Blair football’s goals remain intact despite Sherwood loss
The Blazers’ undefeated streak ended at six games with Friday’s 43-26 loss to unbeaten Sherwood. But Blair’s (6-1) ultimate goal for 2016—to win the program’s first-ever state championship—is still “100 percent intact,” Blazers coach Andrew Fields said. Through Week 6, Blair was the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A West Region standings with a 1.67-point lead over Quince Orchard. The Cougars edged crosstown rival Northwest Friday.
“I never promised anyone we’d be 14-0,” Fields said. “We expect to win every week, but 14-0 was never our goal. We’re still feeling pretty good.”
In fact, Blair might end up prospering from the temporary setback. A longtime perennial county doormat, the Blazers might have begun to take this season’s success for granted, Fields admitted, but the stumble seems to have re-motivated and re-focused them.
The situation is reminiscent of Northwest’s 2004 state title run, of which Fields took part as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. A regular-season loss to Seneca Valley that fall propelled the Germantown program to win the season-ending title, Fields said.
The Blazers were outplayed and outcoached Friday, Fields acknowledged, but said they can learn from their mistakes. Blair’s offensive and defensive lines struggled against Sherwood. The Warriors’ 43 points were the most the Blazers have given up this season—their first six opponents averaged 15 points per game—and they came from just two players. Sherwood ran the ball on virtually every play, but Blair could not stop junior quarterback Michael Mbony or Boston College recruit Travis Levy—the two accounted for nearly 500 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Blair’s four touchdowns were scored by quarterback Desmond Colby (3-yard run), running back Eric Zokouri (1-yard run, 66-yard pass from Colby) and Chris Butler (45-yard pass from Colby). Colby completed 12 of 19 pass attempts for 225 yards; Butler caught five for 105 yards and Zokouri had three receptions for 88 yards.
“[This type of success] is new to Blair and I think in some ways, the kids lost their way the past week,” Fields said. “They were feeling a little bit like they were invincible. In a way, this loss might be good for us.”
Walter Johnson girls cross country seeks third straight county title
With a runner the caliber of junior and defending Montgomery County champion Abigail Green, and four other girls among those holding the county’s top 25 times, per mocorunning.com, Walter Johnson is on pace to claim its third consecutive county title Saturday afternoon at Bohrer Park.
“Abbey Green is very talented, she’s kind of a cut above, in a category of her own,” Bethesda-Chevy Chase coach Chad Young said. “But as far as everyone else, we have to keep in mind that it’s a competition and we’re racing as a team.”
Though cross country is often pegged as an individual sport, working as a team is vital, Walter Johnson coach Tom Martin agreed. Teams are allowed seven entries per race but only the top 5 finishers count toward the scoring. Team scores are determined by adding the places of the first five runners together. Sixth- and seventh-place runners can still be quite impactful if they can break up packs and displace other teams’ top finishers.
B-CC, which won three straight county titles from 2011-13, is likely to be Walter Johnson’s main challenger. Green and senior Katriane Kirsch make for quite a formidable top two for the Wildcats. Juniors Janet Scott, Sophia Scobell and Sadie Keller are not far behind.
B-CC seniors Zoe Nuechterlein and Michaela Peterson and sophomore Virginia Brown are among the county’s top 15, according to the most recent rankings posted on mocorunning.com.
Young said Thomas S. Wootton, led by Jessica Trzeciak, Adna Trakic and Erin Chelf, is a traditionally deep team that can never be overlooked. Other Bethesda-area athletes who could wreak havoc on Walter Johnson and B-CC’s packs include Churchill’s Julia Reicin, who has established herself as arguably the county’s second-best runner this fall, Whitman’s Paula Bathalon, and Blair’s Morgan Casey and Josephine Brane-Wright.
Whereas two teams have accounted for the last five girls county titles, there have been no back-to-back winners on the boys’ side since Walter Johnson in 2009-10.
But the 2013 county champion B-CC boys are in good position to become the first team to win two titles over the past five years. Adam Nakasaka and Josh Fry have separated themselves as the Barons’ top two runners, but B-CC is propelled more by depth, which includes Sebastian Jones, Hermon Tesfatsion and Jacob Rains.
