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Foreman’s solo almost wins title for Atlee
By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor
MECHANICSVILLE – If Atlee junior Jada Foreman could have run the 4x400-meter relay all by herself Friday, she might have won the Virginia High School League Class 5 state outdoor track and field championship . . . all by herself.
As it was, Midlothian’s girls needed to finish at least sixth in the 4x400, the final event of the day, to edge Foreman’s 43 points. The Trojans finished sixth, edging Foreman by a point to win the state team title in the 2021 championships held at Todd Stadium in Newport News.
Foreman scored in all six events she competed in, winning the girls triple jump, finishing second in the high jump, long jump and 200 dash, fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles.
She did all that in one day – in a compressed schedule that, at the longest, allowed her no more than an hour of rest and leaving her little time to appreciate her achievement.
Not many did at the time. Because of processing issues, few knew how the team scoring stacked up. Foreman’s coach, Neil Mathews, and his staff resorted to the old-fashioned way of figuring it out – adding the results up by hand. The old-fashioned math had him prepared for the 4x400, the final event of the day, and he knew what Midlothian’s girls needed to do to beat Foreman.
Mathews surprised Trojan head coach Stan Morgan when he walked up to congratulate the Trojans on their state title.
“They were, like, ‘Why is he coming around congratulating us? We had a good race, but it wasn’t like we won,’ ” Mathews said.
Soon the event announcer confirmed the news: Midlothian’s girls in first place with 44 points. Jada Foreman – er, Atlee – in second with 43. Foreman wasn’t the first to nearly pull off a state team championship all by herself, but it hasn’t happened often and hasn’t happened in such a timecompressed fashion.
“I would say it’s one of the historically best performances I’ve ever seen,” said Nolan Jez, senior editor of Virginia Milesplit.
He and a few “old-timers” including Mathews and former national coach of the year Eddie Williams of Bethel and Grafton’s Jim McGrath talked afterwards trying to figure out who had pulled off a similar feat as Foreman.
The list is short. One was another athlete coached by Mathews, Rachel Butler at what was then Lee-Davis High School in 2007. Grant Holloway, a world champion hurdler from Grassfield, is another. One has to go further back in time to fill out the list: Felicia Majors of South County and Doug
Mary Ann Magnant for The Local
Atlee’s Jada Foreman won the girls triple jump in the Virginia High School League Class 5 Championships at Todd Stadium in Newport News Friday with a 39 feet, 7 inch effort. The only representative of the Raider girls present, she scored all of Atlee’s 43 points to bring them to just one point shy of the team title behind girls team champion Midlothian.
Patriot boys 4th, Hanover girls 5th at states
By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor
LYNCHBURG – Hanover’s Alli Crytser headlined the local performances at the Virginia High School League Class 4 state outdoor track and field championships Saturday at Liberty University, finishing first and second, respectively, in the 3,200-meter and 1,600meter runs.
Crytser’s performance, along with a trio of all-state efforts by Khia Holloway and another pair by Rachael Turner, lifted the Hawk girls to a close fifth-place finish out of the nearly 40 teams competing.
Patrick Henry’s boys, with a trio of strong relay performances, including a pair of secondplace finishes in the 4x100 and 4x800, led local teams with a fourth-place finish.
The Hawk girls were within two points of third place. Loudoun Valley won with 71 points, followed by Jefferson Forest (55), Fauquier (42), and King’s Fork (41). Hanover scored 40. Patrick Henry finished in 24th place with 5.5 points.
Holloway finished third, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 100, 200 and 400. Turner finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the shot put and discus.
Ethan Coleman led the Hawk boys with a second-place finish in the 1,600 and a third in the 800.
The Patrick Henry boys Dickinson of Newport News High School.
Foreman wasn’t looking to make history. She had made a list of objectives she wanted to achieve. She wanted to beat herself in the events she had signed up for. Personal history was the only thing on her mind at the time – a less-than-ideal performance at states in her freshman year and no outdoor track to compete in during her sophomore year last year.
“I just I feel like I was really determined to, like, get what I needed to get done there,” Foreman said. “Freshman year, I didn’t have the best outdoor states. I really wanted to kind of like redeem myself from there
CORRECTION: The story “Hawk girls, Patriot boys win region titles” in the June 16 edition of The Local inadvertently omitted the fact that Mechanicsville’s Grayson Clark won the boys 3,200meter run. We regret the error.
