A Banner Season for Alexandria Sports

Bishop Ireton's baseball team finished as WCAC runner-ups.

In reviewing in part the just-concluded school year, a few of the highlights included the following:

• The St. Agnes/St. Stephens girls lacrosse team won another ISL as well as another VIS Championship.

• The Bishop Ireton girls lacrosse team finished the season as WCAC Runners-ups.

• The Thomas Jefferson girls tennis team finished as Virginia State AAA Runners-ups.

• The Mount Vernon boys lacrosse team won the National District Title.

• The Edison boys soccer team finished as National District Runners-ups.

• The Bishop Ireton baseball team also finished as WCAC Runners-ups.

• The T.C. Williams boys basketball team won another Northern Region Title - defeating their arch-rival Hayfield in the process (consequently the Hawks finished as Northern Region Runners-ups).

• The T.C. Williams girls basketball team also finished as Northern Region Runners-ups (to Oakton).
  

And last fall, the Edison Eagle football team finished as the Northern Region Division V Champions, with a convincing victory versus James Madison of Vienna.

There were also a host of individual champions in a number of sports such as Tynita Butts of T.C. Williams winning the Virginia AAA State high jump title and Emily Koppleman of Annandale winning the Northern Region Title in both the shot put and the discus.

The above is just a smattering of the fall-winter-spring accomplishments.

Alexandria Sportsmen's Club

At the June 16 meeting of the Alexandria Sportsman's Club, local collegiate football was discussed with an emphasis on the program at Georgetown University. Several coaches spoke and a free light dinner was held afterwards. The club does not sponsor meetings in July or August. Consequently, the next meeting will be the third Tuesday of September, specifically entitled "local high school football in the City of Alexandria".

NFL Training Camps

The NFL training camps are scheduled to open in approximately one month. Two local alumni are set to play rather large roles during the upcoming season.

Arizona Cardinal running back Tim Hightower (Episcopal '04) played in the Super Bowl this past February and is looking forward to an excellent "sophomore season" in the NFL.

Cleveland Browns linebacker Eric Barton (Edison '95) recently joined the Browns this past offseason, having played the '08/'09 season for the New York Jets.

Hightower played collegiately at the University of Richmond; Barton played collegiately at the University of Maryland.

College Training Camps

The college football training camps will not open until early/mid August.

Among the high profile players from the Alexandria area, two are expected to play big roles at Virginia Tech.

Danny Coale (Episcopal '07) will be a redshirt sophomore wide receiver for the Hokies; Ben Barber (Edison '08) will be a true freshman wide receiver for the Hokies. Barber attended New River Community College last year in an attempt to get a handle on his school work.

Coale caught nearly 40 passes this past season and finished second in receptions amongst the Va. Tech wideouts.

Also, from the Alexandria area - Ian Davidson (St. Stephens/St. Agnes '06) will compete for time on the defensive line at the University of Maryland.

In addition, Andrew Rodriguez (Ireton '08) will compete for time at linebacker at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, N.Y.).

Contact the writer at dgsusa@juno.com