Sports in Brief: Southern Fairfax (July 24-31)
By Staff
Two Phan University students earn top honors:
Thuc Tran, a 13-year-old student at Lake Braddock Secondary School and a judo student at Phan University of Martial Arts in Burke, finished first on the opening day of the 2008 Junior U.S. Open Judo Championship in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., held July 18-20.
Tran was awarded a goal medal by topping all competitors in the Male Juvenile-A (64 kg) category at the international tournament, which included combatants as young as nine and even some enrolled in college.
Another Phan University standout, 16-year-old Shaina Krause, earned a first-place finish in the featherweight black belt category at the USA Taekwondo (USAT) Junior Olympic Championships, which were held July 3-6 in Detroit.
With her first-place finish, Krause qualified for the 2008 Junior National USAT Team, and as a member, will participate in an International Training Exchange with Junior National Teams from Belarus, Canada, Mexico, Spain and an additional country to be determined at a later date.
USAT will host the exchange at the University of Central Oklahoma on July 26-31.
Chantilly Little League All-Stars win district title:
The Chantilly American 10-11 All-Stars defeated rival SYA East, 13-2, in four innings to win the District 10 championship and advance to the state tournament, which is scheduled to begin today in Virginia Beach.
"The boys have worked very hard, they have played as a team and everyone has contributed to their success," said coach Raghu Mani.
Two local athletes inducted into Hall of Fame:
Eliza Barcus Brown and Chris Rice have been selected as two of four new inductees into the University of Mary Washington Athletic Hall of Fame. Brown, a three-time All-America swimmer, held four Capital Athletic Conference records at the time of her graduation in 1996. She still holds the CAC record in the 1650-yard freestyle and no swimmer has come within 15 seconds of her mark. Brown is currently the head swim coach at McLean High School.
Rice, an Annandale resident, also earned All-America honors three times in his career, specializing in the butterfly events. He finished in the top 10 in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at the 1997 NCAA Championships, and finished ninth in the 200 fly at the 1998 NCAAs. In 2005, he won the United States Masters Swimming National Championship in the 200 fly.
The UMW Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Oct. 24 at the university's Fredericksburg campus.
SYA lacrosse team wins third straight title:
The SYA U-15 Lady Warriors lacrosse team defeated Springfield, 9-6, to win its third straight U-15 B championship. The team, which was comprised of rising freshmen at Westfield and Centreville high schools, finished its season with a record of 11-2.
Southwest boys lacrosse takes league championship:
The Southwest U-15C boys lacrosse team won the Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League championship for their division. They entered the playoffs with a 3-6-1 record and were designated as the No. 8 seed. The team proceeded to upset the tournament's No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, and in the championship, it narrowly edged out Fort Hunt, 4-3, to capture the title.
Tryouts and announcements:
The Fire and Ice 16-U tournament team will hold four tryouts for the 2008-09 tournament season. Tryouts will be held at Park View High School on Aug. 6 from 7-9 p.m., Aug. 9 from 10 a.m.-noon, Aug. 11 from 7-9 p.m. and Aug. 13 from 7-9 p.m. For questions, call Tony Sudley at 703-798-2003.
The Virginia Patriots, a softball team for high school girls, will be having tryout for the 2009 season at Falls Church High School on Aug. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Aug. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. Contact E.J. Thomas to register at 703-255-2613 or ejt1609@aol.com.
SYA fall registration is now available online at www.syasports.org. Register now to ensure placement on a team. Registration is available for the following sports: Babe Ruth baseball, softball, baseball and T-ball, soccer, football, field hockey, track and field, cheerleading and lacrosse clinic. Visit the Web site or send an email to syaboard@verizon.net.
Northern Virginia Senior Softball seeks men (50-plus) and women (40-plus) to play Fall Ball – two seven-inning slowpitch games every Tuesday and Thursday on various Fairfax County fields Sept. 2-Oct. 30. NVSS has 25 teams organized into three skill-level conferences. Players are assigned to a team by a skill assessment, not a tryout. For information, call Dave at 703-524-5576 or Ted at 703-913-0028, or visit www.nvss.org.
Fairfax Adult Softball is accepting applications for men's, women's, coed, corporate coed and senior's adult softball teams. Deadline to register is Aug. 1. For more information, call 703-815-9007 or email office@fairfaxadultsoftball.com.
Average Joe Tournaments will launch its 11-city national basketball tournament at Chantilly's Hoop Magic Sports Academy in October. In each city, 64 teams will contend for the $100,000 prize; the tournament MVP will win a new car. For more details about Average Joe Tournaments and to register, please visit www.averagejoebasketball.com.