Fall sports season has officially begun at Meridian High School, as the Mustang football, field hockey, volleyball, and cross country programs all saw their first action of 2024 in the final week of August.
The week brought a mixed bag of results, with the girls’ field hockey squad — the same one that went undefeated all the way until the State Finals last year — once again carrying the banner.
They defeated Wakefield in an exciting 3-2 matchup on the road Tuesday, and that ended up being their only game of the week as Thursday’s scheduled home opener against Justice was postponed due to weather.
They’ll now face two more tough road opponents in Liberty-Bealeton on Tuesday and Heritage on Thursday this week, looking to continue picking up where they left off.
Unfortunately, not all of Meridian’s teams were victorious. Football lost 13-33 at McLean in its opener on Friday (the game was postponed from Thursday), and they will stay on the road to play Dominion this coming Friday as they look to even their record.
Both volleyball teams also opened their year with a pair of losses, with the new boys’ squad losing 3-0 to both South County (at Centreville) on Tuesday and against McLean on Thursday, while the girls also fell 3-0 to Warren County and at Kettle Run on those same nights.
The girls have a lighter schedule this week, facing only Fauquier on Wednesday, while the boys stay busy facing off against James Madison on Tuesday and at Westfield on Friday.
Golf’s only action last week was canceled, a scheduled competition against Millbrook on Wednesday, and the team will now prepare to take to the course this Thursday against John Handley at Winchester Country Club. Finally, to end things on a high note, cross country opened up its season at the Patriot Invite on Friday and had some impressive results against stiff competition. William Anderson led the boys with an individual 44th-place finish while Kai Mylroie was 78th, meanwhile Michelle Malheiro led the girls coming in 20th overall with Molly Moore in 29th.
They will be back on track this Wednesday, facing off at Brentsville.