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Patrick Henry’s Bekah Doolittle hands the baton off to teammate Autumn Just in the girls 4x400-meter relay in the Virginia High School League Class 4 outdoor track and fi eld championships at Liberty University Saturday.
were paced by their 4x100 relay team of Camden Byrd, Jordan Allen, Jayden Mines and Shamar Williams and their 4x800 relay team of Jonathan Burnap, Alex Davis, Luke Taylor and Trevor Mason, both of which finished as runnersup in their respective events. Burnap, Mines, Michael Leff and Davis combined for a seventh in the 4x400.
Mechanicsville was led by its boys 4x800 relay team of Austin Runne, Carter Smith, Jackson McMackin and Grayson Clark, which finished fifth. Clark also finished seventh in the 3,200.
Saturday, June 19
VHSL Class 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championships (At Liberty University, Lynchburg) Girls local results
100: 3. Khia Holloway (Hanover) 12.44; 200: 5. Holloway (Hanover) 25.75; 400: 8. Holloway (Hanover) 1:00.60, 11. Bekah Doolittle (Patrick Henry) 1:01.72, 13. Jenna Dyke (Patrick Henry) 1:03.15; 800: 8. Erika Osborn (Hanover) 2:30.58, 10. Kassidy Owens (Mechanicsville) 2:32.23; 1,600: 2. Alli Crytser (Hanover) 4:58.49; 11. Hannah Clarke (Hanover) 5:47.97, 13. Sierra Puleo (Mechanicsville) 5:51.32, 14. Kali Dennehy (Patrick Henry) 5:57.17; 3,200: 1. Crytser (Hanover) 10:38.27, 10. Puleo (Mechanicsville) 11:54.45, 12. Dennehy (Patrick Henry) 12:21.09; 300 hurdles: 6. Logan Nuckols (Patrick Henry) 49.38; 4x400 relay: 9. Patrick Henry (Jenna Dyke, Bekah Doolittle, Autumn Just, Logan Nuckols) 4:19.32; 4x800 relay: 7. Patrick Henry (Jenna Dyke, Melanie McAdoo, Autumn Just, Logan Nuckols) 10:09.75, 12. Hanover (Lizzy Tierney, Sibyl Harrell, Meredith Soiland, Erika Osborn) 10:47.86; Long Jump: 13. Emma Sell (Hanover) 13-11.75; Pole vault: 7. Erin Smith (Hanover) 9-6, 10. Lauren Bowman (Mechanicsville) 9-0; 9. Macie Zazzaretti (Hanover) 9-0; Discus: 6. Rachael Turner (Hanover) 105-2; Shot put: 4. Turner (Hanover) 37-10; 8. Jessica Osuanah (Patrick Henry) 35-4.
Boys local results
100: 4. Shamar Williams (Patrick Henry) 10.83; 12. Blake Moody (Mechanicsville) 11.27; 200: 6. Julian Thompson (Hanover 22.47, 10. Williams (Patrick Henry) 22.73; 400: 8. Moody (Mechanicsville) 51.59; 13. Evin St. Clair (Hanover) 53.06; 800: 3. Ethan Coleman (Hanover) 1:57.15, 6. Alex Davis (Patrick Henry) 2:00.59, 11. Trevor Mason (Patrick Henry) 2:03.23; 1,600: 2. Coleman (Hanover) 4:18.88, 5. Mason (Patrick Henry) 4:26.65, 11. Josh Gray (Mechanicsville) 4:34.96; 3,200: 3. Luke Taylor (Patrick Henry) 9:27.18, 7. Grayson Clark (Mechanicsville) 9:32.67; 15. Nicholas Ligday (Hanover) 10:02.71; 110 hurdles: 4. Jordan Allen (Patrick Henry) 15.64, 12. Deonte Harris (Hanover) 16.80; 4x100 relay: 2. Patrick Henry (Camden Byrd, Jordan Allen, Jayden Mines, Shamar Williams) 42.89; 4x400 relay: 7. Patrick Henry (Jonathan Burnap, Jayden Mines, Michael Leff, Alex Davis) 3:33.04; 10. Mechanicsville (Aaron Thomas, Jackson McMackin, Josh Gray, Blake Moody) 3:35.61; 4x800: 2. Patrick Henry (Jonathan Burnap, Alex Davis, Luke Taylor, Trevor Mason) 8:00.36, 5. Mechanicsville (Austin Runne, Carter Smith, Jackson McMackin, Grayson Clark) 8:12.81; High jump: 11. (tie) Harris (Hanover), Jayden Mines (Patrick Henry) 5-8; Pole vault: 5. Todd Benhase (Hanover) 10-6; Shot put: 6. Camden Byrd (Patrick Henry) 47-8.
