female athlete of the year
MARLENA WESH | LANDSTOWN
Marlena Wesh overcame more than her competition to become the first female in Virginia High School League history to win the 100, 200 and 400 meters at the Group AAA state track meet. About 30 minutes before the 100 final, she suffered a sprained ankle, bruised right elbow and a bloody nose after a collision while warming up.
“She was in bad shape,” Landstown coach Tom Anderson said later. “I saw the trainer and told her, ‘Do whatever you have to do to get her ready.’ And she went out there and performed. That speaks volumes for the kid. That showed her character.”
Wesh recovered to win three events and lead Landstown to a second consecutive state team title.
That followed a winter in which Wesh won the 300 in the state indoor meet and placed third in the 200 at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
Wesh, who signed with Oklahoma, finished her career with eight individual state titles and three team titles.
runner-up
Kirsten Strausbaugh | Kellam
The Penn-bound gymnast won back-to-back Group AAA state all-around titles her junior and senior seasons, won seven individual state titles in four years and helped the Knights win a state team title as a freshman. Strausbaugh capped her high school career with a national all-around title at the senior national showcase last month.
male athlete of the year
JUSTIN HUNTER | OCEAN LAKES
Justin Hunter’s improbable junior year at Ocean Lakes begs a question: “I think we’re all wondering, ‘What’s he going to do next?’” said Chris Scott, the Dolphins’ football and track coach.
Hunter still has a year of high school left, but his list of accomplishments already is impressive. A 6-foot-4, 180-pound wide receiver, he helped lead Ocean Lakes to the school’s first outright Beach District title and undefeated football regular season in the fall. Hunter followed that in the winter by averaging 16.9 points and being named Beach District Defensive Player of the Year in basketball. His spring included winning Group AAA state titles in the high jump and long jump and a runner-up finish in the triple jump.
Hunter recently committed to play wide receiver and run track at LSU, and he’s the second consecutive Ocean Lakes star to earn Athlete of the Year honors. Marcus Davis, now playing football at Virginia Tech, won the award last year.
runner-up
James Taylor | Nansemond River
Taylor became the first male athlete in Virginia High School League history to win four individual titles – the long jump, 55, 300 and 500 meters – at the Group AAA state indoor meet. The Norfolk State-bound senior’s medal haul also included a national indoor title in the 200 and state outdoor wins in the 200 and 400.
STATE CHAMPS
Group AAA state champions from South Hampton Roads in 2008-09:
boys soccer | cox
A 2-1 overtime victory over Mills Godwin gave the Falcons their second state title and ended the Eastern Region’s 12-year Group AAA drought. Sophomore Neil Harrison scored the game-winner, clinching Cox’s school-record 21st victory.
SOFTBALL | GREAT BRIDGE
Ace lefthander Kaitlynn Szczepanski didn’t allow a run in three state tournament games and delivered the game-winning hit in the semifinal and championship games. It was the fourth state crown for the Wildcats, who won three straight from 1998-2000.
boys Basketball | king’s fork
The Bulldogs rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat William Fleming 49-47 in the Group AAA state championship game. King’s Fork, in just its fifth year of existence, became the first Suffolk school to win a Group AAA title, and star Jaquon Parker was named the Associated Press’ state player of the year.
girls Basketball | Princess anne
A year after a postgame outburst nearly cost coach Darnell Dozier his job, he was back in Richmond celebrating his third state title. This championship, though, was unexpected. A relatively young team, the Cavaliers rarely stumbled during their 31-1 campaign, with sophomore Elizabeth Williams and junior Samisha Powell leading the way.
FIELD HOCKEY | COX
The Falcons officially regained their status as the top program in Virginia by capturing a third consecutive Group AAA title in the fall. It was the school’s 16th overall crown, and marked the third time the Falcons won at least three titles in a row.
girls TRACK | landstown
Led by sprinter Marlena Wesh and hurdler Taylor Wheaton, the Eagles easily defended their state title. Wesh won the 100, 200 and 400 meters, while Wheaton won the 100 and 300 hurdles. Jessica Williams was runner-up in the discus and fourth in the shot put.
boys TRACK | WESTERN BRANCH
Jeffrey Artis, an Oklahoma signee, won the 110 hurdles and placed third in the long jump, triple jump and 300 hurdles to help the Bruins defend their state title. The Bruins’ Javanti Sparrow, Keenan Sparrow, Darren Roberts and Jeffrey Lewis won the 400 relay.
football | oscar smith
Quarterback Phillip Sims and wide reciever Tim Smith had record-breaking performances in a 54-24 victory over Osbourn in the Group AAA Division 6 championship game in Blacksburg. After capping their unbeaten season at 15-0, players held aloft a No. 26 jersey – a tribute to former running back Lonnie Andrews Jr., who was shot and killed in the summer of 2008. And after doing snow angels on Virginia Tech’s field, they piled onto the team bus and headed home to ring the school’s Victory Bell.
