Senior Tim Goetz has been playing tennis ever since he was six years old. For three years he participated on the varsity tennis team racking up three successful seasons with a state championship and two state championship runner ups.

For years, Goetz attended extra tennis trainings to improve his game. This year he trained at least three times a week at the Fairfax Racquet Club to keep his skills up to par. He works out with a personal coach to ensure he is being pushed to his full potential.

All of his hard work has paid off because he recently committed to Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina to participate on the tennis team. He will be playing under Coach David Kurvink.

Coach Kurvink became head coach for Methodist in the fall of 2008 and finished with a winning record of 11-7. In his first season he advanced his team to the USA South Tournament semi-final match.

"I really love the campus, atmosphere and the fact that I already know people who go there," said Goetz of Methodist University.
Goetz also was interested in Methodist because of the Pro Tennis Management Program (PTM). There are only three PTMs in the country. The PTM provides 100% job placement, paid internships across the United States of America and professional tennis teaching certification by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) or Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) or both.
"I can't wait to go to college, and participate in all the opportunities Methodist has to offer me," said Goetz.

Last week the George Mason high School Robotics team accepted a check of $8000 from Exxon mobile's representative Rob Wollord. This check was used to help pay for the costs of the team's trip to Atlanta in April.

The team's next competition will be this summer at the battle of Baltimore. Robotics right now is hoping to be able to do well in the competition as they have in so many past ones, and maybe since they received money to help with the trip to Atlanta, they will have some left over to use for extra equipment.

The battle in Baltimore will also help them put together a new drive team for use in competition. The drive team this year was made up of only seniors, and will need to be rebuilt for next year.

In the team's recent history however, they faced many problems while in competition. It started with a miscommunication leading to a near disqualification. Then at the world competition everything seemed to be going just fine, until the second half, during which at least one of the robots in their alliance had mechanical problems at all times. Including one with a six second delay on its controls.

The team is hoping that in the future they will be able to put these misfortunes behind them and find some better luck during competitions.

The girls lacrosse team has always been decent, but the 2010 spring season has shown how much potential the team actually has. From the beginning of practice to the end of practice the Lady Mustangs train hard to ensure their victories.

Starting off the season with a winning game against Potomac Falls High School, they won 12-5. Then one game after another the team dominated winning 21-11 against Heritage High School, and 19-8 against South Lakes High School.

By the varsity team's fourth game the pressure increased dramatically. The opponent, Broad Run High School, had been the Mason girls' rivals. Never in George Mason girls lacrosse history had Broad Run lost, which provided even more incentive for the girls to push harder than ever before and win.

After a nail-biting and extremely rainy game, the team made history. Mason won 12-11 in the most suspenseful game all season against their long time rival.

Following Broad Run, the girls kept the momentum going and continued their winning season. With having 14 seniors on the team, the pressure to have the perfect season was more intense than ever.

Winning 12-11 to West Potomac, 18-0 to Park View, 12-8 to Freedom, 13-5 Washington and Lee, 10-7 against Loudon County, a 16-5 victory against Potomac Falls, a 20-1 win against Wakefield and a 19-5 triumph against Dominion, the girls have a season record of 12-0.

Playing on to District games and then hopefully regional games then finally states, the varsity team will continue to train hard. There are two home district games on May 13 and 17 so come support your Lady Mustangs.

Principal Tyrone Byrd was found earlier last week practicing with the track team before their meet.

Some of the track runners asked Byrd if he would want to practice one of the days with the team. Byrd, unable to turn down a challenge, agreed to the practice.

Byrd worked with the sprinters and the distance runners. With the distance runners the ran a couple of miles. At about a mile and a half, they started to leave him behind. "I felt like I was slowing them down," said Byrd.

The distance runners participated in their "light" workout because they had a meet the following day. Coach Beth Bird explained their light workouts include focusing on acceleration and endurance.

Byrd called the sprinting work out "rough." They ran five flights of stairs at the Metro station. Some of the repetitions included bunny hopping each stair. Then they would sprint down the full length of the garage. The sprinters call this work out "The Oven" because of its intense nature.

Guidance counselor Brad McAdam was also encouraged to participate in the workout. He was no where to be found when the clock struck 4:00.

Even if McAdam appears to be too afraid to participate, Byrd reminded students he is open to practicing with most of the teams at George Mason.

With a 2-0 win over Manassas Park, the George Mason boys soccer team entered the halfway mark of the Bull Run district regular season with a perfect record of 5-0. Last Tuesday, the Mustangs were hosted by the Manassas Park Cougars in a crucial Bull Run district regular season game. Mason needed to win in order to keep them in first place entering the second half of the season. Manassas Park was also desperate for a win after dropping a close 2-1 game against Clarke County.

 

The Mustangs managed to take control of the game early creating multiple chances on goal. For the majority of the opening twenty minutes, the Mustangs controlled the ball well and gave Manassas limited opportunities to organize an attack. The Mustangs best chance goal early on in the game was a cross sent across the six yard box that found junior Harris Schaffer, but his shot hit the right post keeping the game knotted up.

With fifteen minutes left in the half, the Mustangs managed to get on the board. On a free kick forty yards out, senior Alex Casteuble was able to find senior Andrew Arias who headed the ball into the back of the net. The Mustangs closed out the half with a 1-0 lead.

With a one goal lead, the Mustangs continued to possess the ball and find opportunities on goal in the second half. Numerous chances were created but the Mustangs failed to convert, keeping Manassas in the game. Midway through the second half, Manassas began to put some pressure on the Mustang's defense, though they were unable to capitalize on their few shots. The Mustangs defense remained strong entering the last ten minutes of the game.

With five minutes left in the game, the Mustangs found a way to put the game out of reach. On a quick counter, senior Nick Smirniotopoulos received the ball on the right side of the field and made quick work of the single defender marking him. Cutting inside, Smirniotopoulos found himself one on one with the Manassas keeper and drilled the ball near the post into the back of the net. The Mustangs held onto their two goal lead and received their fifth win in the Bull Run district.