9 minute read
Sports
Boys lacrosse team off to great start
By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor
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Closing in on the final seconds of what would be an 11-7 win for the Goochland boys junior varsity lacrosse team against Orange County on March 16, head coach Matt Leynes could sense the moment firmly cemented in history.
In the first game in program history, the Bulldogs were able to secure a victory despite boasting a roster that had nearly as many newcomers to the sport as it did experienced lacrosse players. In fact, Leynes counted 10 of his 24 players had never picked up a lacrosse stick until the team began their offseason conditioning just two months before their first game.
That victorious moment, Leynes says, stands atop his personal coaching Mount Rushmore.
“That will go down as one of the top moments in my coaching career,” Leynes said. “You can’t make it up, that’s something special, and to do it at home as the first game in program history, it just meant so much.”
While Leynes has been coaching the sport for over eight years, including running his own travel team, he saw the coaching position with the JV Bulldogs in their inaugural season as an opportunity he had never tackled before, and seeing how the team has progressed to a 5-2 record in its first few months of infancy, he can’t help but be pleased.
“Every one of my 24 players wants it and is committed to the game of lacrosse. It just makes it easy on the coach to deliver,” Leynes said.
Leynes credits the support from athletic director Joe Fowler, principal Chris Collier and Goochland Middle School vice principal Patrick Gordon as key components to getting the program up and running, and with the necessary team resources to draw interested athletes in, the program is already fast tracked to have a varsity team along with the current JV team by next season.
Among the pioneering Bulldogs are a few players familiar with Leynes as a coach with his team Tomahawk Lacrosse, including freshman midfielder and captain Andrew Craddock as well as goalie Wyatt Richardson.
Craddock, who has played lacrosse since the third grade, is one of the more experienced players on the team, and says he sees the rapid progress the team has made firsthand.
“A lot of people on this team are just naturals at this game,” he said.
One of the most fast-developing aspects of the team has been the three-man defensive back line consisting of juniors Josh Usry and Easton Bowman along with freshman Charlie Darr, all three of whom have never played lacrosse up until this season.
The trio all come from football backgrounds with Goochland, and Usry says the unique physicality of lacrosse drew him into the new opportunity.
“Although the physicality rules are different, it’s kind of the same mindset in football and how you’re supposed to hit,” Usry said. “That physical mindset of you versus the other person translated well to lacrosse and I liked that.”
While even Usry will admit he still needs to improve on his stick-handling and defensive skills, he’s quickly grown into a talented and vital part of the team’s early success, even being named a team captain.
“Being a leader on the team is one of the greatest opportunities I’ve been presented with. I really do love this team,” he said. “I know it’s very unusual for someone who is not necessarily the best or they’re still developing their skills to be a team captain, but I just try to do my best to have a relationship with everybody on the team and try my best to take criticism from people.”
The Bulldogs have also found a true star in the goalscoring department with junior Adger Cardani, who is averaging four goals per game and Leynes says is a top-tier, varsity-level talent. Leynes also credits Cardani as a humble leader the team has rallied behind over the course of the season.
While Goochland’s success has been a welcome surprise to all involved with the program, Leynes says the hardest obstacle is yet to come.
When the Bulldogs elevate from the JV level to varsity next season, the teams of the Jefferson District won’t go easy on the new kids.
That hasn’t stopped this group before though, and with wins against respectable programs like Monticello, Mechanicsville and Charlottesville, this scrappy and rising young group has sky-high ambitions of competing with the best of the best in the district once they reach the next level.
“I really hope that Goochland lacrosse can grow and that we one day will have a chance of being in that top spot at the varsity level,” Craddock said.
With a coach that cares passionately about teaching the game the right way, and a team of 24 kids that have consistently given it their all, it doesn’t seem far-fetched to think that these trailblazing Bulldogs have what it takes to reach those heights.
Photos by Robby Fletcher
Left, freshman team captain Andrew Craddock makes a run up the field with the ball in the mesh of his stick as he quickly turns defense into offense in Goochland’s 10-9 win against Charlottesville on April 15. Right, junior Adger Cardani surveys the field moments before he scores an early first quarter goal.
Goochland track and field steps up in busy week
By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor
Competing in two meets in three days, the Goochland track and field team showed out on both occasions with several great performances.
In the first meet hosted by Lousia County on Wednesday, April 20, the Bulldog boys finished in second place out of seven schools, while the girls finished in third to round out a stellar day.
Then on Saturday, the Bulldogs traveled to Fork Union to compete in the heavily anticipated Gus Lacy Track Classic, where the girls finished 10th out of 19 competing schools and the boys finished 13th out of 21.
