Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | February, 2010

When Bishop Ireton won the Classics championship in 2009, upending favorite Liberty Christian Academy, the host school, fans wondered if it was a fluke.  This year the Cardinals weren’t about to “sneak up” on the host LCA, who scouted the squad looking for weaknesses and, perhaps, some ideas.  But it was the Alexandria school who left left southwest Virginia with another championship and momentum for next weekend’s CCA Nationals competition in Concord, North Carolina.

“The girls were awesome today,” prasised Coach Angela Hope. “I think the fact that people knew who we were gave the girls some confidence that they were a team to beat. We made some adjustments to our routine  when we arrived, and they performed it like champions today!”

Ireton heads to the national championships in suburban Charlotte next weekend. The team finished 5th last year in the Christian Cheerleaders of America competition, in their first year under Coach Hope. 

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The Cardinals (7-19, 2-16) have played hard all year long and on a Senior Night for five graduating players that have made hard work and persistence their hallmark, the 51-40 upending of the WCAC’s third place Good Counsel Falcons (17-10, 10-7) was a just reward for that diligence.  Ireton started all five seniors, Taylor Jobin, Tyler Hargett, Thaddeus Babiec, Chris Levy, and Marvin Elliott.  Their energy in the game’s first 4 minutes set the tone for the game, Good Counsel’s second in as many nights. Thursday the Falcons dropped a 12-point decision in DeMatha’s emotional final game in Wooten Gym.  Friday the toll of that physical game was evident.

The Falcons struggled out to a 5-2 advantage in the first three minutes against the hustling senior starters.  Ireton trailed 11-9 at the end of one and the Falcon full court press kept the Cardinals stymied. When the Olney, Maryland school went on a 9-1 run to push their advantage to 20-12, Coach Neil Berkman reorganized during a timeout.  Ireton responded with a Rouse three-pointer and a Patrick Hanafin put-back to draw back to 20-17 and the Cardinals went to intermission down 23-17.

With the senior “wild bunch” again starting in the second half they worked deliberately against the Falcons and Jobin broke open for a layup to start the half.  The Falcons Julian Sessoms picked up his third personal foul with 6:37 left in the third, then junior Matt Barnwell buried a three to pull Ireton to 26-25.  Good Counsel hit a floater but Hanafin responded with another three to tie the contest at 28. The Falcoms turned the ball over and Barnwell  got a backdoor layup and drew Sessoms to his 4th personal foul, taking the lanky senior off the floor. The traditional three point play gave Ireton is first lead, one they would not relinquish.

Nursing a 35-34 advantage to open the final quarter, Marvin Elliott found the range on another three pointer to put Ireton up 4, starting a 7-0 run that took the game away from the tiring visitors. Sophomore Marcus Hayes hit a floater in the lane, Rouse converted another turnover into a bucket, and Hayes added a free throw in the run to push the Cards up 43-34.  Good Counsel staged its last rally when Glascow dropped in a layup and Harrell hit a three to pull the navy and gold clan visitors back to within 5 with 2:17 left.  But the otherwise tough 2-3 zone the Cardinals employed was too much for the cold shooting Falcons and with a 20 to 4 advantage in free throw attempts, the Falcons were unable to make up ground.

When Rouse took the inbound pass against the full court pressure and raced by everyone for a breakaway layup with 1:25 to play, the free throw contest began with Hanafin, Rouse and Hayes scoring from the charity stripe, pushing the Ireton advantage to the 51-40 final.

“This gives us some momentum going into the tournament,” commented Berkman.  “In a 26-game schedule, we played 16 games against top 20 ball clubs in the DC area. We won 3 of those games, took two others to overtime. I am very proud of these guys.”

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Bishop Ireton wrestlers closed out their wrestling season when they traveled to St. Christopher’s School to participate in the VISAA State Wrestling Tournament. After the first of two days of wrestling only one of Cardinals was eliminated. In the end, ten Ireton wrestlers were on the podium recognized among the top eight in their weight class out of the 31 participating schools.

As a team, the Cardinals improved from 12^th a year ago to fifth in 2010 in the state meet while also moving up from a disappointing 7th to 4th in the WCAC this year. Sophomore Andrew Lutterloh, a finalist last year in the WCAC, closed the deal this year to give Ireton its first conference champion in a number of years while senior Joe Vitale lost a nailbiter in his championship bout and junior Elliott Mondragon also recorded a second place WCAC finish.

The last two years have focused on rebuilding the strength and talent of our team and the results of those efforts are reflected in this year’s VISAA Tournament results and team statistics. The Cardinals’ record this year stands at 24-8 in regular season, an 8-2 mark in the WCAC duals, and 12-2 against VISAA Schools. After winning 75% of our regular season duals against challenging schools in the WCAC, IAC and several of Virginia and Maryland’s top public and private schools, the goal was to finish the season with a good showing at the VISAA State Tournament and Dight felt  the Cards did just that.

