MoCo Athletics Archives - Page 52 of 75

Rockville Gym’s Acro Athletes Win Big at USA Gymnastics National Championships

Published July 3, 2023 at 7:49AM

Athletes from Xtreme Acro of Rockville, MD recently competed in the 2023 Acrobatic Gymnastics National Championships, held in Tulsa, OK from June 19-24. The athletes, led by Head Coach Cameron Jones, earned an impressive number of medals, including eight gold, seven silver, and seven bronze, and the gym’s thirteen Level 10 athletes brought home a gold medal Team Award for the highest cross-category cumulative score.

In addition to winning three silver medals, Xtreme’s Senior Elite women’s pair of Olivia Green and Allyson Stone were named to the Senior US National Team and will be competing at the Pan American Championships this fall. The Junior Elite women’s group, consisting of Roni Azerrad, Audrey Wang, and Isabella Collazo, won two gold medals and one bronze (including the national championship title for their division) and were named to the Junior US National Team. The two-time bronze medalist women’s group of Oriyan Weinman, Rebecca Greenberg, and Caylei Caldwell, and bronze medalist women’s pair of Olivia Irreno and Layla DeVaul, were named to the International Club Team.

Blair’s All-Time Leading Scorer, Brian Magid, Has High Praise For MoCo Native/NBA’s Josh Hart

By MCS Staff

Published July 2, 2023 at 8:04AM

Brian Magid is a Montgomery County legend when it comes to basketball. Considered one of the greatest shooter ever to play in Montgomery County, he led the Blazers to the County and State Championships during his senior year in 1975. He’s the school’s all-time leading scorer. Magid went on to play for the University of Maryland and George Washington University and was later drafted by the Indiana Pacers before playing professional basketball in Israel. Earlier this year, the Blazer legend had high praise for New York Knicks G/F and fellow MoCo native, Josh Hart.

Josh Hart grew up in Silver Spring. Prior to transferring to Sidwell Friends in D.C., he attended and played basketball at Wheaton High School. He grew up playing basketball for the Montgomery County Bearcats, where his coaches praised him for his heart at an early age. He made the varsity basketball team as a freshman at Wheaton, eventually becoming a starter in the second half of the season. Even though he transferred to Sidwell Friends and played there the last three years of his high school basketball career, his ties to MoCo remained strong. His mother has been a long-time employee at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville and his father is a retired caterer. Below, you’ll see what Brian Magid had to say:

Paint Branch’s Heather Podosek Announces Retirement in Letter to the Panther Community

By MCS Staff

Published June 29, 2023 at 5:29PM

Paint Branch Athletic Director Heather Podosek has retired from MCPS after 31 years. Podosek has been Athletic director since 2010, following two championships and 13 years as the girl’s head basketball coach. Earlier today, Podosek posted the following letter to the Paint Branch Athletics website saying goodbye to the Paint Branch community:

“Today is a emotional day for me as I retire from MCPS after 31 years, but it is also filled with reflection and gratitude! As I look back at my career (and all the stops along the way) which brought me to my “home” at Paint Branch, I will always be thankful for the guidance, patience and encouragement of the administrators, colleagues, coaches, students, and families that help me in my journey. You have been such a big part of shaping my career which is filled with love, laughter and happiness!

MoCo’s Abby Meyers Makes Her WNBA Debut With The Washington Mystics

By MCS Staff

Published June 24, 2023 at 10:15AM

Abby Meyers is Whitman High School’s all-time leading scorer with over 1,700 points and was the Ivy League Player of the Year last year before transferring to the University of Maryland for her senior season. On Tuesday, she signed a hardship contract with the Washington Mystics Tuesday. Meyers, who was a captain in her only year with the Terps, was drafted 11th overall in the first round of the WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings, but was waived prior to the start of the season.

A hardship contract is commonly used when a team has fewer than 10 players available for a game. The Mystics are on a three-game winning streak and Meyers scored 2 points in 6 minutes in her debut– the team’s most recent game on Thursday. I’m the video below, Meyers talks about what it’s like playing in the DMV again, “woke up in my own house that I grew up in, and drove down a few blocks to get here.”

MoCo Native Jordan Hawkins Drafted 14th Overall in the 2023 NBA Draft

By MCS Staff

Published June 23, 2023 at 10:55AM

Jordan Hawkins, who is coming off of leading the UConn Huskies to a National Championship, has reached another milestone. The young man from Gaithersburg was drafted 14th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2023 NBA Draft. Hawkins is a Montgomery County native who attended Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown and Gaithersburg High School for his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to DeMatha.

Hawkins was a top 50 recruit, who came to UConnfollowing two years at powerhouse program DeMathaCatholic (Hyattsville, Md.) under Coach Mike Jones. He played AAU for Team Durant under Coach Angel Hernandez, and as a senior at DeMatha, averaged 19.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.9 blocks, while shooting .636 overall and .464 from three-point range to lead DeMatha to an 11-0 record and was named 2020-21 Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year. Hawkins was a two-time Washington Post All-Met Honorable Mention pick and averaged 20.2 points per game as a sophomore when he was at Gaithersburg High School (per UCONN).

