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The Top 10 Campaigns

With the 2012-2013 school year officially over we’re looking back and compiling top-10 lists of the best campaigns, best individual performances and best games we saw. The first countdown up is campaigns, a reflection on some wild, inspiring and succesful seasons put together by Central Virginia’s athletes. Check back each day as we work our way up the the list.

No. 1 – Goochland football, James River District, Region B and Group A Division 2 champions

Goochland football’s 2012 season ended in just sheer heartbreak. A team that was poised and expected to compete for a state title from the first snap came up just short in a thriller of a title game with Gretna. The 2013 edition? They didn’t have nearly the expectations, nearly the pressure. They also didn’t have nearly the start of the 2012 unbeaten-until-the-final squad. The 2013 Bulldogs fell to Monticello and Fork Union during out-of-district play while working out the kinks with a number of new faces in the lineup.

Goochland soldiered on though with multi-year starters like Mason Engel, Nathan Adams, Nathan Mattox and Scotty Pearce anchoring a stingy, dynamic defense. The offense came into its own too behind an experience offensive line as the season progressed, with David Dyer, Connor Saunders and Jordan Jefferson doing damage on the ground, while reserve freshman quarterback Reid Chenault’s arm gave the Bulldogs a new dimension in the passing game.

Goochland weathered an overtime battle with Buckingham during the regular season, bouncing back from those early season losses to put together an unbeaten run through the James River District. They beat the Knights again in the playoffs, this time handily, as part of a dominant postseason run. The closest any team got to derailing the suddenly dominant Bulldogs was King William, who engaged in a 63-36 shootout in the third round of the playoffs. Goochland romped in the state semifinal with a 35-0 win over Wilson Memorial that secured a spot in the final.

In the end, it was this less-heralded version of the Bulldogs that proved ready to go the distance, this time playing the spoiler against an Essex team that just like the 2012 Goochland squad that was unbeaten coming into the clash. Goochland ignited again, winning 41-14 to wrap up an incredible campaign with joy instead of that all-to-familiar heartbreak left from just one year prior.

No. 2 – Covenant girls lacrosse, VISAA Division 2 champions

Covenant’s girls lacrosse team just kept finding ways to get it done in 2013. With first year head coach Tara Hohenshelt running the show, the Eagles overcame injuries and an insanely thin bench to earn the school’s first ever state title in girls lacrosse.

The Eagles fought back time and time again during their title run, once even playing a player down for an entire game, a narrow loss to Trinity Episcopal. The squad’s strong core of seniors, including Jenna Clark,  Charlotte Delany and Division II player of the year Rachel Rapp, steadied the Eagles through that ebb and flow. Throw in the continued emergence of standout sophomore midfielder Sadie Bryant — whose second half run of goals in the Division II title game helped Covenant take control of the game — and the Eagles got better and better as the year wore on. A win over Albemarle served notice that Covenant’s small band of players was due for some big things as the postseason approached.

The Eagles delivered, bringing home the state championship and completing an improbable, incredible season.

No. 3 – Blue Ridge football, VISAA Division 2 champions

Blue Ridge football had a few things to retool in 2012, but most of the pieces were in place. It just wasn’t clear how far those pieces could take the Barons. With a combination of a stingy defense and a multi-faceted rushing attack, those pieces proved to be enough for the Barons to go the distance, winning the school’s first state football title since 1994. While many local teams rode the success of a bumper crop of quarterbacks that included Christian Hackenberg, Kent Henry, Rashard Davis and Jhalil Mosley, the Barons instead pounded it out. Whether it was bruiser Jared Arntzen, scatback Shawn Steen or the versatile Cody Pegram, Blue Ridge had the ability to grind the clock behind a large offensive line. And if opponents loaded the box? Leon Straus, Darryl Smith or P.J. White could stretch defenses vertically enough to keep everyone honest.

The defense was just as capable of clogging up the run game with defensive end Ryan Etheridge as it was at defending the pass with ballhawks Steen, Straus and Smith patrolling the secondary. The Barons picked up some key wins over squads like St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes as well as local opponents St.Anne’s-Belfield and Covenant en route to a No. 2 seed in the state tournament.

