Oakcrest Stars Set to Play in College; Krista Kelly Shines for Mason; FC Lax Report; Marshall Softball 10-3
FALLS CHURCH H.S.
Falls Church High School’s boys lacrosse team is 3-4 on the year after falling to Yorktown High on April 19, 13-3.
“We lost 95 percent of the face-offs” in the game, coach Geoff Young told the News-Press. “My three best face-off guys did not play, so we were undermanned. We did not play badly, we just could not win a face-off, and that is 50 percent of the game. If you can’t get the ball you can’t score. We used six different players to face-off and five of them had never done it in a game. That will help us down the road, but it did not last night.”
Young said that his team’s leaders include senior defenseman James Hulette, who leads the team ground balls and face-off wins, and Freddie Flores, a senior who has a team-best 17 goals this year.
“Dylan Jeon is also doing a very nice job for us,” Young continued. “Goaltending is a joint effort from David Trieu and Stephen Clarke, and both are doing an outstanding job. We are very young: We start a lot of sophomores and freshmen, but we are starting to gel and we are improving each week. Playoffs start the week of May 10th and I think we will have something for the National District. I like our chances.”
The team will host Mt. Vernon High on April 23.
“They are a very athletic and fast team,” Young said. “They will test and we will need to control the tempo and the ball to have a chance. We can’t run up and down the field with them: We will need to play the ball control game. They have a talented club and it will take our best effort to compete with them.”
The girls tennis squad trounced Edison 8-1 on April 14, but was beaten 1-8 by Yorktown High on April 19.
Meghan Farrell, the team’s No. 2 singles player, is 6-2 on the season. Farrell teams with No. 1 singles player Clara Dombroski on the school’s No. 1 doubles team. Farrell and Dombroski are 5-3 as a team.
Evelina Voronina, the team’s No. 3, is also 6-2 on the year. Corrine Chagnot, Hannah Yi, and Katelyn Thomas round out the Jaguars’ top six.
The team hosts Stuart High on April 28 at 4 p.m.
OAKCREST SCHOOL
Oakcrest School held a signing ceremony on April 14 to celebrate two athletes, Sarah Kenis of Herndon, and Tori Jensen of Silver Spring, who have signed to play NCAA college sports.
Kenis signed to swim for the Lewis University Flyers, a Division II school in Illinois. She holds nine school records six as an individual and three as a member of a relay. She has also been named the team MVP/high point for last three years.
Tori Jensen will play Volleyball for Belmont Abbey College, a Division II school in North Carolina. An outside hitter, she has been the MVP for Oakcrest during the past two years and led the team in kills and service points. She was named PVAC Player of the Year in 2009, as she helped Oakcrest win the league volleyball title.
GEORGE MARSHALL HIGH
The Marshall Lady Statesmen won a tight girls softball game against defending Liberty District champion Stone Bridge on April 15.
Marshall’s offense was sparked in the fifth inning by Kellie Marsh’s homer over the center field fence.
Stone Bridge loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs and scored on an infield single. The Marshall defense ended the inning with a game-saving catch by Olivia Ellis in center field. In the Marshall half of the sixth, Christine Grilliot started the inning with a single up the middle followed by Meghan McNabb with another single. Marsh walked to load the bases. Kayla Marsh stepped to the plate and hit the ball hard to Stone Bridge’s third baseman. The ball was misplayed, plating Grilliot for the win.
Grilliot pitched a complete game, striking out seven.
The team routed then routed Thomas Jefferson High 14-0 on April 15 and lost to Madison High 7-2 on April 20, putting the squad at 10-3 on the year.
They’ll travel to McLean High on April 23 and host Fairfax on April 28.
GEORGE MASON HIGH
The girls lacrosse team is 7-0 after recent wins over West Potomac, Park View, and Freedom.
On April 12, they beat West Potomac 16-13, as senior goalie Meghan Powell collected 12 saves. Junior midfielder Abby Johansen led the Mustangs’ scoring with four goals, and senior defender Chelsea Wilkes won seven ground balls.
At Park View, junior attacker Amanda Rolander tallied the first goal of the game just 58 seconds in. With a halftime score of 12-0, the Mustangs were able to rotate in all players numerous times. 10 different Mustangs scored scored in the game. Johansen again had four goals, and senior center Gwen Edwards added three. Taylor Bottock, Kelly Ready, and Rolander had two goals each, and Michelle DeMars, Grace Kuipers, Christina Perez, Courtney Ready and Chantal Thomas chipped in a goal each.
On April 19, the Mustangs beat the Freedom High Eagles 12-8 as Edwards scored four goals and Johansen and Perez contributed two each. Bottock, Kuipers, Courtney Ready and Wilkes all added one goal. Powell saw lots of action in the cage: The Eagles took more than 20 shots, and she made 11 saves.
After starting the year 3-1, the girls softball team has slid to 4-7, which head coach Jonny Kelly largely attributes to injuries to three of his key players.
The squad was shutout 15-0 by both Park View High (on April 14), and Madison County High (on April 16).
The team had better luck on April 19, clobbering Lee High 15-7, as sophomore pitcher Krista Kelly collected 15 strikeouts and three putouts to earn the win. Kelly also had a good day at the plate, as did Rachel Bell, Julie Hillegass and Johanna Roche.
The next day, Kelly pitched well again, but the Mustangs’ D was lackluster and the team fell to Strasburg, 16-1.
“Hitting-wise, we’re doing well,” coach Kelly said. “Krista is pitching really well. We’re just playing thin right now and don’t have people in the right positions. When we get everyone back, we’ll be strong.”