It was a tremendous week on the track, especially for sophomore Jade Taylor, who won first place in two hurdles events while also setting a new Goochland record in the 300meter hurdles.
After placing third on Wednesday in the 300 hurdles with a time of 50.20 seconds, Taylor stepped up in her next appearance with a blazing 48.15-second pace that not only won Goochland the competition, but broke a record that’s been untouched since 2004 when Carlotta Jackson set it at 49.65 seconds.
Taylor wasn’t just content with that historical time though; she also placed second in the 200-meter dash and first in the 100-meter hurdles at Louisa before placing fourth at Fork Union in the 100 hurdles. In the 200, she finished the race in 27.84 seconds.
Her 16.16-second 100meter hurdle time that gave her fourth place was even faster than her 16.40-second first place effort, a fantastic feat for a runner that’s quickly becoming a star in the making.
Taylor wasn’t the only winner on Wednesday for the girls, fellow sophomore Leilani Burgess took home first with her 200-meter dash result of 27.70 seconds and in the 400-meter dash at 1:06.34.
At the Gus Lacy Track Classic, she also turned in a third place high jump result of 4 feet, 9 inches, showcasing her versatility to the traveling Goochland fans in attendance.
On the boys side, senior Omarion Quarles had a great week as well, highlighted by a photo finish victory against Central’s NyJae Carter in the 100-meter dash at Louisa. Quarles won by just 0.03 seconds in a nail-biting finish that saw him cross the finish line at 11.96 seconds.
He followed that performance up with a fantastic run in the 200 dash as well, winning that in 23.94 seconds. His teammate Jack Alston was close behind in second with a 24.48-second finish.
Later on at Louisa, junior Wyatt Davis and freshman Owen Walton turned in solid second and third place results in the 400-meter dash among 29 runners, with a time of 55.65 seconds for Davis and 57.05 for Walton.
In the 800-meter, eighthgrade standouts David Johnson and Maverick Busher also finished second and third, with Johnson finishing at 2:23.04 and Busher at 2:30.52.
It was also a great week for senior Alexander Rosenbaum, who won the shot put and discus competitions at Louisa and placed in the top-10 in both at Fork Union.
In his first place shot put performance, Rosenbaum bested 23 competitors with a 39-foot, 5.50-inch distance, while his discus throw of 12703 shattered any chance for his opponents to win, with the next best result coming in at 98-04.
Rosenbaum improved on both of those results later in the week, though his 128-04 discus throw placed him in fourth and his 40-09.00 shot
Photos by Nick Cooley
From left to right: sophomore Jade Taylor competes in a hurdles competition, sophomore Megan Reid runs in a relay and freshman Owen Walton competes in a relay after running the 400-meter dash on April 20.
put distance was good for sixth place in a stacked competition.
The Bulldogs will compete again on May 6, when they travel to the Caroline Invitational held in Milford, Virginia.
Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.
Bulldog roundup: Multiple teams battle the Hornets
By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor
The baseball team gave a strong defensive performance against the Orange County Hornets on April 21, a team that stands among the best in the Jefferson District with a 7-2 record. Despite a solid performance, the Hornets were able to pull out a 2-0 victory.
It was still an impressive night on the mound for junior A.J. Condrey, who allowed just five hits in six innings pitched. He also struck out four batters. It was also a productive day for Corey Mullins at bat, with the sophomore going two-for-two to lead the Bulldogs offense. The Bulldogs will face Western Albemarle next on April 28.
In the softball team’s game against Orange County, who are a perfect 9-0, the Bulldogs suffered their toughest loss of the season against a rolling Hornets team that has looked unstoppable to start the season. Losing 8-1, the Bulldogs did get a run at the top of the sixth after a Jayden Staton ground out advanced Abrielle White to home. The Bulldogs will travel to Western Albemarle in their next game on April 28.
The boys and girls soccer teams also had matchups with Orange County, with both taking tough losses. The boys fell to the 5-1-1 Hornets 5-2 in the road contest, but goals by sophomore Duncan Pillion and junior Gintautas Putinas show that the team is still making progress offensively.
The girls, meanwhile, lost 4-0 to a Hornets team that is undefeated at 6-0. The girls travel to Caroline for a matchup on April 29 while the boys host that same Caroline team that day.
The girls lacrosse team continues to look for its first win of the season, with the girls last playing at home against the Charlottesville Black Knights, who left with an 18-0 win. The girls play again in a road matchup with Thomas Dale on April 28 at 6 p.m.
Rounding the week up, the tennis teams fell in matchups against Albemarle on April 20, with the boys losing 8-1 and the girls falling 9-0.
Photo by Robby Fletcher