Blue Ridge had to shake off missing personnel and a halftime deficit in the state semifinals, beating Christchurch to avenge one of their only regular season losses. Blue Ridge then rolled in the state championship game in style, beating Nansemond Suffolk 41-16 to wrap up one of the finest football seasons in school history.

No. 4 – Monroe baseball, Bull Run and Region B champions, Group A quartefinalist

There wasn’t any question that William Monroe baseball coach Mike Maynard would have his team competing at a high level, that’s his nature. Still, while the cupboard wasn’t empty, it wasn’t hardly full for the start of the 2013 season with so many key seniors having departed after last year’s Group A championship run, including two of the top three pitchers and four of the team’s top hitters.

But out of the gate, the Dragons looked like they hadn’t missed a beat, and they didn’t until the second round of Bull Run District play as they extended last season’s winning streak, which began in March of last year and went 42 games long until they barely fell to Masapponax.

For a group full of underclassmen and only one senior starter from last year, the expectations were that 2013 was a speed bump on the way to another potential state title run for the class of 2014. Instead Monroe rolled through to a Bull Run District regular season and tournament championships to go along with a Region B title.

With Jack Morris answering the call to replace Jordan Gentry as the team’s number one pitcher by throwing multiple no-hitters, and Austin Batten and Keegan Woolford providing the best 3-4 hitting combination in the area, the Dragons were every bit as dominant as they were in 2012 or 2013 (all three of those pieces are back for 2014 by the way). But it was the hitting from the Anthony Sneksa’s, the all-around play of Trey Lam and the few seniors, Ryan Leake and Gary Morris that were the difference makers in helping Monroe to maintain its status as arguably the best the baseball program for the last three years going.

Sure the Dragons fell in heart breaking fashion to Nandua in the Group A quarterfinals, but that this programs was able to lose what it did, make a run at the VHSL record for most wins in a row, and still compete for a state championship was nothing short of remarkable.

No. 5 – Fork Union football, Prep League Champions, VISAA Division 1 runnerup

In his final year at the helm of Fork Union’s football program Micky Sullivan decided not to take a victory lap. It would have been easy to put together a straight forward schedule with the standard VISAA Division 1 rivals the Blue Devils have, a post-graduate team sprinkled in and just run with it to make a playoff push.

Instead Sullivan (who doubles as the FUMA athletic director) arguably put together the most challenging regular season slate the Blue Devils have ever put together, putting his team on ESPN against a vaunted Group AAA program in Hermitage for the season opener to go with another celebrated (and eventual state championship team) in Group A power Goochland and a notorious Group AA giant in Powhatan. Those were just the public schools this team had to face to open up their season. Throw in the usual VISAA Division 1 suspects like Liberty Christian, Benedictine and Woodberry Forest and the Blue Devils played 11 games before the playoffs.

After getting roughed up to start the year, Fork Union won eight of their next nine contests, falling in the final seconds to LCA while rolling to victories in the rest of their impressive schedule to earn a playoff berth. Facing Benedictine at Fluvanna County High, FUMA was in an 11-point hole at the end of the third quarter. The Blue Devils rallied past the Cadets in one of the wildest finishes you’ll see in any game, much less in a state semifinal. While Fork Union came up just one win shy of finishing with a dream season for both Sullivan and his decorated senior class as Liberty Christian came up with a win in the VISAA championship, what this group accomplished between the end of August through November was nothing short of impressive.

Behind senior leaders like quarterback Christian Hackenberg, safety Malcolm Cook, defensive end Brett Seigel, linebacker T.J. Dudley and countless others, Sullivan and his seniors final effort on the high school gridiron stands out as a shining example on how to chose to face adversity and find a way to overcome it at various points throughout the year. It’s going to be a long time before we see a private school thrive against the odds of an insane schedule this group did.

No. 6 – Monticello girls basketball, JD and Region II championship, Group AA final four

Five years ago, Monticello’s girls basketball team won just two games. A lot of programs turn things around to some extent in high school sports, but for a squad to transform from doormat to state semifinalist in just four years in a sport as competitive as basketball? That’s an incredible climb.

