division so far this year.

“Our biggest competition will come next week from Ilda, besides Hamlet, which outnumbered us in our first meet,” said Otters Head Coach Cheryl Meltz.

On Tuesday night, the Otters racked up their third straight win of 37-34 against Sleepy Hollow Rec Association, making them 3-1 so far this season.

NVSL-Dive to Hold Cracker Jack Diving Championship

On Sunday, July 20, the Northern Virginia Swimming League-Dive (NVSL-Dive) will host the annual Cracker Jack Diving Championship. Beginning divers from all across Northern Virginia will compete at Cardinal Hill Pool in Vienna. The annual Cracker Jack Invitational, the world’s largest one-day diving competition, had more than 350 divers participating in last year’s meet.

Open warm-ups will start at 8 a.m. At 8:45 a.m., six and under girls and 10-year-old girls will be allowed on the boards. A 15-minute warm-up is scheduled before each event following. The meet will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and will continue until the final diver has finished.

Over the past 20 years, Cracker Jack divers have gone on to participate at NVSL All-Stars, on local high-school teams, in college programs, at regional and national events and, in some rare cases, at Olympic trials.

FC-A 14-Year-Olds Advance to States

After a tough battle with Greater Fairfax in the District tournament, the Falls Church Annandale (FC-A) Babe Ruth 14-year-olds advance to the Babe Ruth State Tournament, held this year at Park View High School in Sterling.

The recent District Six tournament – July 11-13 – was hosted by FC-A Babe Ruth at Annandale High School and pitted FC-A against the Greater Fairfax team. The best-of-three tournament tested both teams over a steamy July weekend. FC-A captured the win in Friday’s contest 13-9 and Greater Fairfax came back Saturday 10-5 to tie the series at one apiece. FC-A manager, Tom Fields, praised his team’s toughness.

“FC-A has a roster of 13, but, we only had 10 players available Friday and lost one after that game, leaving us with nine players to make it through Saturday and Sunday,” said Fields. “Having no substitutes playing in 95 degree heat for a mandatory seven innings two days in a row is a heck of a challenge – You’re just one injury away from a forfeit.”

The FC-A nine got focused for the task at hand right after an intense mini-practice before Sunday’s game and left the tournament victorious.

“I am proud of this entire team and what they showed – we can’t wait for States,” said Fields. “Steady hitting and everyone doing their job pulled us through; it’s the little things that add up. Who knows what we can do with a full roster.”

FC-A faces Glen Allen Thursday, July 17 at 4 p.m. Follow the brackets at vababeruth.com.