The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Dec. 3) honored students and teams from the county’s public high schools for state-championship performances this fall.
“We have a long list of champions, which is fantastic,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said during a presentation that helped kick off the body’s final meeting of 2024.
Teams and individual students honored for coming out on top in Virginia High School League Class 6 competition were:
- The Langley High School golf team
- Langley’s girls volleyball team
- Robinson Secondary School’s cheer team
- Robinson’s girls cross-country squad
- Chantilly High School cross-country runner Tristan Thurneysen
- Edison High School golfer Owen Love
Love, a sophomore, won his second straight VHSL title, becoming the first Virginia golfer at the highest school-size category to do so since 1964.
At the event, coaches spoke on behalf of their teams.
“We’re really humbled and honored” for the recognition, Langley golf coach Duane Bean said during the recognition ceremony.
Bean this year succeeded longtime coach Al Berg, whose teams were perennial competitors for district, region and state crowns.
“We take care of each other, pick each other up when we’re down,” Bean said.
Robinson cheer coach Jocelyn Baptiste, who has coached the team since 2003, said her squads always got close but “we have never won [the state title] until this year.”
“They’re the ones who did it,” Baptiste said, pointing to the players around her. “They know how proud I am of each of them.”
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said it was important to recognize the importance of athletic competition in students’ lives.
“There’s a great deal of learning that occurs both inside the classroom and outside the classroom,” Reid said. “All our champions have worked so hard.”
McKay also saluted “all the parents and the coaches and others” who had contributed to the success.
There is a fair chance that one more team will bring home a state crown for FCPS next week.
Madison High School and Lake Braddock Secondary School square off on Saturday (Dec. 7) in a Class 6 tournament semifinal game. The winner of that game will move on to the Dec. 14 state-title game, facing the winner of this week’s showdown between Oscar Smith and Colonial Forge high schools.
In recent years, Fairfax County schools have seen a number of additions to their athletic roster. Middle-school cross country was added in fall 2023, and high schools introduced boys’ volleyball this fall. Girls’ wrestling will start as a school-sanctioned sport during the 2024-2025 winter season.