Monticello pulled it off, and nearly upended Spotswood in the state semifinals to keep that run going. The Mustangs built on a strong 2011-2012 where they won the program’s first playoff game and Jefferson District tournament title with a sweep of the JD regular season and tournament. The Mustangs then earned the program’s first ever Region II title with a win over arch rival Western Albemarle and beat Poquoson in the state quarterfinals to earn a final four berth.

It wasn’t just standouts Molly Shephard (Scrimmage Play’s player of the year as a sophomore), Meghan Comer or Bridget Holleran getting the job done either, though all three carried the Mustangs at various times. Instead, it was Kiana Scott’s buzzer beater against the Islanders, Cierra Hall’s deadly shooting at critical times and Emily Larabee’s scrappy defense that proved the Mustangs were more than the sum of their parts. That combination of factors proved to be enough to vault the Mustangs to the best season in program history and make them a major factor in Central Virginia girls basketball. 

No. 7 – Albemarle volleyball wins 29 straight, CD championship, Group AAA berth

You don’t own the record for most wins ever in VHSL history by having back-to-back rebuilding seasons. The argument could easily be made that Albemarle volleyball coach Mark Ragland did his best coaching job back in 2011, getting his younger players ready for the run that the Patriots were poised to make this past fall. But nobody expected this, least of all Ragland.

Nobody will dwell on the two losses that Albemarle had this year, both coming in the postseason. Instead what will be remembered, officially in the record books, is the 29 wins that preceded it, the best streak ever in the program’s storied history. That’s a flawless run through the Patriots’ challenging non-district slate and an even tougher Commonwealth District run. An unbeaten regular season, a perfect record heading into the Northwest Region championship, the Patriots earned their way back into the Group AAA tournament for the first time since 2009 in impressive fashion, winning each game they played for more than a two month stretch. That’s unheard of, especially at the Group AAA level.

Senior stalwarts Caroline Porco (libero) and Jessica Block (setter) were the foundation of a fundamentally sound squad, a staple of all Ragland’s best teams dating way back. But the rise of hitters for this team, from Sarah Woods, Hannah Deal, Savannah Morse, Colleen Marhsall and Lexi Brown to Chelsea Woodfolk gave Albemarle amazing depth. Ragland had no qualms constantly rotating the starters up front and his bench, most of which that would start at any other school, was the true wild card for this team that didn’t lose until November.

There have been some amazing teams to play for Ragland in his team at the helm of the Patriots. What the 2012 team did rivals the Group AAA championship squad back in 2008. That’s saying something given the level of play Albemarle is asked to compete at.

No. 8 – Charlottesville field hockey, JD and Region II champs, Group AA/A final four

It didn’t end the way that Charlottesville’s field hockey team wanted it to — not by any means as they absorbed a 7-1 blowout loss in the Group AA/A semifinals — but 2012 was an incredible ride for the Black Knights.

The Black Knights took things up a notch during at the close of the season, beating Western Albemarle in the Jefferson District championship, the squad’s only win in three chances against the Warriors that year. They then blitzed through the Region II tournament with a blowout win over Kettle Run and earned a berth in the final four with a 5-3 win over Fauquier in the tournament final. That set up the clash with Chancellor that turned into just the fourth loss of the season for a young Charlottesville squad that’s clearly on track to become one of the area’s field hockey powerhouses.

That starts with sophomore Kendall Ballard, who’s changed the entire dynamic for Charlottesville and earned Region II player of the year honors this season. But this year it was about how she elevated the play of the other key members of the squad, with Maddy Eure coming on strong late and Emily Lichtenberger playing big time hockey at key junctures. There was Hollis Camp earning first team All-Region II honors. There was a big break in the arrival of exchange student Marie Schneider, who gave CHS another high octane scorer.

With coach Lindsay Larson leading the way, Charlottesville maximized the talent it had and put together the most wins in the program’s history — a 15-4 mark that showed just how far the program had come in a short time. The Black Knights went from not qualifying for the Region II tournament three years ago to fighting it out for a spot in the state title game in 2012. 