SOLO
Continued from pg. 18
see SOLO, pg. 22
Orange puts up a fi ght but Hawks take title
By Rob Witham for Th e Local
MECHANICSVILLE – It wasn’t a doubleheader, but it sure felt like one.
After six innings dominated by strikeouts and small ball, the bats came alive for both the Orange Hornets and Hanover Hawks in the Region 4B softball championship Wednesday evening.
A seemingly solid 2-0 lead disappeared in the top of the seventh when the Hornets, aided by a Hanover error, scored two runs to tie the title game. But the Hawks answered in kind as Jenna Currie doubled, then Alyssa Broaddus singled to bring Currie home with the winning run to capture the region crown by a 3-2 score.
“At the beginning of the game, they weren’t going after her pitches,” Currie, the Hawks’ catcher said of the Hornets’ approach to sophomore pitcher Julia Cuozzo, who registered 10 strikeouts. The approach changed when the heart of the Hornets order came to bat in the top of the seventh in do or die mode.
It was easily the biggest pressure situation this year for Cuozzo, who has been dominant in her first season of varsity high school softball. After Reese Rogers reached on the error to begin the Orange seventh, Haley Martin reached on a bunt down the first base line. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and, suddenly, the Hornets had the tying run in scoring position.
Jachelle Mosley, who had the only hit off Cuozzo to that point, a single in the second inning, singled again. Reagan Hill’s quick return of the ball to the infield prevented Martin from scoring from second.
But Martin would eventually score on Maci Fayard’s ground out to third base. Ayla Fincham, pinch running for Mosley, reached third, representing the go ahead run.
Cuozzo induced a ground ball to shortstop Julia Mardigian by Orange pitcher Hannah Hearl, Mardigian deftly making sure Fincham wouldn’t take off for home plate before firing to Bella Pastore at first base for the second out. A Megan Fincham grounder to Pastore stranded Fincham, keeping the game tied at two apiece.
Hanover (14-0) scored its first run in the second inning thanks to a double by Hill, who later stole third, and a sacrifice fly caught down the right field line in foul territory from Currie. They added the second run in the fifth on a double by Beanie Acors, who also stole third, then scored on a sacrifice bunt from Broaddus.
Broaddus reached third, but was picked off to end the inning. She would get her chance at redemption in the seventh after Currie led off with her double.
Broaddus’ wish came true as the second pitch from Hearl was in perfect position for her to punch the ball into right field, just past the diving glove of second baseman Kennon Burnett. Brianna Michaels, courtesy running for Currie, flew around third and scored standing up to spark a quirky combination of relief and celebration by the Hawks.
When Broaddus reached first base, she couldn’t contain herself. She quickly turned to see if Michaels had reached home.
“I had to (look). I was like, (assistant coach) John (Mardigian), I’m not going, I’m not going,” Broaddus said with a smile.
Hanover hasn’t been this close to a state championship since capturing their lone title in 2006. With a victory at Region 4A champion Grafton Tuesday (after this edition went to press), the Hawks would have the honor of hosting the Class 4 title game Saturday.
“I think we have a really special team and I think we could win states. For me, that’s just excitement,” Currie said, echoing the sentiment of the entire team.
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Above, Hanover’s Alyssa Broaddus lays down an RBI bunt in a 3-2 win over visiting Orange County in the Region 4B softball championship at Hanover Wednesday. Left, Hanover’s Melissa Acors (5) slides home safely to put the Hawks ahead 2-0 on Broaddus’ bunt.
Last-second score ends Hawk soccer season
By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor
MECHANICSVILLE – Three years ago, Hanover’s girls soccer team won a playoff on a goal in the last few seconds of regulation.
This year, the Hawks learned what it felt like to lose a playoff – the Region 4B final – on a goal scored in the last few seconds of regulation.