Back to Back Championships For Olney Boys and Girls Club 13U Softball

By MCS Staff

Published June 14, 2023 at 7:37AM

The OBGC 13U Blackhawks have won back-to-back championships after consecutive undefeated seasons. “I almost feel more of a relief than excitement. The expectations on this team were such that anything less than a championship would have been a disappointment for several of the players. The players were able to rise to the moment and they will remember today long after they eventually hang up their cleats.” said Coach Ron Berry. “This team is special, with or without the win today. This was the just the cherry on top.”

This band of young ladies has gone 33-2-1 over the last three seasons (2023 Spring Record – 12-0-1. 2022 Fall Record – 10-0. 2022. Spring Record – 11-2). The league they compete in is the OBGC House Softball league for 13u girls, which is made of a consortium of teams from Poolesville, Clarksville, Burtonsville, Damascus and Rockville. After losing to Damascus Team Remsnyder in the playoffs last spring, the team came back very hungry. They went undefeated in the Fall season (no playoff due to shortened daylight time and harsher weather with fall and winter approaching). The majority of the team came back for this year‘a spring season and picked up right where they left off.

Quince Orchard Alumnus Charles Lee Hired As Top Assistant Coach by Boston Celtics

By MCS Staff

Published June 12, 2023 at 10:14AM

Boston Celtics Head Coach, Joe Mazzulla, has hired MoCo native Charles Lee as their lead assistant coach under Mazzulla, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Lee has been an assistant in the NBA since 2014, helping the Milwaukee Bucks win an NBA championship in 2021. Lee, a 2002 graduate of Quince Orchard High School, grew up in Gaithersburg and was a student-athlete at Quince Orchard before moving on to Bucknell, where he attended school and played until 2006.

He went on to play professionally, primarily in Europe and Israel. After his professional career came to an end, he returned to Bucknell as an assistant coach and later served as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks from 2014-18. He joined the Bucks as an assistant, becoming the top assistant after Darvin Ham left to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. His name appeared as a potential candidate for the Washington Wizards coaching job, prior to the Wizards naming Wes Unseld Jr. their head coach. Now, Lee joins a Celtics team that was a game away from the NBA Finals and is coming off of a 57-win season.

Legendary Churchill Lacrosse Coach, Jeff Fritz, Steps Down After 30 Years

By MCS Staff

Published June 9, 2023 at 7:43AM | Updated June 15, 2023 at 1:24PM

Last year, Winston Churchill High School in Potomac celebrated Jeff Fritz’s 300th victory as head boys lacrosse coach at the school and became the first Montgomery County lacrosse team (boys or girls) to ever win a State Championship. Following another successful season in 2023, Coach Fritz has announced that he’ll be stepping down as coach.

Churchill boys lacrosse won the 2022 Maryland 4A State Championship, after defeating Anne Arundel County powerhouse Broadneck 15-7 in the championship. This stories season was memorable for many reasons, as coach Fritz was celebrated for winning his 300th game. Churchill welcomed Montgomery County Councilmember and alumnus Andrew Friedson to the school’s game against Sherwood High School. At halftime Councilmember Friedson presented his old lacrosse coach with a Proclamation from Montgomery County for Coach Fritz’s 300th career win. Churchill boys lacrosse finished 13-0 in 2022.

Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Has Been Announced

By MCS Staff

Published June 4, 2023 at 7:57AM

The 2023 class of the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame (MCSHF) features county natives who have achieved at the national and international levels, as well local figures who are among the very best at what they have done in and for Montgomery County. The new class, which MCSHF announced today, consists of athletes, coaches, and media stars from football, soccer, tennis, basketball, and TV.

The six inductees will be honored in a ceremony on Sunday October 29th. This year’s class includes:

More Than 100 Compete in First Unified Field Day At Wheaton High School

By MCS Staff

Published May 26, 2023 at 4:12AM | Updated May 26, 2023 at 7:46AM

Per MCPS: Wheaton High School held its first Unified Field Day on May 23 in honor of Sarah Gilbert, a former Learning for Independence (LFI) student who unexpectedly passed away last summer. The event was named Gilbert Games in her honor. The event was planned and executed by Wheaton High School staff members in conjunction with Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy and Springbrook and Wheaton high schools. More than 100 students from all four schools attended (video below).

Leadership students coached students from the LFI program, which is designed for students with complex learning and cognitive needs, including mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, and the School Community-based (SCB) programs, which includes students with severe or profound intellectual disabilities and/or multiple disabilities. Students from the extensions program, which is a program that includes students with the same disabilities in need of additional behavioral support, also participated.

MCPS Records New Pregame Announcements to Include Spanish Version

By MCS Staff

Published May 23, 2023 at 7:58AM | Updated May 23, 2023 at 9:06AM

By Abijah Hines of Watkins Mill High School’s student newspaper, The Current

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has decided to re-record the pregame announcements after its initial recording fifteen years ago with an added Spanish version. Having been only updated once before, in 2021, the pregame announcements have been an integral part of MCPS. The announcements serve as a way for both the athletes and spectators to know how to conduct themselves at games and to remind everyone that they are there to support and respect the athletes and officials.