By Ryan McCafferty and Nick Porr
Meridian High School
The Mustangs’ football team was on a bye this past week. They will play their regular season finale this Friday, against William Monroe at home.
Meridian Field Hockey defeated Fluvanna on Thursday night in the Regional Quarterfinal in an 8-0 rout, with Lucy Hladky scoring a hat trick. They will face Monticello on Tuesday at home with a berth in the Regional Finals at stake.
Meridian Volleyball concluded its regular season this past week, splitting a pair of home games as they beat William Monroe 3-1 on Tuesday but then lost 2-3 to Skyline on Thursday. Their playoffs will begin this Tuesday as they travel to Warren County, the top seeded team in the region. After dropping the first set 25-10, the Meridian Boys Volleyball team rallied to win the next two sets 25-18 and 15-8 to advance to the semifinal against Mt. Vernon this Friday.
Both the boys and the girls’ Cross Country teams won their district championships this week (for the first time since 2010!) with eleven members of the squads earning All-District accolades. They will play in the regional championship tournament on Wednesday.
Last weekend, the Meridian Mustang Competitive Cheer Team earned a runner-up finish at the 3B Regional competition in Brentsville, VA. The team edged out their competition in a closely scored contest coming in second behind current State Champion Runner-up’s The Brentsville Tigers. The team will travel to compete in the VHSL State Cheerleading Championships for the first time since 2001. The tournament will be held in Richmond on November 5th at VCU’s Siegel Center.
Falls Church High School
Football (3-6) meanwhile is flying high, having won their second game in their last three tries. This week brought a dominant 52-7 win over the struggling Lewis Lancers (1-8). They are currently out of the playoff race and play their final regular season game at home against Mt. Vernon (3-6) Friday night.
Volleyball’s solid regular season (10-7) culminated in playoff disappointment with a pair of losses this past week. In the first round of the district tournament, Falls Church was bounced by Justice 3-0. Despite getting swept the match was extremely close, losing the three sets by a total of just 7 points.
Haley Heironimous continued to tear through the cross country competition, placing first in the District Tournament at Burke Lake Thursday. As a team, the girls finished 5th. Boys Cross Country took third place behind an eighth place finish from Peter Kratz and a ninth place time from Max Gagermeier
The Region Tournament ended similarly, as 2-15 South County upset the Jaguars in the first round of the Region Tournament. Regardless of tournament struggles, the Jaguars finished with an winning record in region games for the first time since 2018-2019.
Justice High School
After eight long losses, varsity football (1-8) has their first win of the season. Friday night they beat the Annandale Atoms (3-7) 38-21 on the road. They have a chance to tack on one more win at beatable John R. Lewis (1-8) Friday.
Field Hockey faced Woodson themselves this past week, falling in the quarterfinals of the Regional tournament 6-0. The loss brings an end to a strong season anchored by a 5-2 record in regional play.
Volleyball began their District playoff run Tuesday beating the Justice Wolves across three close sets. The next night Hayfield would put them on the other end of a 3-0 blank, knocking them out in the Semifinals. They will open the Regional Tournament at home against Woodson Tuesday night. If they win they will face Alexandria City next Monday.
Cross Country competed at Districts Championships where the Girls team finished third and the Boys finished seventh.
Marshall High School
Football (2-7) dominated winless Wakefield 63-0 on the road last friday. They will finish up their season Friday at home against Herndon (6-3).
Volleyball (18-9) begins their Region Tournament with a quarterfinal match against James Madison(16-8) Tuesday night. Should they advance they will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between Chantilly (10-6) and Washington-Liberty (8-13).
Senior Haley Spoden ran an outstanding 18:18 to finish fourth in the Liberty District Championship. Sadly as a team Marshall struggled, finishing sixth out of seven. The Boys team meanwhile dominated, winning by 50 points. Four of the top six runners were Statesmen, led by race winner Seth Oliver.