Monacan’s Maci Hulver broke through the Hawk defense for a 1-on-1 and put a ball into the left side of the Hanover net in the final seconds of regulation to break a 1-all tie and end what had been a perfect Hawk season one game short of the Virginia High School League Class 4 state tournament.
Monacan striker Olivia Woodson slipped past the Hawk defense in the fourth minute for the game’s first goal. Hanover was rattled for a bit, but recovered and equalized on a penalty kick by Ava Olson in the 20th minute.
After that, it was a seesaw battle, with Woodson creating lots of mayhem in front of the Hawk goal, but with no scores until Hulver’s goal with 15 seconds on the clock.
“The loss at the end, it’s heartbreaking, but we had such a great season,” Tavares said.
In Region 4B boys, Patrick Henry fell to Chancellor 3-1.
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Left, Hanover goalkeeper Tallulah Miller gets the save while narrowly avoiding a collision with Monacan striker Olivia Woodson in the Hawks’ 2-1 loss to the visiting Chiefs in the Region 4B girls soccer championship game at Hanover on Wednesday Above, Hanover defender Stella Vota (5) comforts Miller after the Hawks’ loss
Hawk baseball wins Region 4B title
The Hanover Hawks went on the road to win the Region 4B title with a 5-1 win over Courtland in the region semfinal and a 12-0 win over Dinwiddie.
For the story, go to: https://richmond.com/ community/mechanicsville-local/
Atlee girls victim in Freeman’s region lacrosse sweep
By Rob Witham for Th e Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND – Score on the ends, win it in the middle.
That was the mantra of both the Douglas Freeman boys and girls lacrosse teams Thursday night as they owned faceoffs, built big leads and each captured Class 5, Region B championships at Mills Godwin High School. The boys topped Midlothian 18-4, while the girls defeated Atlee 17-13.
After stunning top seed and defending region champion Atlee 13-12 in overtime in the semifinals on June 14, Midlothian’s boys entered with momentum, but Douglas Freeman (10-1) quickly quashed it, controlling faceoffs with ease, slicing through the Trojan defense at will to score six goals in the first 7:04 of the match.
Two early goals were from junior attacker Dell Vidunas, who has seen huge improvements in his team’s play since its only loss, on opening night to Deep Run.
Midlothian (7-5) struggled early defensively and never recovered. Maxx Lawton had two goals for the Trojans, while Wesley Hazzard and Otto Waldbauer added one apiece.
Gavin Stone led the Mavericks with five goals, while Vidunas tallied four and his best friend, Matt McCabe, scored three times and added seven assists.
Next is a Class 5 state semifinal home date against Region 5C runner-up Freedom. Coach John Neal’s attention turns to them, happy to not have to travel on Tuesday.
Continued from pg. 19
and just do better than I did.”
Mathews said she had a different face on Saturday morning at states.
“She was going to have to be really on her game to compete with the level of competition that was there,” How does one go to a one day meet and how does one put it together to score in six different events? It obviously takes a lot of guts to even want to try it. She has to be extremely tough. She has to be physically tough and talented.
She refused to give in to the temptation to take an event off.
To make her achievement Saturday all the more impressive, Foreman had to do the same thing the week before at the Region 5B championships at Glen Allen. Because of the pandemic, there was no automatic qualifying standards. One had to do well at his or her respective regional meet, and, because fewer entrants were allowed in states, one had to be in the top four finishers in an event to qualify.
And the regional meet was, like the state meet, a one-day affair.
But Foreman obviously handled the pressure well. And she let life return to normal as soon as the meet was over.
Don’t worry. She wasn’t driving. She was finally getting some well-deserved rest.
Friday, June 18
VHSL Class 5 Outdoor Track & Field Championships (At Todd Stadium, Newport News) Girls
Team scores: 1. Midlothian 44; 2. Atlee 43; 3. L.C. Bird 37.5; 4. (tie) Nansemond River, Bethel 36; 6. Norview 35; 7. (tie) Albemarle, Glen Allen 33; 9. Freedom-South Riding 31; 10. North Stafford 30; 11. (tie) Princess Anne, Stone Bridge, Deep Run 29; 14. Deep Creek 24; 15. Manchester 22; 16. (tie) Indian River, Mountain View 18; 18. Highland Springs 16.5; 19. Woodside 16; 20. Thomas Jefferson S&T 15; 21. Patrick Henry-Roanoke 13; 22. Prince George 10; 23. Douglas Freeman 9.5; 24. Hermitage 9; 25. 25. Salem-Virginia Beach 8; 26. Stafford 7; 27. Rock Ridge 5; 28. (tie) Brooke Point, Briar Woods, Meadowbrook, Cox, First Colonial 4; 33. Riverside 3; 24. Woodgrove 2.5; 25. Clover Hill 1.
