Ireton Boys Cross Country Making Strides
The Bishop Ireton Boys Cross Country Team, under the leadership of head coach Brad Byrnes (class of 98) is focused on making the 08 campaign a quality one.
Byrnes, a former Ireton standout distance runner, has the luxury of both older and younger runners comprising the varsity squad.
We do have a young squad, but at the same time we have some good senior leadership as well, stated the 28-year old Byrnes.
Regarding his team breakdown, Byrnes responded, [Senior] Kevin Gottleib has been our most consistent runner this year as well as last year. He usually finishes 30 seconds or so ahead of our next couple of runners. [Sophomore] Jake Reichert and [freshman] Liam OConnor usually come in second and third respectively. [Senior] Dan Palmer (a captain, along with Gottleib) usually finishes in the fourth spot and [junior] Billy Burns usually finishes in the fifth spot. Our sixth and seventh runners, [sophomores] Michael Anderson and Murphy Costigan, may vary their order of finish from race to race. In addition, [senior] Colin Barkell may very well see a good bit of action on varsity this season.
Byrnes continued, Weve only had three meets so far this season. At the Oatlands Invitational, which was a huge meet, we placed 21st out of 59 total schools.
T.C. Williams Volleyball Update
The Lady Titans Volleyball Team dropped their most recent match and currently stand at 4-9 overall on the season (0-3 Patriot District).
T.C. dropped a very close three-games-to-two match to visiting Annandale October 6 and veteran head coach Rhea Butler lamented the lost opportunities.
Weve got the talent. We have some very good players, but we have been having trouble finishing matches, said Butler.
T.C. won game one and game four versus visiting Annandale, but the Atoms won games two, three and five to prevail.
Spearheading the Lady Titans charge this season are senior captains Danielle Thorne and Kelly Cavanaugh.
Coach Butler commented, Danielle is our main setter this season and Kelly has approximately 75 digs on the season.
Other Titans that have stepped up include seniors Analia Ayala, Brittany Kindle, Tammy Muhtadi and Dominique Vergara, juniors Nicole Burdett and Miranda Branch, and sophomore Emily Leidoff.
Coach Butler continued, Miranda [Branch], T.C.s tallest player at 511, probably has a minimum of 50 kills on the season.
The Patriot District Tournament is not too many days down the road and for the Titans to surge at the right time, coach Butler commented, We need to eliminate our mental mistakes.
Last season, T.C. finished 9-9 overall and just missed out on a regional playoff berth, reserved for the top four teams from each of the four districts.
Among T.C.s four wins this season are 3-0 victories against both Falls Church and Mount Vernon and a 3-1 victory against Yorktown.
Edison Volleyball Update
The Lady Eagles also dropped their most recent match and currently stand at 5-7 overall on the season.
On October 6, Edison dropped a three-games-to-zero match to visiting McLean and veteran head coach Matt Merante lamented the missed opportunities. We really had trouble passing the ball tonight, and when you have trouble passing [from the first hit to the second hit] it can really hurt, commented Merante.
Spearheading the Lady Eagle charge this season are senior captains Lisa Kindred and Lauren Marcinek. Coach Merante commented, Lisa leads us in kills this season with approximately 64 and Lauren [a defensive specialist] is an excellent player.
Other Eagles that have stepped up include seniors Shekyira Mann and Ariell Thompson, juniors Melissa Grignol and Deloris Mensah, and sophomores Kylie Hayes and Marnee Rand.
Coach Merante continued, Ariell [Thompson] leads us in assists this season with nearly 250 and Deloris [Mensah] leads us in digs with approximately 80 on the season.
In summing up his thoughts regarding the team, coach Merante responded, All of the girls are real pleasant to work with. They are team oriented and considering that we graduated six starters from last season, we are getting better.
Last season, the Eagles won both the National District Regular Season Title as well as the Tournament Title.
This season, Edison has defeated West Potomac (3-2), R.E. Lee and Wakefield (both 3-1) and Falls Church and G.C. Marshall (both 3-0).
