Sports

Photos by Nick Vandeloecht/Goochland Gazette

Goochland High School’s Megan Reid (from left), Abigail Salyer, Drew Meiller and David Johnson compete in last Wednesday’s meet at Collegiate’s Robins Campus in Goochland County.

Collegiate wins home meet, Goochland competes

Staff Reports

Collegiate swept both the team and individual boys and girls races in its Wednesday home meet featuring Goochland, Midlothian, Clover Hill, Meadowbrook and Cristo Rey.

In the girls race, Collegiate’s M.K. Myers took first (20:52.32) and her teammate Gabriela Linkonis finished second (22:06.38). Collegiate runners Rosie Ferrell (22:52.92), Maddie McComb (22:53.04), Giles Ferrell (22:58.39) and Kathryn Sutherland (23:06.80) placed fourth through seventh, and their teammate Cattherine Horner (24:17.98) finished 10th.

Megan Reid represented Goochland in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish (23:24.44), and Abigail Salyer placed 11th (24:31.20). Goochland’s remaining finishers were Anna Gagnon (25:36.85), Alex Geyer (25:46.79), Nadia Esposito (25:53.18), Leah Kelley (26:25.84), Maggie Goodman (27:07.63), Ginna Boggs (30:10.83), Ava Nadolski (35:53.50) and Abigail Nadolski (38:43.10).

Collegiate’s Stan Craig won the boys race (17:43.58), Jonathan Yackel took second (17:51.62) and Ian Quindoza was the team’s final finisher in the top five in fourth (18:13.75). Taking seventh through ninth were Will Edwards (18.20.73), Hugh Williams (18:28.05), and Liam Harbour (18:36.02).

Goochland’s finishers in the boys race were Drew Meiller (21:14.25), David Johnson (21:28.73), Cody Ware (21:52.47), Ben McCray (23:38.51), Grayson Cagwin (23:54.71), Owen Walton (24:12.20), Will Browning (24:21.64), Jonah Bruce (25:35.49), Wyatt Dameron (25:55.30), Lleyton Southerland (27:53.71) and Caiden Nitsch (28:08.42).

In Saturday’s Pole Green Invitational, Reid finished 20th (23:26) in the Girls Emerging Elite 5k. Also competing in the race for Goochland were Esposito (25:26), Geyer (25:27), Callie Horst (26 minutes) and Goodman (26:12).

Johnson ran 29th (20:21) in the Boys Emerging Elite 5k. Additional finishers in the race from Goochland were Cagwin (21:36), Ware (21:40), McCray (21:46) and Browning (22:48).

Goochland cross country was slated to host Fluvanna and Orange on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs will compete in a Fork Union Military Academy invitational on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will also compete against Orange, Western Albemarle and host team Charlottesville this coming Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Goochland volleyball splits games in second week

By Nick Vandeloecht Sports Editor

GOOCHLAND -- In their second week of games this fall, the Goochland Bulldogs routed Maggie Walker Governor’s School in the two teams’ second meeting of the season (25-8, 25-15, 25-10) on Tuesday, then took a four-set setback in their first Jefferson District matchup with Western Albemarle (2520, 22-25, 18-25, 20-25) on Thursday.

In the Bulldogs’ second straight win over the Green Dragons, outstanding players, according to the coaches, were Nova Wonderling (hitter), Nicole Brown (setter), Audrey Dolan (defensive specialist) and Blair Bussells (defensive specialist). Tuesday’s win was also Goochland’s first game in 12 days.

“It’s always good to start out, after a long time off, with a win,” said Goochland head coach Rachel Jacobsen.

In Thursday’s loss to Western, Wonderling unleashed a team-leading 20 kills and added 3 aces and eight digs, Nina Smith rocked 15 kills and added a dig, Bussells led the team defensively with 17 digs and Brown led the team at setting with 41 assists while adding 6 blocks, 3 kills and an ace.

In the first set, Jacobsen said that the players were working really well together, and she praised their communication. But she added: “I think when we got into the next set, we were starting to think too much, and I think we just needed to get out there and play, stop worrying about what was going on on the scoreboard.”

At times in every single set following the first one, Goochland played as if it wasn’t looking at the score. The Bulldogs rocketed out of a 14-6 second-set deficit to tie the frame at 19-19. But the Warriors responded with a 4-0 burst and held on to win the set 25-22.

Goochland cut Western’s 23-13 third-set lead down to 24-18, but the visitors held on for set point.

The Bulldogs also battled Western in step in the fourth set, taking an 18-16 lead before the Warriors held on for a point at the net, blocked a comeback shot by Goochland to tie it at 18-18 and then grabbed the goahead and insurance points off of back-to-back aces delivered by Western’s 5-foot-10 senior powerhouse hitter Brooke Chavez. The Warriors from there burst ahead on a 4-1 run, then held on for match point.

Despite the loss, Jacobsen said: “We played really, really well. I was really proud of the girls. They fought really, really hard there.”

She added: “I think the biggest difference is: We’re playing much bigger teams than we have in the past, and this whole season is just going to be a learning curve for us getting used to big people in front of us, and I think that that’s a good thing. I told them at the beginning of the game... ‘I’m so excited to start playing big, big teams and challenging ourselves.’ We’re not going to get any better unless we’re playing in these big games, so I’m excited about it.”

Goochland will host Charlottesville today (Thursday, Sept. 16) at 6:30 p.m. and will play at Monticello next Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m. The Bullodgs will then host Albemarle on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 6:30 p.m.

Photos by Nick Vandeloecht/Goochland Gazette

Goochland’s Layla Ford (7) and Nova Wonderling (2) rise up for a block, and Nina Smith (30) goes for the attack in Thursday’s game versus Western Albemarle.

Benedictine breaks through for first season victory

Staff Reports

Benedictine football broke through for its first win of the season when it routed hosting Woodberry Forest 28-10 on Friday. Leo Boehling carried the ball 17 times for 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Xavier Mears carried the ball 15 times for 66 yards and one touchdown.

Henry Berling led the team with six tackles, including one for loss. Dylan Faniel had five tackles and one sack. Eddie Jackson III caught an interception and added four tackles.

Benedictine amassed 300 yards of offense (174 rushing, 126 passing) and held Woodberry Forest to 147 yards total (97 passing, 50 rushing). The victory was a bounceback effort from the Cadets’ 20-14 setback to Friendship Collegiate School in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 3.

Benedictine will get a oneweek bye before playing at Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington D.C.) on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. The Cadets’ home opener will take place on Friday, Oct. 1, versus St. Christopher’s at 4 p.m.