The Scholastic Bowl team recently won the Bull Run District title and State Championship… again.  They easily cruised to a victory led by senior Liam O’Connell and junior Elinore McLain. This is the Mustangs’ fourth consecutive State Championship victory.

“It was a pretty great tournament,” said McLain, junior. “Montgomery Blair High School, the district runner-up, thought we had quiz bowl as a class.”

The Mustangs beat their nearest competitor by over 100 points in the District tournament.

In the State tournament, at the College of William and Mary, they defeated Honaker High School, 240-170 to win the title.  The Mustangs dealt Honaker their first loss of the season.

The Mustangs continue to impress their competitors, year after year, proving that they are the true scholars of any competition.

Following an impressive season, the Lady Mustangs came up just short of the State title losing to Floyd County, Friday, March 8 in the VHSL Girls Basketball State Semi-Finals.

It was a close game to the very end with players working their hardest and fans cheering their loudest. But, just like in any sport, there was heartbreak. Although Mason students have gotten used to winning the State title, this year was a little different and the team lost in a close game.

All players worked hard and did everything they could to try and secure a spot in the next round of the State tournament. Following State title wins in the past few years, the team was not able to repeat and now must say farewell to graduating players and get ready for next year.

The game was tight and the Lady Mustangs left it all out on the court, putting in a great performance. Unfortunately, the team could not beat the Floyd County press resulting in rushed passing which forced several turnovers.  The Mustangs could not handle the excellent pressure that the Floyd County girls put on and after the final buzzer the fans stood and applauded the valiant effort put forth by the Lady Mustangs.

“The girls played a great game and we support them no matter what, too bad they lost,” said Evan Davis, sophomore, after the game.

In addition to the turnovers, Floyd County was in the bonus before the end of the third quarter which allowed for easy extra points from free throws, putting the girls down and unable to come back. Although the team faced a heartbreaking loss, the girls had a positive outlook on their season and those to come.

“At first we were all really sad about the loss, and although we all wish we still had won, we quickly realized how amazing of a year we had and how close we got as a team,” said senior Emily Garrett in regards to the loss.

Even though this season was cut short, there is a bright future for this young team. With a J.V. team that finished 17-0 and plenty of returning players, the Lady Mustangs will remain tough competition for any team trying to claim the State title next season.

After being recognized for breaking the school’s record of 1,185 points in January 2012, just a little over a year later senior Stephanie Cheney trumps her record of 1,186 by scoring her 2,000^th point.

In her game against William Monroe Tuesday, February 19, Coach LaBryan Thomas called a time-out for the moment to be recognized in Cheney’s career.

“It felt amazing to reach such a milestone in my high school career and I’m so thankful for all of my teammates who helped me achieve it. My teammates been there for me throughout the years, and I know I would’ve never been able to do this without them,” says Cheney of her accomplishment.

Next year, Cheney has accepted an offer for a place on the University of Pennsylvania’s girls basketball team and will be playing with a new team, but says that she “will never forget the team that got her to where she has wanted to be for years.”

Following a short run in the playoffs last season, Mason baseball is ready to take it to the next level.

After tryouts last week, the team jumped right into practice. The team is working hard and preparing to fight for the top spot in the Bull Run district against some tough competition. The team only graduated three seniors at the end of the 2012 school year so the players are still closely knit and not much has changed.

“We know what to expect of each other this year and we are ready to take on the toughest competition,” said Lucas Cherry, senior.

With nine seniors on the team this year, the team has experience and a sense of unity that the team will take advantage of in order to top their opponents this season. The team is looking forward to playing and with the first scrimmage Saturday March, 2 at 1:00 p.m., baseball is back and ready to leave its mark.

National Honor Society (NHS) members are required to have at least 30 community service hours by the end of the school year.  Many of the junior and senior members choose to tutor fellow classmates or volunteer at a local homeless shelter; however, juniors Jack Stricker and Sarah Gompper took a unique approach to the task by volunteering to teach Falls Church youth the sport of wrestling.

Gompper and Stricker are both members of the varsity wrestling team here at Mason and first got involved in this volunteer experience over the summer when, “Coach Bryan Sulc created a wrestling camp for kids who might be interested in the sport, and the varsity team was asked to help out,” explained Stricker.

The camp was a success, and many of the participants signed up for the Falls Church Force wrestling program’s inaugural season, also headed by Bryan Sulc, which is where Gompper and Stricker racked up their service hours.

The youth program, which has participants ranging from the ages of five to twelve, meets three evenings a week at Mary Ellen Henderson and both Gompper and Stricker teach about two of the days per week, after their own practice had ended.

“They also have tournaments on the weekends [and this past weekend] they had their final tournament,” explained Gompper.

When asked why he chose to teach wrestling for service hours as opposed to other activities, Stricker said, “I like the sport of wrestling and think that it teaches great values. I can tell you for a fact that every one of the kids that came out has been affected by participating, both mentally, physically and emotionally.”

Similar to how the summer camp saw success, the Force program has seen much dedication and triumph, with most of the kids who showed up to the first few days of practice still showing up and having a great time.

“There's really a new funny moment each day because, even though wrestling is hard and demanding, spirits are never broken. I like that [dedication] a lot. These kids are doing something great and seem to like it a lot,” shared Stricker.

Especially touching to Gompper, one of only two girls on the Mason varsity team, was the bond she formed with the girls on the Force team.

“Although I care about all of the kids, I have spent a lot of time this season with the three girls [on the Force team] telling them how important it is that they stick with the sport. I was so proud to see them win matches; it’s almost like they’re an extension of myself,” shared Gompper.

Throughout the interview process, it was very striking just how devoted and proud of their students Stricker and Gompper were. It was evident that both were not just trying to push through the volunteer process to get the required hours, but they really enjoyed their time spent with the Force kids.

Their passion for the Mason team was also evident in their volunteer work.

“I was really excited to work with the slightly older kids because they’re going to make up the high school team soon enough. A few of them are planning to work out with the team next year, which is promising for the future of the sport at Mason,” explained Gompper.

As new NHS members, Gompper and Stricker well surpassed the first requirement of 10 service hours by the end of the first semester. Their altruistic service and love of wrestling should be inspiring to other NHS members and the entire community.

For the last two years, George Mason has sent multiple wrestlers to the State tournament.  This year, they kept the streak going.

Junior Grant Hagler and freshman Hunter Sulc competed in this year’s State tournament, which took place in Salem, Virginia.   The first day started off well for Sulc, who dominated both his matches which allowed him to move on to the next round.

“I had a great first day of wrestling.  I started off really strong,” said Sulc.

Grant Hagler had a tougher first day.  He won one match and lost two, thus being eliminated.

“It was disappointing that I was eliminated so early.  The football season and wrestling season have taken a toll on me and I was going on fumes the whole time,” said Hagler.

Sulc then lost all three of his matches on the second day.  He impressively placed sixth in the tournament.

Both Sulc and Hagler were optimistic for next year.

“We have a lot of junior wrestlers returning next year, so I think that we will be stronger.  I know all the guys are pumped for next year,” said Hagler.

“Overall this was a good tournament and good year of wrestling, and I’m pretty excited for next year,” added Sulc.