No. 9 – Orange County softball, CD and NW Region champions, Group AAA final four

Orange County softball often set the mark for softball  at the Group AA level, taking back-to-back state titles in the 1990’s. The transition to Group AAA was a hurdle but one that the Hornets found a way to rise above. The 2013 season was one of transition as longtime coach John Henry Ryder stepped aside and vouched for his assistant Doris Buzzell to take over. The first year coach took over a team loaded with underclassmen and a few seniors.

Buzzel and those seniors made some kind of run of it in their lone season with Buzzell at the helm. With Virginia Tech signee Aysha Richardson playing at an elite level both as the team’s leadoff hitter and maintaining her reputation as one of the best pitchers ever to come through Central Virginia, the Hornets had a solid foundation to build on. But Richardson coupled with fellow seniors Haley Jones at shortstop, Kristen Anderson at third base, and Caroline Calloway gave the Hornets as good an infield, both fielding and hitting wise as any coach could ask for. Sophomore talents like Jamie Anderson and Alexis Bledsoe were just icing on the cake.

In all, this strong defensive team that made the most of its speed on offensive and small ball execution went on a tear through April, May and into June and at the highest level. Orange took the Commonwealth District titles in both the regular season and the tournament. They then took a pair of Northwest Region tourney games at home and went on the road to earn the last possible home game a team can for the Group AAA quarterfinals. There they took down James Madison to punch their ticket to Group AAA final four, the jubilee at Westfield High where they were tied with Great Bridge at 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.

For a team with so many underclassmen, a new coach and at level of competition that is as hard as it gets, Orange County’s softball team took what was old hat at the Group AA level the last 15 years and stepped it up to a place where expectations next year will remain sky-high.

Given all the moving parts, schedule wise, coaching wise, personnel wise, any team that gets to a Group AAA final four had a banner year.

No. 10 – Covenant boys tennis, sixth consecutive VISAA title

Sure, they’d already won five straight state tennis titles. Yeah, they’d piled up individual award after award before 2013.

But this year, Covenant’s boys tennis team just blew the doors off people and beat teams that, frankly, they didn’t have much business beating before this year. And, perhaps, didn’t this year with few upperclassmen in the mix and a ton of young talent stocking the squad’s top six.

The Eagles took things to another level in this spring’s campaign, beating traditional Division I and Prep League powers Woodberry Forest and Collegiate while also blowing out the area’s usual gold standard for boys tennis that was in a rebuilding year, Western Albemarle. Against Collegiate, the No. 4 seed in this year’s Division I tournament, Covenant gutted out tough wins in several sets, with No. 1 Jack Thomas winning 8-6, Matthew Rose winning 8-3, Sam Adamson winning 8-4 and Kevin Coleman winning 9-7. Only Roger Wang cruised, rolling 8-0 in his match at No. 6. It was a defining performance for the Eagles that proved Covenant had to be considered among the state’s best, regardless of division or classification.

The Eagles finished 19-1 on the year and proved themselves against any and all comers, including a 5-1 victory in the state final (8-1 after both squads agreed to play doubles with the title already decided) over North Cross. It avenged one of the Eagles’ only really close calls, a 6-3 win over North Cross in the VIC tournament final.

Wire-to-wire, Covenant boys tennis put together one of the area’s finest seasons. While 19-1 all but says it all, if you dig a little deeper and look at who Covenant played, it’s quite clear that even after six straight titles, this year was particularly special.

Honorable Mentions

William Monroe boys basketball, Bull Run District champions, Group A Division 2 final four

Albemarle boys lacrosse, West Central Division, West Central champs, Group AAA/AA quarterfinalist

Madison County softball, Bull Run District champions, Group A Division 1 runnerup

Goochland softball, James River, Region B champions, Group A Division 2 runnerup

Monticello football, Region II finalist

Western Albemarle girls lacrosse, West Central Divison, West Central champs, Group AAA/AA quarterfinalist

Charlottesville football, Region II quarterfinalist

Goochland volleyball, James River District champions, Group A Division 2 quarterfinalist

Woodberry Forest boys lacrosse, VISAA Division 1 semifinalist

Covenant boys lacrosse, VISAA Division 2 runnerup

Western Albemarle girls tennis, VHSL Group AA runnerup

William Monroe golf, Group A champions

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