Top 100: Sharif Karie, West Springfield, Track, 1997
Running away from a war zone in Somalia to running to titles in the U.S.
Twelve individual state titles, three team titles and two relay titles start to explain just how good of a runner Sharif Karie was. Add to that the fact that he didn't spend his entire high school career in Virginia, and he gets a little better.
Top 100: Meghan McCarthy, Robinson, Track, 1992
The stud from Robinson set the state record for individual state titles won.
Winning five state titles in one year is beyond a dream come true for any athlete. For Meghan McCarthy, a 1992 Robinson graduate, it happened in her freshman year of high school.
Top 100: Dave Koesters, West Springfield, Basketball, 1974
Over the three years that Dave Koesters spent playing basketball at West Springfield, the Spartans went 72-6. The 1974 graduate led the team to three straight region titles and two state championship games before heading to the University of Virginia.
Top 100: Bhawoh Jue, Football
During a playoff game against Herndon, Dan Meier’s Chantilly team was down 3-0 and Herndon had just taken possession of the ball at it’s own 20-yard line. Speedy Herndon running back Doug Kushin took the handoff and broke through the line of scrimmage. By midfield, Kushin was clear.
Top 100: Nick Sorenson, Marshall, Football, 1995
Nick Sorenson could never understand why anyone wouldn't want to play sports year-round while in high school. "For me, sports was it in high school," said Sorenson, who is now a free safety and team captain with the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars.
Top 100: Pete DeHaven, Edison, Basketball, 1970
The co-captain of Edison's 1969-70 team was integral to the Eagles' "Big Push" into the state tournament.
PRIOR TO THE state tournament, Edison had to jump two mighty high hurdles. First they had to get past West Springfield High School in the Gunston District Tournament.
Top 100: Mike Imo, Football
Just after Robinson's football team fell to Centreville in the 2000 Northern Region championship, head coach Mark Bendorf sat down next to his star running back in the locker room. Bendorf watched as Mike Imoh looked around the locker room at the forty seniors that had just played their last high school football game — a 16-13 loss.
Top 100: Damone Boone, West Springfield, Football, 1996
The Spartan rushed to many records.
"He is as good as they come." -- Lake Braddock Coach Francis Dall.
Top 100: Gerry Bertier, T.C. Williams, Football, 1972
Gerry Bertier was one of the best players and leaders on a team known as perhaps the best in the history of Virginia high school football — the 1971 T.C. Williams Titans.
Top 100: Brandon Royster, Fairfax, Football, 2000
The first play that the Fairfax Rebels ran against Paul VI during Brandon Royster’s senior season was a trick play. Quarterback Ian McAlpine tossed a pass near the sideline to wide receiver Mike Daniels, who before getting hit, tossed the ball backwards to Brandon Royster.
Top 100: Eugene Chung, Oakton, Football, 1987
Chung led Oakton football's defense and helped turn a winless Cougar program into a 9-1 regional powerhouse.
Eugene Chung was just a kid lost among the big names at Oakton High School in the late 1980's. Chung, who suffered through one of the worst losing streaks of that decade while the Cougars failed to win a game in the 1985 and 1986 football seasons, was a quiet lineman who drew no joy from grabbing headlines or even talking amongst his teammates.
Top 100: Joey Beard, South Lakes, 1993
Over the Hill: Beard, the two-time AAA state POY, is the all-time leading scorer at South Lakes.
It would come as a surprise to many that Grant Hill, a 2-time NCAA basketball champion, a 7-time NBA all-star and former Olympic basketball player, is not the all-time leading scorer in South Lakes High School's boys basketball history. That honor belongs to a 6-foot 10-inch former McDonald's All-American (1993) named Joey Beard, who recorded 2,138 points in his career — exactly 110 points more than Hill.
Top 100: Earl Lloyd, Parker Gray, Basketball, 1946
Alexandria's Lloyd is the `Jackie Robinson' of the National Basketball Association.
Many people probably do not even recognize the name Earl Lloyd. But unlike the well-recognized Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Lloyd never became a household name.
Top 100: Billy Pulsipher, Fairfax, Baseball, 1991
Despite major setbacks, the phenom pitcher found his way back to the Major Leagues.
The promising baseball career of a 1991 Fairfax graduate almost ended just as it started. Billy Pulsipher took the mound for the New York Mets in 1995, riding a wave of confidence, but injuries and depression would take a toll on his career soon after.
Top 100: Ratcliff Thomas, T.C. Williams Football, 1992
Ratcliff Thomas was a standout player on the University of Maryland football team and spent several years in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts.