JV Basketball

Tuesday, February 11, vs. Miller School

The VES Fighting Bishops are beginning to gain momentum during the last stretch of the regular season with a big win versus the Miller School (75-63)! Tremain Parker ‘21 finished the game as the leading scorer with 31 points (his second game in a row he scored 31 points for the team!) Riggs Handy ‘23 added another 18 points, making 3 point shots from far beyond the 3 point line. Every Bishop impacted this game either scoring baskets or playing great defense! Drew Stokes ‘22 protected the basketball all night while Elijah Noble ‘22 defended the perimeter players with great effort and energy. 

Thursday, February 13, vs. Hargrave Military Academy

The team gathered together for the final game of the regular season before heading into the tournament. Although the Bishops were in the lead most of the game, they would ultimately lose in the waning seconds of the clock. The final score to this game was 66-68. The Bishops finished the regular season with an outstanding 13-5 record, making them the #1 seed heading into the championship tournament.  

Indoor Track

Saturday, February 15, VISAA State Championship 

Only five VES athletes made the trip to St. Christopher’s this past Saturday; they returned with multiple personal bests, accolades and an astonishing top 5 team finish. Daniel O’Brien had what one meet organizer described as “the best single athlete performance we have ever seen in this building”. O’Brien finished 11 seconds ahead of the runner-up in the 1600m, in a state meet record time of 4:19. He returned to claim the 1000m in 2:29, another meet record and the 7^th fastest time in the country this season.  He capped the historic day with his third meet record by winning the 3200m in a time of 9:19. This earned him the meet’s Male Athlete MVP award. 

O’Brien’s teammates likewise saved their best performances for last. Row Sterne placed 3^rd in the 1600m, slashing 6 seconds off his PR by crossing in 4:30. He came back with 5^th place and a 9:50 in the two-mile. Thomas Cook broke the 5 minute mile barrier for the first time in his career, clocking a 4:57. Drew Tompkins equaled his best in the high jump with a 5’8” leap and 10^th place. Josh Buckley ran a speedy 2:52 in the 1000m. This concluded the Indoor Track and Field season for all but O’Brien.  He will head to New York for the New Balance Nationals Indoor championship in March.

Wrestling 

Friday, February 14 - Saturday, February 15, VISAA State Championship 

The wrestling team has seen multiple ups-and-downs this season, but throughout they have fought hard and showed grit, determination and the true spirit of being a Bishop during their time on and off the courts. They brought these skills with them to the VISAA State Championship in Doswell, VA last weekend. On the first day, Tucker Olmert ‘23, Will Barnes ‘21, Reilly Holleran ‘20, Nana Kofi Obeng-Mensah ‘20 and Neguens Ovincy ‘20 all won for the Bishops. Nana Kofi beat the 2nd seed wrestler from Saint Christopher’s with a take down in the final seconds of the match, winning 3-1. Neguens fought hard in his triple-overtime match; however, he ultimately lost 2-1. The energy in the air was electric with anticipation and the team stood strong together as the ended the first day. The second day of the matches, after several intense rounds of wrestling, three Bishops came away with medals. Reilly Holleran earned a 7th place finish, Nana Kofi Obeng-Mensah earned a 3rd place finish and Neguens Ovincy earned a 4th place finish. These victories will allow seniors Nana Kofi Obeng-Mensah and Neguens Ovincy to advance their way to the Prep League National Tournament! 

 

Swimming

Friday, February 14 - Saturday, February 15, VISAA State Championship 

As written by Coach Markunas

The swim team had a strong performance at states this past weekend with 18 students representing VES. Following the Senior Parade, our Bishops swam hard with almost every swimmer setting personal records. Most notably, the boys 200 free relay consisting of Spencer Miles ’20, Jack Prahinski ’21, McKee ’21 and Harry Cook  ’21 came in 21^st, dropping over 4 seconds, and the girls 400 free relay of Sarah Bennet Smith ’20, Margaret Sprunt ‘20, Lara Wood ‘20 and Caroline Falwell ’23 also came in 21^st, dropping 15 seconds!

The 100 breaststroke was a big event for our Bishops as Charlie Schindler ’21 set a PR and re-broke his own school record by over 2 seconds, earning him 20th place in the state ranking. Caroline Fallwell  ’23 returned to swim in the finals bringing home 7th place, setting a PR and re-breaking the school record she had set earlier in the year. Caroline is now the record holder for FOUR of our school’s records, including the 200 IM, which she came back to swim in finals and brought home 16th place and set the record as well as a new PR!

Senior Spencer Miles truly left high school swimming in fine fashion. The 50 free can be an unforgiving event as it’s only two laps but, after starting the morning wowing the crowd with the most beautifully sung National Anthem with senior Juilanna Sigler, his 100 free floored us. He came back 5th for finals, and just left it all in the pool. He is now the state runner up in the men’s 100 freestyle which earned him a spot on the all-state team, a PR of 46.85, and a brand new school record!