Hunt taken by Eagles in 3rd round
Tony Hunt (TCW ’03) was selected in the third round by the PhiladelphiaEagles in the April 28-29 NFL Draft. Hunt, who played running back at Penn State, wasthe 90th overall selection in this years NFL Draft.Hunt, with over 3,000 career rushing yards at PSU, weighs-in at fifthoverall in all-time rushing yards for the Nittany Lions.Hunt is the fourth all-time “Red, White and Blue” Titan to be drafted bythe NFL – following in the footsteps of Carl Carr (TC ’82), Ed Bunn (TC’86) and Keith Burns (TC ’90).
Simmons takes the helm
Bishop Ireton will welcome newly chosen athletic director W. WilliamSimmons effective July 1. Simmons was recently selected by the school to succeed MarkHeiser, who will officially step down June 30 after eight years on the job.Heiser made his intentions known weeks ago to accept the director ofathletics job at the Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn.During his eight seasons at Ireton, Heiser spearheaded a dramaticimprovement in the schools athletic facilities – including an all purpose football/soccer/lacrosse field – on Fannon Field.Many of the teams, especially many of the girls teams, grew dramaticallyin the number of participants as well as in win-loss percentage during Heiser’s tenure. Simmons, who has worked at the Cambridge Road School as the businessmanager (’99 and ’00) as well as the Dean of Students (’01-’02-’03-’04-’05 and ’06), has seen two of his three children graduate from the Alexandria private school.Ireton is a member of the WCAC – Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.In football only, “Cardinal and Gold” Ireton plays an independentschedule.
On to Tech
In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings (April 16), Danny Coale(Episcopal ’07) is one of many Episcopal, Ireton and St. Stephens & St.Agnes “near-graduates” who will still matriculate at Virginia Tech thisupcoming fall.Of all of the Maroon, Cardinal and Saint upcoming 2007 graduates, Coaleis the lone student from the Alexandria private high school triumviratehowever, that will be on full-scholarship to play Division 1 footballfor the Hokies.Coale, a wide receiver/defensive back/kick returner for Episcopal headcoach Mark Gowin, will more than likely play wide receiver in Blacksburg. Blacksburg will be a good bit closer to his home town ofLexington, Va. than Alexandria is.Episcopal draws their student body from a number of areas in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as from a number of east coast states.In addition to football, Coale also played lacrosse for “Maroon andWhite” Episcopal.Coale’s older brother Kevin (Episcopal ’03) is playing Division 1 lacrosse at the University of Virginia – Virginia Tech’s chief rival.
Awards night coming
The Alexandria Sportsman’s Club will sponsor the 52nd Annual Awards Banquet on May 22, which will honor the top high school 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. At 7 p.m., the dinner hour will commence. At 8, the awards will be handed out and a recap of each recipientsachievements will be chronicled.The program will be held at the Holiday Inn (First Street in Old Town).The guest speaker will be Mickey Mathews – veteran head football coach ofthe James Madison Dukes.For more information, call Richard Downs (703-647-4520).
Top ranked
In the most recent “LAX Power Girls High School Poll, the St.Stephens & St. Agnes girls were once again ranked first in the combinedVirginia-D.C.-Maryland Region.The Lady Saints, coached by veteran Kathy Jenkins, currently weigh-in at16-1 overall and are the odds on favorite to capture another ISL Title(May 12 – quarter-finals; May 13 – semi-finals and May 15 – finals).”We’re very athletic, said Coach Jenkins. We’re being more patient on offense. We are spreading “wide” so that we’ll be more effective with our shooting.”