<b>Campbell Keeps Doin’ as a Bruin</b>
A season after earning first team All-Pac-10 freshman team honors and becoming an honorable mention All-Conference selection, Edison graduate Doreena Campbell has developed into a go-to player for the UCLA women’s basketball team. Campbell, a sophomore guard, is averaging 13.0 points and 3.8 assists per contest. She has also made a team-best 19 shots from three-point range (43.2 percent) and is averaging 27.8 minutes a night for the Bruins (14-4, 5-2 Pac-10). Campbell led Edison to a 104-9 record over her four-year tenure, winning four National District and two Northern Region titles, as well as making Virginia AAA state final appearances in 2006 and 2007. She finished her career with 2,234 points — the 11th-best total in Virginia High School League history.
<b>Paul VI Hockey Earns Exhibition Win</b>
Paul VI’s hockey team, traveling to Maryland Saturday morning, Jan. 24, earned a 4-2 win over the Washington Independents, a team made up of players from three area private schools. Adam Kosna and Mickey Sheridan scored first-period goals for the Panthers, while Matt Riley assisted on Kosna’s goal. The Independents tied the score at two early in the final period, but Paul VI answered with Kosna’s second goal (with another assist from Riley), and Kosna later added a helper on the final tally from Zach Depont. Paul VI is 3-3-1 in Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League play and currently is third in the Central Division. The Panthers face W.T. Woodson on Friday at SkateQuest of Reston. Puck drops at 6:10 p.m.
<b>Behind Shaw, Michigan Ranked</b>
With the return of sophomore first baseman Dorian Shaw, a 2007 Robinson graduate, the University of Michigan women’s softball team will open the 2009 season ranked No. 8 in the country, according to the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll. The Wolverines went 52-8 last season, winning a share of the Big Ten title and making a fourth straight NCAA Super Regional appearance. Shaw, a first team All-Conference selection, made 58 hit .285 (43 for 151) with 11 home runs, 39 RBIs and a .536 slugging percentage. She was named first team All-State three times at Robinson and was her district’s (Robinson switched from the Patriot to Concorde District after the 2004-05 season) and the Northern Region’s Player of the Year from 2005-07.
<b>Wahl Commits to Ole Miss</b>
Early last week, West Springfield junior pitcher Bobby Wahl became the third Northern Region baseball player in the past two years to commit to the University of Mississippi.
Wahl, who made a verbal commitment, will join twin brothers Matt and Mike Snyder of Westfield at the school. A right-handed pitcher, Wahl went 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA in 40 2/3 innings last spring. He also posted 68 strikeouts while only walking 18 batters.
“Everything was great … the facilities, the fields,” said Wahl, who took his official visit to Ole Miss last weekend. “I met some of the players, and everything just kind of clicked. It felt right.”
At the plate, Wahl hit .419 (13 for 31) with four doubles and six RBIs. The commitment is Wahl’s second this off-season. In November he committed to play for the Midland Redskins, an elite summer travel team based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Spartans finished 15-5 last season, reaching the Northern Region semifinals. They return a deep pitching staff this spring and should be one of the early-season in both the Patriot District and Northern Region.
“Everyone is real excited,” Wahl said. “We feel like we’ll have a good team.”
<b>Muzzio Breaks Muzzio’s Record</b>
The Robinson high jump record won’t leave the Muzzio family’s living room. Joey Muzzio, a sophomore high jumper on Robinson’s indoor track and field team, was chasing his father’s 27-year-old school record of 6-feet 4-inches. Rob Muzzio was an Olympic decathlete, finishing fifth at the 1992 Barcelona Games. He also was a two-time NCAA decathlon champion at George Mason University. But on Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational, Joey Muzzio tied the mark and eventually broke it with a leap of 6-5, which was good enough for third place during the highly competitive event.
<b>Jefferson Gymnasts Stay Undefeated</b>
Behind solid performances from senior Chrissy Franzel (Burke) and junior Amanda Gilbert (Fairfax), the Jefferson girls gymnastics team remained undefeated with yet another first-place finish last week. Competing at West Potomac High School for a seven-team meet on Thursday, Jan. 22, Jefferson edged out second-place Lake Braddock, 133.85-130.9. With a score of 34.9, Franzel finished fourth in the all-around portion, while Gilbert (34.35) took fifth. On the Lake Braddock side, Emily Parillo finished second in the all-around competition with 36.450 points. Sarah Price (32.450) took eighth and Chelsea Stanger (29.450) was ninth.
<b>Bruin Swimmers Fall to Spartans</b>
In a battle that featured both of last winter’s Patriot District swim and dive champions, West Springfield earned a dual-meet sweep over Lake Braddock this past Friday at Lee District RECenter. The Lake Braddock boys team, which finished second to West Springfield last season, suffered a 174-140 loss while the reigning Patriot District-champion girls team fell, 165-150.
Freshman Alessandra Troncoso (200-yard medley relay, 100 free, 100 breast, 400 freestyle relay) led Lake Braddock with four first-places finishes, while senior Tyler Ogren (200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 400 medley relay), sophomore Nick Laffose (200 medley relay, 100 free, 400 medley relay), junior Carly Ogren (200 medley relay, 50 free, 400 free relay) and sophomore Troy Chewing (50 free, 100 breast, 400 medley relay) all won three events apiece.
<b>Epstein Makes Bruin History</b>
Lake Braddock junior Liana Epstein broke a 23-year-old school record in the 1,000-meter run at the Virginia Tech Invitational this past weekend. Her time of 2 minutes, 56.31 seconds eclipsed the 1986 record held by Kim Marks (2:57.00), and it also helped Epstein finish third at Virginia Tech. The time has Epstein currently ranked fifth in the country, while giving her the second-best time in the state of Virginia next to Midlothian’s Paige Johnston. During the fall, Epstein won Patriot District and Northern Region cross-country championships and later finished sixth at the Virginia AAA state championships, setting a personal-best mark at Great Meadow in The Plains.
<b>SYC Red Thunder Tryouts</b>
The Springfield-South County Youth Club is conducting open tryouts for a new travel soccer team for girls under 12. If sufficient interest and talent exists, this new team will begin play in the Old Dominion Soccer League (ODSL) in April 2009. Girls born on or after Aug. 1, 1996 are eligible to compete. Assuming no ice, snow or temperatures below freezing, tryouts will be Jan. 31, Feb. 7 and Feb. 21, from 8:30-10 a.m., at West Springfield High School. Interested players are encouraged to attend a minimum of three tryout sessions but are welcome to attend all of them. Bring shin guards, cleats, water and a ball. If interested, send an e-mail to Rich McMahon at richard.f.mcmahon@verizon.net and the SYC travel soccer commissioner at coachgene@juno.com.
<b>SYC Cyclones Tryouts</b>
The Springfield-South County Youth Club is conducting open tryouts for a new travel soccer team for boys under 9. If sufficient interest and talent exists, this new team will begin play in the Old Dominion Soccer League (ODSL) in April 2009. Boys born on or after Aug. 1, 1999 are eligible to compete. Assuming no ice, snow or temperatures below freezing, tryouts will be Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, with makeup dates on Feb. 21 and 28 (as required) from 8:30-10 a.m. at West Springfield High School. Interested players are encouraged to attend a minimum of three tryout sessions but are welcome to attend all of them. Bring shin guards, cleats, water and a ball. If interested, send an e-mail to coach Ed Elinan at elinane@nga.mil org Elinan1@verizon.net and the SYC travel soccer commissioner at coachgene@juno.com.