The Alexandria Sportsman’s Club will sponsor the 52nd Annual Awards Banquet on May 22 honoring the top student-athletes from T.C. Williams, Episcopal, Bishop Ireton and St.Stephens & St. Agnes.
Awards will be given to one recipient in each of the fall, winter and spring sports. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour and dinner. At 8 p.m., the awards will be handed out and a recap of each recipients achievements will be chronicled.
The program will be held at the Holiday Inn (First Street in Alexandria). The guest speaker will be Mickey Matthews, veteran head football coach of the James Madison University Dukes.For more information, call Richard Downs (703-647-4520).
Powerhouse Lady Saints
Not only are the St. Stephens & St. Agnes Lady Saints lacrosse powers on the local and regional scale, they are also a power on the national level.In the most recent “LAX Power Girls High School National Rankings, SSSA was ranked #2 in the nation – only behind West Genesee, N.Y. The Saints, coached by veteran Kathy Jenkins, have been a local/regional/national power for more than a decade. Jenkins tutelage has made it possible for scores of her past and present players to earn college scholarships over the years.On the current team, all 11 seniors will play various levels of college ball in next year.Currently, the Red, White and Green weigh-in with an overall record of18-1. The Saints (’06 ISL Champions) are set to defend their ISL Title this season.
Big LAX win
May is playoff time and the St. Stephens girls lacrosse team is not the only top-notch program in the city. The Bishop Ireton Lady Cardinals defeated arch-rival Paul VI, 10-8 in the WCAC lacrosse quarterfinals (May 8) in Alexandria. Ireton, ’06 WCAC runners-ups, has been coached for six seasons by Amy Mantooth-Coffin, who played at Virginia Tech. Not only is the lacrosse community in Northern Virginia tight-knit, but the Virginia Tech alumni community in the Northern Virginia area is equally tight-knit.West Springfield High School (Fairfax County) is where Mantooth-Coffin played high school ball.With the Lady Cardinals quarterfinal win against Paul VI, they will advance to the ’07 WCAC semifinals versus an opponent yet to be determined.
Tough loss
In WCAC quarterfinal softball action, Bishop Ireton dropped a tough 4-2 decision to Elizabeth Seton, Md. With the loss, veteran pitcher Chrissy Sborz saw her WCAC career end on a down note. Sborz is very high in many all-time pitching records at Ireton.(The Cardinals are likely to qualify for the upcoming V.I.S. – Virginia Independent State – Tournament).Veteran head coach Mark Heiser also will conclude his coaching career at Ireton this spring. The ’86 Cardinal alumnus will be relocating to Memphis to take another job in high school athletics in July 2007.
BI out
In baseball, the Bishop Ireton Cardinals dropped a 7-0 WCAC quarterfinal decision to Paul VI on May 7 in Fairfax. The loss ended Ireton’s season with an overall record of 6-18. According to head coach Rich McCoppin, “We had a very young team. We had late inning leads in 8 or 9 games this season that we just weren’t able to hold. Our players were real good kids.
According to the coach, Tyler Dupre batted something like .490. Kevin O’Keefe and Eddie Boddie batted something like .350 and C.K. Kraft and Frankie Zare batted something like .300.”Dupre, who also plays football and basketball, was recently selected as the WCAC second-team catcher. Dupre, a junior, will lead a veteran Cardinal team next season.
SS advances
In other Alexandria private school baseball action, in the IAC first-round, St. Stephens & St. Agnes turned back Bullis 3-0 and Landon defeated Episcopal 9-1.The Saints [and Landon] will advance to the IAC semifinal round in which the ’07 league title will be decided amongst themselves, Georgetown Prep and St. Albans.
