The AD’s report
Rapp Athletics continued to stretch out their spring, with boys’ varsity soccer and varsity track making a strong run into the postseason.
Track made the long road trip to Charles City last Thursday (May 29) for the Region 1A East Track Championship. When the last race was run, eight Rapp student athletes qualified for the State Cham- pionship, coming up tomorrow (Friday, June 6) and Saturday (June 7) in Radford.
Standout performances included third and fourth place in the 100 Hurdles by Jessica Thorne and Julia Estes; fifth place in the 1600 by Emily Allen; third in the 400 by Emma Endre; second, fourth and sixth in the 300 Hurdles by Sara Garcia, Thorne and Estes; fourth in the 800 by Kayla McGhee; first in the 3200 by Julia Wood; and third in the 3200 by Gavin Jenkins. As a team, the girls finished fifth in the regional meet, tied with Essex.
All of these athletes will be making the trip to Radford tomorrow to compete for state titles in seven different events. Coach Stephens reports that this is the largest contingent Rapp has taken in at least 15 years — and all of them are underclassmen, boding well for the future. Next week’s article will feature a detailed report on the results of the state meet.
Our other postseason team, varsity boys’ soccer, took the long way to Regionals, but advanced further than any Rapp team in recent memory, with a chance to continue their journey Wednesday night. Rapp started off hosting a game in the Rapp River Conference Tourney, defeating Lancaster last Monday at home. Next they traveled to Essex on May 28 to face Washington & Lee, only to have lightning postpone the game. Thursday night Rapp made the trip again and prevailed 1-0 over a tough Essex team, behind the lone goal of Amrit Tamang and the superhuman goalkeeping of Ben Estes.
Friday night (May 30), the team made the trip to Essex for the third night in a row, but the long trips caught up with them and they fell to Essex for the conference championship, bringing home the runner-up trophy. Monday (June 2), they hit the road again, traveling to Alta Vista for a Regional Quarterfinal. There, they proved to be unwelcome guests, crushing their hosts by a 4-0 margin behind Tamang’s hat trick and another goal by Austin Huff for good measure. And once again Estes had an outstanding game, keeping all shots out of his net.
Wednesday night ( June 4) the team traveled back to the Northern Neck, visiting West Point High School for a Region 1A East semifinal game. Results are too late for this article, but with any luck next week’s story will feature details about Rapp’s pending trip to the State Championship!
And regardless of how the season progresses, the athletic department would like to recognize our dedicated Rapp soccer fans, dozens of whom have made the trip to all our playoff games, in a few instances even outnumbering the home contingents! Their support has been welcomed and valued.
In other sports news this week, the athletic department had its Spring Sports Celebration on Tuesday night, honoring our spring athletes and also giving out the year-end awards. Highlights included 22 threesport medals (almost double the number given last year!) and the presentation to the crowd of the Rapp River Conference runnerup trophy by boys soccer coach Alex Ramey.
Awards winners included “Unsung Hero” Rich Hogan, Sportsmanship Award winner Ben Montgomery, Rapp News Scholar Athlete of the Year Shelby Burnett, Neil Burke Award winner Lily Endre, Female Student Athlete of the Year Julia Wood and Male Student Athlete of the Year Dylan Hitt. Last but not least, Coach Alex Coffroth was honored for the second year in a row with the Impact Coach of the Year Award.
As noted during the evening, it has been a “banner” year for Rapp Athletics, with more than five varsity championship banners earned for the gym this year, and perhaps more to come. (See the full list of awardees, and Panther athletes who participated in at least three team sports this school year, online now at rappnews.com.)
Stay in touch with Rapp athletics over the summer — and we have a very busy summer planned — by visiting rappahannockathletics.org. The James Madison University volleyball camp comes to Rapp today and Friday (details on the athletic website under “Files and Links”). Football workouts and open weight room nights begin the week of June 16. Don’t forget: The first round of Ten Dollar Sports Physicals take place today from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the medical center. If you miss that one, mark your calendar for the next one on June 19, same time and location.
— Jimmy Swindler