The top performers during this season included junior Elliot Mondragon (103), who won 91% of his 46 matches (30 of which were by pin);  sophomore Andrew Lutterloh (189), who won 83% of his 47 matches (26 of which were by pin); senior and team captain Joe Vitale (145) who won 79% of his 47 matches (16 of which were by pin); junior Ricky Baier (140), who won 72% of his 46 matches (14 of which were by pin); senior Ryan Delaney (152), who won 64% of his 39 matches (14 of which were by pin);  senior and team captain Kevin Galloway (171), who won 61% of his 46 matches (15 of which were by pin), senior and team captain Jacob Manley (285), who won 60% of his 43 matches (16 of which were by pin), and senior Andrew Georgeiff (125), who rejoined us in January, and also won 60% of his 35 matches (9 of which were by pin). Kevin Galloway earned the distinction of achieving the fastest fall of the season in 9 seconds.

While the Cardinals graduate a number of seniors who were key to their success in the 2009-2010 campaign, Dight looks to Mondragon, Lutterloh, Andrew Bladen, Darcy Gomez, Corey Phillips and  newcomers Nick Womach, Arslan Respekov, and Tommy Fessahaye to provide solid foundation for the 2010-11 edition of the Cardinal wrestling.

VISWA Seeding and finish:

103: Elliot Mondragon (#3 Seed) – 3rd Place

112: Darcy Gomez (#11 Seed)

119: Arslan Respekov (Unseeded)

125: Andrew Georgeiff (#7 Seed) – 6th Place

130: Corey Phillips (Unseeded)

135: Nick Womach (Unseeded) – 8th Place

140: Ricky Baier (#7 Seed) – 5th Place

145: Joe Vitale (#7 Seed) – 7th Place

152: Ryan Delaney (#6 Seed) – 6th Place

160: Andrew Bladen (Unseeded) – 8th Place

171: Kevin Galloway (#10 Seed) – 5th Place

189: Andrew Lutterloh (#6 Seed) – 5th Place

215: Tommy Fessahaye (Unseeded)

285: Jacob Manley (#8 Seed) – 8th Place

Team Results:

Top Ten Tournament Teams

1. St. Christopher’s  332

2. Episcopal  220
3. Paul VI Catholic  191.5
4. Liberty Christian Academy  170.5
5. Bishop Ireton  155.5
6. Cape Henry Collegiate  148
7. Woodberry Forest  143
8. Bishop O’Connell  132.5

9. St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes  123

10. Norfolk Collegiate  115

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St John’s Chris Martin was a one-man wrecking crew for the Cadets Tuesday with 31 points in a  62-48 win over Bishop Ireton in Alexandria.  The hot shooting Martin scored 9 of the first 13 St Johns points in the first quarter and had 21 of 33 Cadet halftime points. “We played hard” said Ireton skipper, Neil Berkman, “but when one guy gets that hot there sometimes isn’t much you can do.”

Ireton did play hard and stayed close throughout the first quarter with defensive effort.  The redbirds couldn’t buy a basket in the second stanza however, managing only 8 points to go to the locker down 33-21.

The drought continued in the third quarter as the Johnnies continued a smothering defensive effort and with 3:40 remaining in the period Patrick Hanafin made a free throw to get the Cards on the board, down 38-22.  Ireton then went on an 11-6 run to close the gap to 44-33 starting the 4th quarter.

The Cardinals shot the ball well from the charity stripe and free throws by Hanafin and sophomore Marcus Hayes drew the Cardinals to 46-38 with 5 minutes left in the contest. With just over 3 minutes to play and the Cardinals down 7 at 48-41, Martin went back to work, hitting a jumper to push the lead to 50-41. Junior Julian DeBose turned a steal into a highlight reel dunk and the lead jumped to 52-41.  Marcus Hayes hit a three-pointer shortly after to pull Ireton to 53-46, but only 90 seconds remained. The Cardinals would foul Martin three consecutive possessions and the hot shooting Cadet made 6 straight free throws to pull St Johns away.

The Cardinals host Good Counsel Friday at 6pm for Senior Night. It is a varsity only affair to end the regular season, this a rescheduled contest from the snow earlier. The Falcons had previously scheduled freshmen and junior varsity contests to preclude the normal WCAC tripleheader.  Playoffs in the WCAC begin the first week in March with the Cardinals headed for a 7-10 matchup to open the tournament on the road.

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Bishop Ireton’s swim and dive season, with 7 school-record breaking performances and championship performances at the recent state meet, added another laurel to the campaign with convincing dual meet wins on the men’s and women’s teams in their final dual meet of the season over arch rival, Bishop O’Connell. The rivalry win was extra sweet for Coach John Gullickson, whose half brother, Coach Stiles is the mentor of the Knights swim team. Ireton heads to the Metros this weekend at the Germantown Swim and Dive facility at the SoccerPlex.  The men prevailed 86-74,  while the women breezed to 114-70 win.

