Sometimes during the season, the Lightridge girls’ lacrosse team will cancel its Saturday practice and head to a local organization to do volunteer work. Coach Kere Harper requires her players to hit 100 volunteer hours to letter. Those who reach that mark also receive a cord at graduation.
And perhaps most memorably — because smells last forever — they’ve worked with Sprout, which provides horse therapy to disabled individuals.
“We really have to remember that we’re volunteering for the better good of people so that they can ride horses,” senior defender Ava Samson, who estimated she’s near 300 volunteer hours, said. “We do the poop scooping for that, which definitely is sacrifice, but it’s fun memories as a team.”
“And it helps with our groundball pickups,” Harper joked.
Harper, who was coached the team since the program’s inaugural season in 2021, has a strong connection to Honor Flight — her father and husband are veterans. The veterans, overwhelmed with the support from the players, often shake their hands and even begin crying, Samson said.
“They say thank you, and we get to say thank you to them,” she said.
Similar personal connections influence which organizations the Lightning work with, but Harper said she won’t go ahead with one unless her players are excited about it.
“It’s just such a great organization because you see the generosity of the community giving all of these items,” Samson said of Women Giving Back, “Then you get to sort it and you get to see the smiling faces of the women as they’re getting what they need to survive, to live and to thrive.”
- Varun Shankar
Softball
When Osbourn Park Coach Patrick DeRosa looks into his dugout, he sees a team filled with young talent. The No. 10 Yellow Jackets field a lineup ripe with underclassmen alongside their senior leaders, a group that’s off to a 4-0 start.
That youth, as DeRosa explained to his team before the season began, doesn’t mean the team lacks experience. Twelve of the 13 players from last year’s team that reached the Class 6 state semifinals returned for another run at a state crown.
“I made it known: ‘You guys are veteran players now,’ ” DeRosa said. “ ‘I don’t care if you’re sophomores — you’re veteran players now, and our expectations of you went up.’ ”
It’s early, but the Yellow Jackets have met the high expectations of their coaching staff so far. Senior pitcher Sammie Borrayo has yet to give up an earned run, while junior Cordia Hirschy and sophomore Jenna Wilson have each impressed at the plate.
“Last year, we were all trying to get to know each other,” Hirschy said. “This year it’s been a lot easier. We communicate more.”
Osbourn Park’s early success is a byproduct of the team’s tight bond, Borrayo and Hirschy agreed. With nearly the entire roster back, the Yellow Jackets have their sights set on another deep postseason run.
“We’re just kind of building on where we ended last year,” Borrayo said. “Now, we start where we ended, and I think we’re just going up from here.”
- Noah Ferguson
Soccer
The final stretch of the John Champe girls’ soccer season has often looked familiar over the past few years. The Knights consistently fought tough battles against strong Class 6 teams such as Battlefield, Freedom (South Riding) and Patriot, but couldn’t make a deep run in the state tournament.
After a recent realignment by the Virginia High School League, Champe’s schedule looks very different this spring as the Loudoun County program will play at the Class 4 level.
Despite a novel slate and uncertain expectations, Champe hopes to use its early games to emphasize its own improvement rather than adjust to its new opponents.
“We got to focus on us and play our game,” Knights Coach Jazmin Cardoso said. “I think we are a little nervous in the fact that we don’t know what’s coming, but we know we’re as good as them, and we know that they’re good. So we’re just trying to come in and just let them know who we are.”
The Knights (1-1-1) started the season with a narrow loss to their old Class 6 rival Freedom (South Riding) before beating fellow Class 4 foe Dominion, 5-0, and drawing Stone Bridge, 2-2.
Champe is led by a pair of junior Georgia commits in Mya Townes, who scored 47 goals in her first two seasons, and Ayda Pannell. The Knights also boast 11 seniors, six of whom are among Champe’s eight returning starters.
“[The seniors] are just very determined and willing to work for this year to win districts, to go to regionals and bring the first state championship trophy to John Champe,” Cardoso said.
Cardoso believes that the lack of turnover has allowed the group to grow together. The Knights will continue to focus on themselves as they prepare for fresh competition at a new level, starting with their first district matchup against Woodgrove on April 15.
- Nicky Wolcott
Tennis
For Kai and Zosia Henryson-Gibbs, tennis has become a family affair this year. Returning to the Langley courts after winning last year’s Virginia state title, the sisters are learning how to forge a dominant doubles team for the Saxons.
“As her sister, I think it’s my duty in life to know how to push Zosia’s buttons in the best way possible,” said Kai, a senior who also plays No. 2 singles. “I know exactly what annoys her … or what won’t annoy her. So I can definitely play into her emotions more in that way.”
The Henryson-Gibbs sisters say playing together makes communication easier since they already know how to motivate each other and are more open about offering constructive criticism.
It helps having their parents on the court to steer their sibling rivalry toward team success: their father, Stefan Henryson, and mother, Karis Gibbs, stepped into the roles of head coach and assistant coach, respectively, this season. But of course, the close involvement of the whole family comes with the challenge of leaving the usual familial squabbles at home.
“Not only am I with my sister on the court and we have to work around our relationship there, but I also have to take any direction or orders from my coaches, who are also my parents,” said Zosia, a sophomore who also plays No. 1 singles. “So that is also a challenge because there’s already rebellion issues as a teenager.”
But after getting accustomed to seeing their family next to them on the court, the Henryson-Gibbs sisters say it has allowed them to work on their skills all the time, talking serve techniques or analyzing specific matches around the dinner table or on long drives.
The family approach has worked so far for the Saxons, who have won their first three matches. They will get their biggest test yet on Friday versus McLean as they hope to build momentum toward another state title.
– Aaron Credeur
Gymnastics
The Whitman gymnasts are preparing for tough Montgomery County competition as their season kicks off this week. For junior Natalie Mihm, that means focusing on simple, precise movements she expects could be decisive in county meets, where the outcome can be determined by fractions of a point.
“I think one of our main goals is just to pick up those extra tenths anywhere we can, not by throwing bigger skills, but by keeping things precise and clean,” Mihm said. “Those are going to be the types of points that we need to carry us to the end.”
Mihm, who has favored the beam event ever since she spent the coronavirus pandemic practicing on a floor beam at home, hopes her focus on clinical accuracy helps the Vikings repeat as county champions this season.
Mihm says Whitman’s success stems from a focus on coordination and teamwork across each event, a mentality that can be a breath of fresh air for gymnasts used to competing in clubs that emphasize individual results above all else.
“They're basically polar opposites,” said Mihm, who decided to stop competing for a club her sophomore year to focus on her high school team. “When you're at a club gym, you're just so focused on improving your skills versus anything else. Sometimes they put it above your mental health or your physical health. … But at Whitman gymnastics, we're not trying to throw crazy skills. We're just embracing the team side of the sport.”
With a consistent level of skill throughout the lineup, that team will be on full display when the Vikings compete in their season opener against Blake on Wednesday. After winning last year’s county title by less than seven points, Whitman will use its first meet to test new and returning talent before facing rivals Walter Johnson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase later in the season.
– Aaron Credeur
