It’s been a winter season full of ups and downs for the Panthers. And as the winter season closes out and the spring season begins, let’s take a look at all the final stats from our varsity Panthers.
Girls’ Basketball
Edited: The article has been updated to reflect the team’s current record with 24 wins, not 20 wins as previously written.
The girls varsity basketball team has had an accomplished season: Regular Season District Champions, District Tournament Champions, Region Tournament Champions to name a few.
After defeating Riverside 39-35 to win the Potomac District, the girls varsity basketball team secured a bye for the first round of regional play. They defeated Briar Woods on Feb. 26, 52-35 at home and advanced to the regional finals. On Feb. 28, the team won the Region 5D Championship against Lightridge in a 50-43 game.
“It was a very up and down game, so when it was coming down to the last minutes, it was a big relief [to see] everybody’s reaction once we won,” said senior co-captain Hallis Morris.
Led by Morris and senior co-captains Brynn Hunter and Katherine Yashina, the team broke the record for most wins in school history this season. The old record, having been 19 wins, now sits at 24 wins thanks to this year’s roster. On. Feb 19, Coach Lynn Ewald secured his 200th win as head coach after the team beat Briar Woods 45-28 in the district semi-finals.
The girls team also plays in the first round of states on March 4 against William Fleming High School. “We’re really nervous because we’ve never made it this far in the four years that we’ve been here,” said Hunter. “But we’re trying to go into it with an open mind by preparing ourselves and learning more about the school we’re up against.”
Boys’ Basketball
The boys varsity basketball team finished their season 20-7 after falling to Riverbend High School on Feb. 26. The team won the first round of regionals against Briar Woods on Feb. 24. After graduating 10 seniors last season, the Panthers were left with only four returning players.
They finished their regular season at 17-5 with a captivating 67-65 overtime win over Stone Bridge that locked in their security over the Potomac District 2nd seed. The Panthers also secured the Broadway Tip-off Tournament in December. A few more notable victories would be their games against Loudoun Valley on Dec. 3, Tuscarora on Dec. 11, and Broad Run on Feb. 5.
“The Panthers have had tremendous leadership from senior captains Troy Hooper, Brennan Hytten, and Troy Dellinger,” said Head Coach Jeff Hawes.
Girls’ Gymnastics
In gymnastics, scores are based off of individual performances and overall team scores. While the Panthers didn’t have a full team and were unable to compete in the overall team categories, the girls had a lot of success in their individual events including Vault, Beam Balance, and Floor Exercise.
Some notable records include freshman Jilliane Gassiyombo scoring a 7.8 on Floor despite having never done gymnastics before. Freshman Fay Alathari scored a 8.7 on Beam, senior Laura Camacho Cubillos scored an 8.5 on Floor, and senior Mariana Camacho Cubillos scored a 7.45 on Floor. All of these stats happened at our home meet on Jan. 23, while junior Camila Arana scored a 8.65 on Vault at the Riverside meet on Jan. 16.
“I am incredibly proud of the hard work that each gymnast has put in this season and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the team next year and competing as a team at our regular season meets,” said Head Coach Misty Keller.
Boys’ Track
This year’s winter indoor track season had been a rough one for both the boys and the girls due to inclement weather that resulted in cancellations of meets and training days, which overall disrupted the flow of this season’s development.
A big takeaway from this season was “the overall improvement of the distance program for the boys’ with significant improvements from several top athletes,” said Head Coach Christopher Wanza. The season ended with junior Gavin Jackson qualifying for the state meet in the 3200.
“On the sprint side, we are seeing our seniors pull up underclassmen, paving the way for a strong sprint team, continuing the tradition we are creating at Potomac Falls,” said Wanza.
Seniors Kaiden Richardson and Jack Manfredi led the team qualifying for state meets in several relays and individual sprint events, with junior Nathan Short seeing significant improvement due to his time training with the seniors during the offseason. As the Panthers close out their winter season, they are looking to defend their Regional Championship next season. They plan to achieve this goal by covering their points from last year and adding them to the new talent that will come next winter.
Girls’ Track
“The girls are making their final strides toward developing a solid sprint team for Potomac Falls,” said Wanza. Leading them in sprints is senior Madison Wanza, who qualified for states in the long jump. She broke the school’s, as well as several other schools’, long jump records. Senior Isabella Cheiaua shortened her sprint time alongside many underclassmen such as Mackenzie Winthers, a sophomore who’s setting the stage for a strong program after she qualified for states in the 300m.
“We are excited about the future of track and field on the girls’ side, because the majority of our athletes are underclassmen who saw the ups and downs of a season that will test your grit and they all rose to the occasion,” said Wanza.
Swim
For both boys and girls swimming, the individual swimmers had more success than the team overall, with many advancing to both regionals and states.
On Feb. 10, the regional meet was held at Claude Moore with junior Thomas Kalka placing second in the 100 back and in 200 medley relay along with junior Joey Coleman, Ethan Hendershot, and senior Jake Anderson. Junior Joey Coleman also placed first in the 200 free and the 100 breast.
Senior Micaela Perezous placed first in the 200 free relay along with senior Soleil Antognoli, senior Mackenzie Speilman, and freshman Maya McCarney. McCarney also placed first in the 100 breast.
Sixteen swimmers are travelling to Richmond on Tuesday to compete in the state meet on Wednesday, March 5. Of the 16 swimmers, eight are competing in individual events, including juniors Joey Coleman (100 breast, 200 free), Thomas Kalka (100 back, 100 fly), senior Jake Anderson (50 free, 100 free), freshman Maya McCarney (200 IM, 100 breast), seniors Soleil Antognoli (50 free, 100 free), Mackenzie Speilman (100 fly, 100 back), Micaela Perezous (50 free, 100 free), and junior Lina Minkara (200 free, 100 back).
Wrestling (girls’ and boys’)
Both the boys and girls had a solid wrestling season. Juniors Zack Himmelberger and Masoud Nezam both advanced to compete in the state tournament after placing fourth in the Region 5D tournament. Junior Codi Turner and sophomore Nijah McLean also made states.
Coach Kim Brady noted other big moments for the team this season. “Varsity highlights include [placing third at the] Riverside Tri and [placing fourth at] the Broad Run Quad,” said Brady.