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After a weather-induced 2 week break from hockey, the Bishop Ireton Ice Hockey team returned to the ice last Friday night.  The 7:00 pm tilt at the Mount Vernon Rec Center saw the Saints from St. Stephens/St. Agnes (SSSA) come calling, along with a large, vocal contingent of fans.  However, the Bishop Ireton faithful were not to be outdone as they also turned out in full force as well to support the Cardinals in their bid to end the season undefeated.  Ireton’s run of good luck came to an end, with SSSA prevailing in a thriller, 3-1, ending the Ireton winning streak at 11.

In what was celebrated as Senior Night for both schools, Ireton honored Tom Casey, the team captain, as well as 6 graduating seniors from SSSA before the game.  Following the ceremony, the intensity picked up immediately after the opening faceoff and didn’t let up until the final buzzer sounded.  SSSA drew first blood, scoring late in the frame on a screened shot, taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission.  Ireton came out firing in the 2^nd period and finally broke through on a goal by Reid Yager, with assists going to Dan Tangora and Tom Cyrnak.  The tie was short-lived however, as SSSA restored their 1 goal advantage on a breakaway as time was winding down in the period.

Nursing a 2-1 lead in the 3^rd, SSSA found themselves in repeated penalty trouble, but the Cardinals high-powered offense could not take advantage of their power-play opportunities on this night, including a full 2-minute 5 on 3 advantage.  In the end, SSSA scored into an empty net with 6 seconds left to send Ireton to its’ first loss of the season.  The Cardinals outshot the Saints, 35-34, and Robert Chastain stopped 32 of 34 shots in taking his first and only loss of the season in net, but the Saints Megan Maloney was better on this evening for the cross town rivals.  The loss dropped the Ireton team to 11-1 overall, but still undefeated in league play at 8-0.

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On January 30^th, despite the falling snow, Bishop Ireton’s crew team competed against hundreds of other rowers in the area the MidAtlantic Erg Sprints at T.C. Williams High school. Competing against all the other local crew teams, the Ireton team came away with many medals and top 10 finishes. Thaddeus Babiec and Helen Fonda led off the day by finishing third and ninth respectively in the men’s and women’s 20 minute test. After this, the events turned to the shorter sprint lengths.

In the Junior Women’s 1000 meter race, freshman Michelle Bouquet took tenth. In the Junior Men’s 1500 meter race, Jacob Ramey tied for fifth, just seconds away from a medal. In the 2000 meter races, Thaddeus Babiec won Junior Men’s 2000 meter race, and Patrick Walsh took eighth in the Lightweight Junior Men’s 2000. The two then paired up to take second in the Junior Men’s 3 minute double slide On the women’s side, Helen Fonda and Olivia Babiec teamed up and finished fourth in the Junior Women’s 3 minute double slide. Finally, Thaddeus Babiec got his third medal of the day by winning the Junior Men’s 500 meter sprint. In addition to these top 10 finishes, there was great participation by the other members of the Ireton Crew, most racing to personal best times.

The event gave the Cardinals one last chance to compete against area schools on the indoor rowing machines before all teams move to the water for the spring. The team left the event excited for a great spring racing season.  Rowers are starting on the water beginning the week of February 22.  Novice (rowers that is first year rowers) are encouraged to come out.

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 After an unusual hiatus caused by record snows in the metropolitan area, the Cardinals headed north to Olney for an afternoon contest with the 15th ranked Good Counsel Falcons (15-7, 8-4).  While the Falcons jumped out to an 18-2 lead in Alexandria against the girls at nearly the same time, the boys fell behind even further at 18-1!  The guys put the brakes on that slow start, however, and began a steady counterattack that drew them back to 27-20 at intermission.  They would continue to chip away at the Falcons, led by junior Antonio Rouse’s 17 points and classmate Patrick Hanafin’s 11 to actually take a 4-point lead in the final quarter of play.   The redbirds couldn’t close out the deal, however, and Good Counsel recovered for a 51-45 win.

The Cards returned to Godley Gym on Sunday to face Paul VI Catholic (12-11, 4-10) in the second game of an afternoon varsity boy/girl doubleheader.  Both teams showed their rust or their youth in a ragged, turnover plagued first quarter. Antonio Rouse continued his improved offensive production with a pair of three-pointers and the clubs were tied at 10 after one period.  The Panthers used a 9-0 run against the turnover-prone Alexandrians to open a lead they were nurse for much of the remaining ballgame. The squads traded three pointers in four consecutive possessions giving PVI a 25-22 advantage which they sheparded to a 32-28 halftime lead.

