SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010
KLMNO
HIGH SCHOOLS TRACK AND FIELD
McLaughlin gets a truly sick win
Despite pneumonia, Gonzaga senior wins 100-meter dash
by Carl Little
Leo McLaughlin embraces his leadership role as a senior on Gonzaga’s track team and is de- termined to be a positive role model for the younger runners. Even if it nearly kills him. McLaughlin won the 100-me- ter dash at the Northern Virginia Invitational on Saturday, bat- tling stiff winds, a big push from a teammate and, worst of all, walking pneumonia to finish in 11.60 seconds at Edison in Alex- andria. Senior teammate Stacey Robinson was runner-up in 11.62. McLaughlin said he first start- ed to feel sick last weekend when the Eagles were in Gainesville for the Florida Relays. As the week went on, his condition worsened. His doctor put him on antibiotics Thursday. He was nowhere near full
strength for the two-day invita- tional. He collapsed on the grass in the infield after finishing the 100 in a coughing fit. McLaughlin recovered to help his 4x100 relay squad that also included Rajee Dunbar, Randall Mitchell and Devin Jones finish fourth. He finished the day with a surprise victory in the 200 — McLaughlin was first off the turn, held off a fast field and crossed the line in 22.46 — and then took a well-deserved breather. “It’s miserable; everything is just stuck in my chest,” McLaughlin said. “When I was a sophomore we had a really good
Toney awards: Heritage senior Josh Toney won both throwing events, taking the discus with 149 feet 8 inches before capturing the shot put with 51-0.
Suits them fine: Suitland enjoyed
success in the relays. The girls breezed to victory in the 4x400 in 4:03.71 and the boys won the 4x100 in 43.81.
MORE PHOTOS See a picture gallery of this meet at
allmetsports.com
senior class, so it was very easy to learn what the right thing to do was from them. I want to be there for the younger guys and make sure we keep the legacy go- ing.” Myah Hicks kept her reputa- tion as one of the area’s top half- milers going. The Edison senior took the lead at the start and, de- spite a late charge from Sophie Chase (Lake Braddock), put away a field of some of Virginia’s top milers to win in 2:15.06. While no team scoring was
kept, Carroll’s power was on full display. Petros Welday won the 3,200 (9:40.72) and the 1,600 (4:28.76) and Karrie Butler Jr. won the 400 (49.37) and was sec- ond in the 200 (22.56) before helping the Lions’ 4x400 relay team to victory. Kyle Kathion, Butler Jr., Joshua Booze and Mi- lan Edgerton ran 3:25.38 to earn a slim victory over Largo (3:25.55).
Carroll sophomore Kiah Sey- mour won the 200 from the slowest section in 25.63 after capturing the 300 hurdles (45.00) in her first time ever run- ning in the event. “It started off bad but I got the rhythm on the backstretch,” Sey-
RICHARD A. LIPSKI/THE WASHINGTON POST
“It’s miserable; everything is just stuck in my chest,” Gonzaga senior Leo McLaughlin, right, said of running at the Northern Virginia Invitational on Saturday while battling walking pneumonia.
mour said. Robinson’s
Genamarie
McCant was the meet’s top female scorer, winning the 400
(59.86) and the 100 (12.99) while running into a particularly stiff wind. She was also on the Rams’ 4x100 relay team (Lauren Dun-
ROWING
Yorktown girls make their presence known
by Jeff Greer
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Wootton’s Chris Doran, left, is congratulated by teammate Jeff Zifrony after a second half goal.
BOYS’ LACROSSE
Wootton gets ‘statement win’
14
Patriots run win streak against Montgomery County teams to 54
by Mark Giannotto
Wootton attackers Jeff Zifrony
and Chris Doran knew other teams in the area sensed a cer- tain vulnerability about the Patriots, considering that through four games they already had as many losses as the previ- ous two years combined. In Saturday’s home matchup against undefeated Churchill, the duo set about erasing any doubt about which team is the one to beat in Montgomery County boys’ lacrosse. Zifrony and Doran contributed eight goals as Wootton stormed past the Bulldogs, 14-7, to up its win streak against county competi- tion to 54 games, dating from April 24, 2006. “We’re just as good or better than we’ve been the past couple of years,” said Zifrony, a senior who finished with four goals and three assists. Wootton’s three early losses came against public school power Severna Park and private schools Bullis and Gon- zaga. “If you want to judge us by our record . . . I just don’t think that’s the way to go.” That was clear early and often
This spring at your online destination for high school sports:
Full coverage of boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball and softball, including individual school and player pages. The Web-exclusive video series “The Season,” an inside-the-locker-room look at the Langley boys’ lacrosse team. Videos of the Winter All-Mets and a behind-the-scenes video of The Post’s basketball selection meeting. Photo galleries, videos and interactive rankings.
against Churchill. After Zifrony opened the scoring with a nifty move from behind the Bulldogs’ cage and Doran assisted on a goal by sophomore Chris Cornelius, the two teamed up for three con- secutive scores as Wootton im- proved to 2-3.
First it was Doran, a junior, feeding Zifrony for a snipe from just inside the offensive circle. Then after a misplay by the Churchill defense, Doran found Zifrony again for an easy goal. The sequence culminated with Zifrony returning the favor on Doran’s first goal of the game, giving the Patriots an early 5-1 lead.
WOOTTON
CHURCHILL
7
New position, no problem:Wootton
senior Bobby Riso made the switch from midfielder to goalie this offseason. He had his best game to date Saturday, finishing with nine saves. Offensive revival: The Patriots mustered just 13 goals in their first three games, all losses. In their two wins since, they’ve scored 23.
