<b>Local Golfers Compete in Florida</b>
Claire Malinowski, 24, of Fairfax finished first in her division with a three-day score of 140 (47, 44, 49) at the Ninth-Annual Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament Individual Golf Skills Competition. The event took place Oct. 3-6, at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
In the Individual Golf Skills portion of the tournament, a subset that includes a six-skill test, Fairfax native Daniel Hartle, 22, had a three-day total of 154, improving his score everyday and carding out with a final day 46. More than 200 golfers with intellectual disabilities from 24 U.S. Special Olympics programs competed in one of five levels of competition on the club’s Ryder and Wanamaker Courses.
<b>Bruins Field Hockey Stays Perfect</b>
After her team relinquished a two-goal lead, Lake Braddock field hockey coach Diane Miller wasn’t as enamored with how well her team played in the first half of Tuesday night’s Patriot District showdown at South County.
“Being up 2-0 and then having them score two goals, I could tell my team was really down,” Miller said. “So I had to do a little yelling.”
The increased volume must’ve helped, as senior Annie Stephens powered a shot past — and over —
South County’s goalkeeper with 2 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second half to seal the win. With a shot from the top of the circle, Stephens watched the ball deflect off of a defender’s stick and sail over the keeper and into the goal.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 15-0 overall, 5-0 in district play. Lake Braddock will travel to West Potomac on Friday.
“Our first half … that was probably the best half I’ve seen my team play in a long time,” said Miller, whose team will travel to West Potomac Friday. “We let down a little bit in the second half, but we didn’t give up and that’s all you can ask.”
Sophomore Brittany Hopkins scored unassisted with less than three minutes left in the first half, and Stephens scored her first goal of the game 35 seconds before halftime to put the Bruins ahead, 2-0. South County’s Megan Wears scored twice in the second half to pull the Stallions (12-3, 5-1 Patriot) even.
<b>Paul VI Roundup</b>
The Paul VI Panthers competed at the Octoberfest Invitational, which took place this past weekend at Great Meadows. Many individual runners set new season-best marks, most notably two new cross country runners in Blaize Johnson, who ran the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 33 seconds, and Kathleen McLane, who set a new personal-best mark with her time of 25:57. In addition, the boys team finished seventh in the Varsity B Race, with times in the 16-minute range for Ian McGinn (fourth, 16:32) and Charles Horne (eighth, 16:52). Lizzie Greene met the cross-country national silver standard for high school girls with a new personal best of 19:34.
On Friday, Oct. 3, the Paul VI Panthers fought a hard battle against Bishop McNamara, but it came down to the last two seconds and two points. In the last 2 seconds of the game, McNamara passed for a touchdown and defeated the Panthers, 20-18. Three touchdowns were scored by the Panthers, one by senior Dan McGroarty and two by junior Idreis Augustus (22 carries, 136 yards, two touchdowns). Junior Eric Wright had 14 tackles and one sack. Juniors Stephen Muskett (six tackles), Chuck Carlton (three tackles), Sammy Ojjeh and senior Harry Britton also put up strong performances.
<b>Jefferson Roundup</b>
Burke Lake was the site of an Oct. 1 Liberty District League cross-country meet among Thomas Jefferson, Langley, Madison and Stone Bridge high schools. The boys squad, paced by Will Manaker of Alexandria (17, minutes, 9 seconds) easily won its quad meet as the Colonials captured the top six spots. Manaker was followed by Dave Warrington (Centreville) at 17:23, Scott Skirlo (Fairfax) at 17:35, as well as Karl Sofinowski (Burke), Ian Rappaport (Vienna) and Sam Brinton of Fairfax in fourth, fifth and sixth places, respectively.
Sarah Stites of Reston led the Jefferson girls team to victory with her Top 15 all-time performance at the school, finishing the course in 18:45. Sarah outpaced defending Liberty District champion Lauren Shaw of Langley, who finished second in 19:04. Katherine Sheridan of Vienna came in third (19:07). Seven of the Top 15 places were captured by Colonial runners.
<b>Clifton Native Scores Big at Virginia Tech</b>
With two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over N.C. State, Clifton native Emily Jukich, who’s a junior forward on the Virginia Tech women’s soccer team, continued her assault on Atlantic Coast Conference goalkeepers. On the season, Jukich leads the Hokies with 10 goals in 12 games (6-4-2, 1-1-2 ACC). During a wildly successful career at Centreville High School, Jukich scored 72 goals and notched 37 assists, earning first team All-State honors from 2004-06. Last season as a sophomore, Jukich finished third on the team with three goals.