The teams struggled evenly throughout the third quarter, Ireton closed the gap to 41-38 at the end of three quarters and seemed poised to move in for the **** in the final session.   Patrick Hanafin, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half, took a nifty Tommy Gallinaro feed for a layup, then followed with another to hand Ireton a 42-41 lead, their first since the 10-6 advantage in the opening quarter.  Marcus Hayes, who contributed three steals in the second half alone, turned one into a layup, then Rouse added a lay in and the Cardinals were up 49-45 with 4:49 left, and Panther starter freshman Stanford Robinson headed to the bench with his fifth foul. Sophomore Patrick Holloway converted a Panther steal into a three and Coleman Johnson scored to put PVI back in front 51-50, a lead they would not relinquish.

Hayes threw in a pair of free throws to draw Ireton to 55-53 with 1:18 remaining, then picked off another PVI pass and headed to the basket, only to lose a basket and pick his fifth foul on a charging call.  Tilman Dunbar responded for the Fairfax school as they began to pull away, adding a pair of free throws, as did Holloway, and the lead soon ballooned 61-55.  Patrick Hanafin would add a three pointer late to draw Ireton to within 63-59, but the Panthers were deadly from the free throw line, shooting 17 of 20 from the stripe, pulling away to a 68-61 victory in Alexandria.

Ireton (6-15, 1-12) takes to the road to finish out the regular season with games Tuesday at Bishop O’Connell, Friday at St Mary Ryken, and Sunday at Bishop McNamara before returning home in the last week of February for make up games with St Johns on Tuesday, Feb 23rd, and the senior night contest tentatively scheduled for Friday Feb 26th.

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The reminder that winter is far from over arrived Thursday as school districts began to postpone activities for the Super Bowl weekend from Friday night through Sunday. The forecast of large amounts of snowfall during the weekend and additional accumulation possible as early as Tuesday has athletic directors and league commissioners scrambling.

Bishop Ireton was able to conduct its rescheduled senior night wrestling meet with Good Counsel and the girls’ basketball team travelled to Olney Thursday to play the Falcons in WCAC basketball.  The rescheduled boys contest with Good Counsel on Sunday, however, fell victim to the weather. As of Friday, no makeup date has been set.

The WCAC wrestling championships at Bishop McNamara set for Saturday have been rescheduled, however, to Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb 15th, with weigh-ins at 7:30am and wrestling beginning at 9am. “We agreed that with all the WCAC schools off on Presidents’ Day, it would be a better day to wrestle than taking wrestlers out of school multiple times next week to attempt to conduct the tournament during the week.” said WCAC wrestling chairman, Darrell Snyder of Bishop O’Connell.

Washington Metropolitan Private Schools Swim and Dive League (WMPSSDL) championships were scheduled for this weekend as well, but plans were tabled when many venues with pools began to close on Thursday for the coming storm. While diving was scheduled for Thursday, organizers are working for a new date to conduct the swimming portion, looking at possibly swimming simultaneously at two sites, girls in one pool while the boys swim at another location in order to conduct the meet during the coming week. No decision has been reached at this point.

The Cardinals award-winning cheerleaders were weathered out of the Blue Ridge Classics in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Saturday. The CCA has rescheduled the event for Saturday, February 27th in Lynchburg. 

Ireton’s hockey team waits as the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League ponders closings. The Cardinals are scheduled to travel to Ashburn Friday at 9pm and again on Sunday afternoon. Athletic director Bill Simmons recommends keeping a close eye on the School’s athletic website in these type of situations and signing up for the electronic notices of schedule changes for those sports of interest or where student athletes are participating. “It really is a great tool for us to notify families. You can sign up for the specific teams your athlete is involved with without having to receive notices for sports you aren’t associated.” explained Simmons.

Nothing is more jumbled than the basketball situation however.  While Ireton’s varsity girls have lost only Friday night’s game with Bishop McNamara, the boys have Good Counsel from last Tuesday evening and now the Mustangs to reschedule, with St Johns on tap for Tuesday and more snow in the forecast.  The WCAC regular season campaign is scheduled to end the week of Presidents’ Day and the league tournament to commence the following week. With two games already scheduled for that week and as many as three more possibly requiring a rescheduling, coaches and athletic directors face back-to-back games ahead.

“I understand the need to play the varsity games and possibly endure a marathon of games.” said Ireton’s Simmons. “One thing we likely will do is reduce the rescheduling of freshmen and junior varsity contests. There is no reason for them to play two and three days in a row, particularly with early dismissals and academic challenges for our youngest student athletes. I am not saying we  will cancel their remaining games, but I am suggesting that while our varsity teams may play three games in three days, our younger teams will likely only play one or two of those three days.”  Conference ADs will work through the weekend on these issues, mindful that some teams will not practice for three or more days before students return to school and scheduled games.

As always, Ireton athletic department officials recommend keeping a close eye on the website.

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