MORE PHOTOS See a photo gallery from this game at
allmetsports.com
“We definitely have a connec-
tion,” Doran said with a smile. He had four goals and three assists. Churchill (2-1) cut its deficit to three late in the second quarter after consecutive scores by mid- fielder Matt Risk (four goals), but Zifrony and Doran responded by teaming up for the fourth and fi- nal time just before halftime. With Churchill flustered, the
Patriots took over in a penalty- filled second half, scoring six of the first eight goals after halftime to put the contest out of reach. “Yeah, we were 0-3, but we
played some really good teams,” said Zifrony. “This is definitely a statement win for us.”
giannottom@washpost.com
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Before Saturday’s Darrell Winslow Regatta on the Oc- coquan Reservoir at Sandy Run Regional Park, Yorktown girls’ crew Coach Carol Di- nion knew she had a solid group of rowers in her top varsity boat. But she still wanted to see her first eight compete against the top com- petition in the area. She got her answer, and it was a posi- tive one. The Yorktown girls’ first eight made an early-season statement, narrowly edging out a pair of fast competitors, McLean and Robinson, by just two seconds. McLean outlasted Robinson for sec- ond place by 0.2 of a second in a photo finish. Yorktown’s victory didn’t surprise many. Dinion, in her second sea- son coaching Yorktown’s girls’ team, markedly im- proved the school’s program in her first year in 2009. York- town finished second at the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association finals last year; the girls’ first eight didn’t make it out of the time trials in 2008. So, when other coaches saw the team Dinion had put together for the 2010 season, it was clear that the Patriots would be a force on the water. “You just look at them and know they’re fast,” said Beth- esda-Chevy Chase Coach Chris Graves, whose team made a rare trip to Virginia to race on Saturday. For Dinion, experience in her team’s top boat will make all the difference this season, especially with what appears to be a loaded women’s field in Northern Virginia. York-
town has four seniors and four juniors in the first boat, and the first eight’s coxswain is a senior. That her rowers are fast and strong only helps. “We knew today would be a
good indicator of what we have,” Dinion said. “We were confident, but not overconfi- dent. Everybody is going to be fast this year, so we have to be tough and determined.” In the boys’ first eight,
Thomas Jefferson asserted it- self again on the Occoquan. The perennial powerhouse bested Yorktown by 10 sec- onds. Thomas Jefferson also won the boys’ first eight at the season-opening Polar Bear Regatta on March 27. In the races of first fours,
the McLean boys and the West Springfield girls cruised to victories. Notes: Several other area
crews hit the water elsewhere on Saturday. Georgetown Vis- itation topped Westfield and Wilson in the girls’ first eight in a tri-meet on the Anacostia River, while Gonzaga raced past Westfield and Wilson in the boys’ first eight. . . . In the first of two weekends at the prestigious and highly com- petitive regatta at St. An- drew’s School in Middletown, Del., T.C. Williams and Na- tional Cathedral finished third and fourth, respectively, in the girls’ first eight.
greerj@washpost.com
ham, Cici Onyekwere, and Eliza- beth Roberson) that won in 50.75.
littlec@washpost.com
S
COLLEGES
Despite new coach, same woes vex U-Va.
by Zach Berman
charlottesville — There is no opponent in a spring football game, so Virginia Coach Mike London remains undefeated. And until that first loss arrives, the op- timism that has defined London’s first few months as the Cavaliers’ coach will remain. But as much as London has tried to change the culture around Virginia’s program — and he’s altered everything from the defensive alignment to the uni- form design — he cannot imme- diately overhaul a roster that en- dured two consecutive losing sea- sons. “In December, there were fra-
gile egos, a dark cloud hanging over the guys, woe-is-me type of thing,” London said. “And then change occurs. Sometimes when that happens, they get a new lease on life. You introduce them to new people in their life who say, ‘You can do this.’ ” Many of the issues that plagued the Cavaliers during the final two years of former Coach Al Groh’s tenure were apparent in Saturday’s spring game. The defense appeared sharp, although it faced an offense that continues to struggle to move the ball — the same problem Groh ex- perienced before his dismissal. Central to an offensive revival
— or at least a semblance of offen- sive efficiency — is the search for a quarterback. The three quarter- backs on the field Saturday com- bined to complete only 17 of 37 passes. Senior Marc Verica, the front-runner for the starting job and the only player on the roster who has attempted a pass in a game, threw two interceptions. Verica has been haunted by in- terceptions during the past two seasons. He said interceptions have not been an issue during previous practices, and that he has not thrown a single intercep- tion during team drills. “Although it wasn’t that great
today,” Verica said. “I’m not wor- ried about it.” The two other quarterbacks —
redshirt freshman Ross Metheny and early-enrolled freshman Mi- chael Strauss — combined for 9 of 14 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. They will join three incoming freshmen in the quar- terback competition during pre- season practice. The good thing about an unin- spiring offense in a spring game is that the opposing defense shares the same locker room. London raved about his defense on Saturday, which has shifted from a 3-4 alignment under Groh to a 4-3 alignment under London. It was led in part by Cam John- son, a Gonzaga alum who has switched from linebacker to de- fensive end and returned an in- terception 51 yards. Beyond anything that occurred
on the field, the first spring game represented a milestone in Lon- don’s tenure. His changes have been wide-ranging, and his im- print stretches beyond what oc- curred at Scott Stadium on Satur- day. London said he inherited a ros- ter with several players on aca- demic warnings, and he’s hopeful two-thirds of those players will return to good standing by the end of the semester. His team hosted a bone marrow drive on Thursday — London donated his bone marrow in 2003 to help save his daughter’s life — and London pointed to the players’ participa- tion as a sign of how he expects the football program to be in en- gaged in the community.
bermanz@washpost.com
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- Patrick Goldstein, LOS ANGELES TIMES
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