COACH OF THE YEAR
RICHARD MORGAN | oscar smith
The fiery football coach, a native New Yorker, guided the Tigers on a dominant run to another Southeastern District title, an Eastern Region crown and Oscar Smith’s first state championship in any sport in 54 years.
COACH OF THE YEAR | RUNNER-UP
Scott Mead | cox
The long-time assistant set the bar high in his first year at the helm, steering the Falcons to Beach District regular-season and Eastern Region and Group AAA state soccer titles.
STAR POWER
Some South Hampton Roads athletes who shined this school year
Becca Jones | First Colonial
Jones, bound for Auburn, closed a brilliant career, winning the 100- and 200-meter freestyle in record time at the Group AAA state meet.
Stacey Nobles | Ocean Lakes
The James Madison-bound distance runner took home a Group AAA state title in each season. She won a cross country title in the fall, was a member of the victorious 3,200-meter relay at the state indoor meet and won the 3,200 at the state outdoor meet.
TaShauna “Sugar” Rodgers | King’s Fork
Rodgers wowed Suffolk basketball fans for four years, but her senior season was something special. She averaged 28.1 points per game and was a McDonald’s All-American and The Associated Press’ Group AAA Player of the Year.
Evan Beck | Norfolk Academy
Beck’s whirlwind year included sinking a 60-foot putt on the final hole to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship, finishing second in the U.S. Junior Amateur and being named a Byron Nelson Scholar. He signed with Wake Forest.
Andrew Clement | Grassfield
Grassfield’s senior 171-pound wrestler – who overcame extreme personal struggles to return to school and wrestling after a year-long hiatus – pinned 23 of the 24 opponents he faced. He added a Group AAA state title to the two Group AA crowns he won at Christiansburg, then finished third at this spring’s senior nationals.
Brinson Paolini | Cox
Paolini, headed to Duke, was the Group AAA state medalist for the second time in three years, and along with Norfolk Academy’s Evan Beck earned a spot on the U.S. team for the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan.
OH, WHAT A YEAR
Moving out
Another Eastern Region basketball tournament, another sellout. But after fans were (again) left outside 3,800-seat Churchland High School, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim came to the rescue. He offered the use of Scope arena rent-free, and region officials unanimously voted to accept the proposal. So next year, for the first time in more than a decade, the tournament will leave Churchland’s cozy, but crammed gym.
A dynasty ends ...
The last bricks in the Great Bridge wrestling dynasty finally crumbled. Three years removed from their last state team title (which was No. 18 for the program), the Wildcats failed to crown an individual state champ for the first time in 14 years. The program also saw its string of 18 consecutive region titles and 24 straight Southeastern District tournament victories come to a screeching halt.
... as the power shifts
Kellam ended the region reign and Grassfield, in its second year of existence, rose as the new district power. Led by former Great Bridge assistant Matt Small, the Grizzlies crowned two state champions. Just as quickly, the power shifted again this offseason when Small took over the storied Cox program – owner of five state team titles and loaded with talent for next season.
Friday night lights
Sure, Oscar Smith was the headliner, winning the program’s first Group AAA state championship. But here were some other noteworthy happenings during football season:
• Landstown defeated Salem 12-7 in the season opener, snapping the SunDevils’ Beach District winning streak at 24 games
• Ten Group AAA schools welcomed new coaches. The most successful newcomer was Ocean Lakes’ Chris Scott, who guided the Dolphins to a 12-0 record before falling 28-21 to Oscar Smith in the Eastern Region Division 6 championship game.
• Grassfield, a Chesapeake school in just its second year, made the Division 5 playoffs, falling to Green Run in the opening round.
• Atlantic Shores won the Virginia Independent Schools Division II title, while Franklin took home the Group A Division I crown.
Rain, rain go away
Wacky weather wreaked havoc this spring. The Tidewater Conference was forced to play its softball and baseball tournaments after the Virginia Independent Schools state championships, and in a rare move, the Virginia High School League held its baseball, softball and boys and girls soccer title games on a Sunday.
Cox’s comeback kids
The Cox baseball team won six postseason games to make the program’s first Group AAA state tournament in more than a decade. Not that it was easy. Five of those triumphs were come-from-behind victories, and the Falcons won three of them in the last at-bat. Cox finally ran out of comebacks in a state semifinal loss to Hanover.
In memory
Charles Humphrey
A football and basketball star at Maury, Humphrey was fatally shot in January. He was the sixth South Hampton Roads athlete to be injured or killed by gunfire during a 10-month span.
Rashawn Finney
The co-captain and soul of Norcom’s football team, Finney died in September, two weeks after he was shot seven times at a party.
Jack Korte
The 2006 All-Tidewater Volleyball Player of the Year for state champion Cox, Korte died in a December automobile accident.
Arthur Zeno
Zeno, who coached the Churchland boys basketball team in 2007-08, died in May after a long illness. He helped lead the Truckers to an Eastern Region tournament berth for the first time since 1994.
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