Author: Dave Facinoli

Dave Facinoli grew up in Prince George’s County, Md. and attended Friendly High School. After attending Prince’s George Community College and James Madison University, where he covered sports on both college papers, he launched a local newspaper career that included roles as the sports editor of the Alexandria Gazette, the Arlington Sun Gazette and GazetteLeader, and other local papers.

Sports

Oakton girls win fourth straight Concorde swim-dive crown

By Dave Facinoli
The champion Oakton team (courtesy of Oakton athletics)

Led by three winning relays and two individual champions, the Oakton Cougars won their fourth straight Concorde District girls swimming and diving title.

Oakton finished first in the high-school meet Saturday (Feb. 1) with 521 points at the Cub Run Rec Center in Chantilly under first-year Oakton head coach Nathan Pawlowicz, a former swimmer with the team.

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Sports

South Lakes teams dominate district track & field meets

By Dave Facinoli
Caroline Elliott won three races (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

It was double dominance for the South Lakes Seahawks at the Concorde District track-and-field championships.

The girls and boys high-school teams each won the meets by wide margins, thanks to finishing first in multiple events at the Prince George’s County Learning Center in Landover, Md.

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Sports

West Springfield sweeps Patriot District track & field meets

By Dave Facinoli
West Springfield relays placed high (courtesy of West Springfield atheltics)

Behind the performances of winning distance runners and pole vaulters, the West Springfield Spartans won the girls and boys Patriot District track-and-field championships.

At those high-school meets in Landover, Md., three different runners on each team won the 1,000, 1,600 and 3,200-meter races.

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Sports

Flint Hill wins key basketball game, coach achieves milestone

By Dave Facinoli
Rico Reed talks to his players (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

The Flint Hill Huskies’ basketball victory over the Sidwell Friends Quakers was significant on two big fronts.

The Friday (Jan. 31) home win by a 60-57 score tied Flint Hill (11-9, 7-1) with Sidwell (15-5) for first place in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) boys basketball standings.

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Sports

Marshall’s strong defense factors in basketball team’s success

By Dave Facinoli
Anderson Krisko is a top player for Marshall (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Scoring a modest number of points in their basketball games — but allowing even fewer — has proved a winning formula for the Marshall Statesmen.

Through Friday (Jan. 31) action, the boys high-school team owned a 13-7 overall record and a second-place mark of 5-4 in the Liberty District.

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Sports

Local players making big impacts for two college basketball teams

By Dave Facinoli
Randolph-Macon's McKenzie Matheny (courtesy of Randolph-Macon athletics)

Two former high-school players from Fairfax County have helped the Division III Randolph-Macon College men’s and women’s basketball teams to standout records during the 2024-25 campaign.

West Springfield High graduate McKenzie Matheny has helped the women’s squad to a 17-1 record and 16 straight wins through Wednesday (Jan. 29) action.

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Sports

Flint Hill School football players aim to make impact at college level

By Dave Facinoli
Richmond runningback Andrew King (courtesy of Richmond football)

The pipeline of Flint Hill School graduates to college football teams keeps on growing.

As some high-school senior football players at the Flint Hill School have recently made commitments to play the sport at the next level, at least three others were freshmen members of college squads this past fall season.

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Sports

Madison graduate has impactful season for college football team

By Dave Facinoli
Alex Jreige was a member of the Albany team (courtesy of Albany athletics)

After a couple of seasons of inactivity on the football field, Alex Jreige was back in action this past fall.

The Madison High School graduate was a sophomore runningback for the Division I State University of New York University at Albany Great Danes team. The 5-8, 210-pounder played in seven games.

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Sports

Flint Hill suffers another close loss to key basketball opponent

By Dave Facinoli
Flint Hill coach Rico Reed huddles with his team (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

The Flint Hill Huskies are having a solid basketball season, but there is one particular hurdle the boys squad has had trouble clearing.

The high-school team has lost a number of close games to non-conference state opponents, like falling to the visiting St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes Saints, 64-59, on Wednesday night (Jan. 29).

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Sports

Eight teams lead outright in district basketball standings

By Dave Facinoli
The Robinson girls are in first place (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

With a little more than two weeks remaining in the regular season, there were eight outright first-place leaders through Tuesday (Jan. 28) action in the four different public-school basketball districts in the 6D North Region.

In girls play, the Langley Saxons at 8-0 were among the leaders, atop the Liberty District by two games over the McLean Highlanders.

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