Local results
200: 2. Jada Foreman (Atlee) 25.36; 100 hurdles: 4. Foreman (Atlee) 15.30; 300 hurdles: 5. Foreman (Atlee) 46.79; High jump: 2. Foreman (Atlee) 5-4; Long jump: 2. Foreman (Atlee 19-1.75; Triple jump: 1. Foreman (Atlee) 39-7.
Boys
Team scores: 1. L.C. Bird 84; 2. Glen Allen 28; 3. Nansemond River 35; 4. Woodgrove 35; 5. Mountain View 32; 6. North Stafford 26; 7. J.R. Tucker 25; 8. Indian River 24; 9. Deep Creek 22; 10. (tie) Highland Springs, Hermitage 20; 12. Princess Anne 18; 13. (tie) Prince George, Briar Woods, Hickory 16; 16. Maury 15; 17. Stone Bridge 14; 18. (tie) William Fleming, Stafford, Manchester, Douglas Freeman, Deep Run 13; 23. Albemarle 12; 24. Bethel 11; 25. Freedom-South Riding 10; 26. Atlee 9; 27. (tie) Norview, Cox 8; 29. (tie) Harrisonburg, Brooke Point, Salem-Virginia Beach, Midlothian, Clover Hill 6; 34. (tie) John R. Lewis, Varina, Matoaca 5; 37. Gloucester 4; 38. Riverside 3; 39. Granby 2; 40. Thomas Jefferson S&T 1.
Local results
3,200: 7. Travis Albon (Atlee) 9:55.65, 13. Patrick Allen (Atlee) 10:04.88; 4x100 relay: 4. Atlee (Keith Green, Caleb Warren, Cullen Carter, Efe Obrimah) 43.60; Pole vault: 7. Will Rittenhouse (Atlee) 11-0; 9. William Wimmer (Atlee) 11-0; 10. Greg Durgin (Atlee) 10-6.
Hitting the water
Joel Klein for The Local
Old Church’s Gabriella Sanchez, Milestone’s Elizabeth Eavey and Old Church’s Annabelle Baker hit the water for the fi rst leg of the 8 & under 100-meter mixed medley relay in week 2 of GRAL competition Wednesday at Milestone.
LACROSSE
Continued from pg. 21
ting through [regionals], but we’re excited to do some work and see what the team up north brings to us,” Neal said.
In the girls game, the faceoff is called a draw control. It perfectly described the game plan and execution of the Mavericks, who won seven of the first nine draw controls of the match, drawing their offense into a quick chemistry, seemingly a step ahead of the defending champions.
Kerry Nease, the leader of the draw control dominance, scored two of the first five Maverick goals of the match. Twelve seconds after her second tally, Claire DeSouza scored to give Douglas Freeman a 5-1 lead just 6:47 into the contest.
According to Nease, who will play for Duke, the ability to win in the middle, then capitalize on opportunity, comes down to one element.
Atlee (10-1) finally got its offense on track in the latter part of the first half, scoring three goals in 81 seconds, Ashley Karn and Olivia Ritter, who tallied twice, cutting the margin to 8-5. The teams traded goals the remainder of the half with the Mavericks up 12-7 at intermission.
The Raiders found their groove in the middle in the second half, winning seven of 12 draw controls, keeping the margin at five until the Mavericks scored two over a four-minute span for a 16-9 lead.
While the Raiders scored four of the last five goals of the match, it was too little, too late as the Mavericks began burning time off the clock after a timeout with seven minutes left. Kate Miller ends her illustrious career with five goals, while Karn added three.
It’s the first region crown for the Maverick girls, who next travel to face Patrick Henry (Roanoke) in a Class 5 state semifinal Tuesday. For Douglas Freeman head coach Christina D’Angelo, it’s back to work with some familiarity, as the Patriots feature players that Nease and others have faced on the club circuit. Her postgame perspective was simple.
Nease stood savoring how precious the moment was, holding the trophy in one arm and D’Angelo’s young daughter in the other.