“Honestly, I think we have one of the deepest teams in the county,” Young said. “It’s hard to choose who our top 7 is because there are a bunch of guys in the mix.”
Northwest is likely to be B-CC’s biggest obstacle, but Young said defending champion Wootton, led by John Riker, and Churchill, led by Matthew Goldsmith and Vicente Rudolph, which finished second in the county’s top division, should not be counted out.
Aside from the team competition, Saturday’s meet provides individual runners an opportunity to shine even if their teams might not be in title contention. Richard Montgomery senior Rohann Asfaw is favored to win his second straight county championship. Whitman’s Aaron Bratt and Joshua Engels should also compete for top 10 finishes.
Undefeated Whitman girls tennis eyes county title
The Vikings successfully defended last year’s Division I title by finishing the regular season unbeaten for the second year in a row. But Whitman is hoping for a different ending to this postseason—it finished second to traditional rival Thomas S. Wootton in the 2015 county competition by one point. Main draw matches for this year’s tournament begin Monday with finals scheduled for Thursday, barring any delays for inclement weather. The Patriots are four-time defending champions.
Whitman defeated Wootton, 4-3, in the teams’ dual match and the title is likely to go to one or both of them—they shared the title with Winston Churchill in 2012—but there are many more variables in a tournament format, where each round won is worth a point, Whitman coach Jasen Gohn said.
Five of the seven brackets could come down to Whitman and Wootton in the final. But there are several dangerous floaters in each draw, Wootton coach Nia Cresham said.
Three-time defending state champion and Wootton No. 1 singles Miranda Deng is favored to win her bracket and if she does, she will have eliminated Whitman’s top player, Carina Greenberg, in the semifinals. Though Wootton’s Ruchi Nanda was given the third seed in the No. 2 singles competition, she has a strong chance of meeting top-seeded Sarinah Wahl from Whitman for the title. Whitman’s Olivia Meyers and Wootton’s Claire Chen are seeded first and second, respectively, in the third singles draw and Eve Gold (Whitman) and Angela Wu (Wootton) are the top two seeds in the fourth singles bracket.
Wootton’s No. 1 doubles team of Georgia Bartels-Newton and Gabi Glueck earned the top seed, but the second seed went to Richard Montgomery’s Isabelle Zhou and Shefei Jiang, whom Whitman’s Mizuki Hanada and Lauren Evoy will have to get through if they’re going to make the championship match.
Top-seeded Emily Zitner and Brooke McLeod (Whitman) could face Wootton’s Kathy Lin and Winnie Liang in the semifinals of the second doubles competition and Wootton’s fourth-seeded No. 2 doubles team of Michelle Badalov and Amanda Merkin fell into the same half of the draw as No. 1-seeded Jessica Pan and Sofia Hahn of Churchill. Whitman’s Danielle Berman and Hannah Freund are seeded to make the final.
Other players to watch include B-CC’s Hunter Smith and Richard Montgomery’s Piper Feldman in No. 2 singles; Walter Johnson’s Stacy Ternovskaia, Churchill’s Mina Jeremic and Richard Montgomery’s Diana Levet in No. 3 singles; and Churchill’s Carli Minahan and Richard Montgomery’s Michelle Dubovitsky in fourth singles. Richard Montgomery’s Grace Lee and Katie Kolodner could throw a wrench in the third doubles draw, Gohn said.
“It’s going to be a fun tournament, there are lots of teams that have contenders in lots of positions,” Cresham said. “It’s going to depend on who wants it.”
Whitman tennis team photo via Jasen Gohn
Games to watch this week
Football
Gaithersburg at Wootton, 6:30 p.m. Friday
St. Alban’s at Bullis, 7 p.m. Friday
Boys soccer
B-CC at Quince Orchard, 5:15 p.m. Thursday
Georgetown Prep at Landon, 4 p.m. Tuesday
Girls soccer
Northwest at Whitman, 7:15 p.m. Tuesday
Walter Johnson at Wootton, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday
Holton-Arms at Holy Child, 4:15 p.m. Tuesday
Field hockey
Stone Ridge at Bullis, 4:15 p.m. Tuesday
Cross country
Montgomery County championship at Bohrer Park, 2:45 p.m. Saturday
Girls tennis
Montgomery County girls tennis tournament finals at Paint Branch, 3:15 p.m. Thursday
