On November 19, 2015, Falls Church hosted the annual Fall Sports Awards Ceremony. FCHS Athletic Director Jeanne Kelly started off the night congratulating all athletes for another great fall season of sports. Next the new Booster President, Tim Harris, spoke and announced that we had raised $17,500. To show what the county doesn’t pay for and what all the money raised by the Booster goes to, two players from each team came onto the stage with equipment such as uniforms, sticks, and balls.

Next, each of the varsity coaches named all the student athletes who have a grade point average of 3.5 or above. We have an amazingly high percentage of 42% of our student athletes achieving this. Ms. Kelly made an emphasis that this was extremely important thing everyone should try to achieve and that the number of honor students was incredible.

After all of the recipients had been named and went to the front of the stage, it was time to move onto the Coach’s Awards. First up was the Head Varsity Cheerleading Coach, Jessica Brown, who gave the Coach’s Award the Emily Santos (12). She said that Emily is constantly working on her stunts and continued to go to extra practices outside of school cheer. She also said that she had been a captain for the past two seasons and was great leader.

Next was head varsity coach of Cross Country, Bobby Krause. For the girls team, Sandy Kendall (12) won, and for the boys team, Carlos Mahuiztl (12) won. Coach Krause said that Sandy is one of the best athletes you could ask for and was proud she represented us at States. Sandy added, “I’m thankful for the friends and experiences I’ve had being a part of Cross Country these past four years.” Coach Krause said that Carlos was extremely dedicated and worked really hard.

Varsity Field Hockey Head Coach Melinda Wodatch gave the Coach’s Award to Maddy Poplin (12). She said that Maddy was confident, but with humble pride and that every one would really miss her next year. Maddy said, “The season was really fun because of how close the team was, so it meant a lot to have won the award.”

Coach Said Aziz, Head Varsity Coach of Football, started off by congratulating everyone on very successful seasons. He gave the Coach’s Award to Patrick Hills (12), who is the manager of the team. Coach Aziz said that he always had a positive attitude and could brighten your day no matter what.

Golf’s Head Varsity Coach Seth Richardson gave an entertaining speech all around. He gave the Coach’s Award to Lauren Beck (12) and Thomas Burke (12). Coach Richardson said that both Lauren and Thomas would be in his perfect gold foursome because they are both so competitive.

Last, but not least, was Head Varsity Volleyball Coach, Belinda Kim. She gave the Coach’s Award to Ilayda Akgul (12), who was Captain for the past two seasons. Coach Kim said Ilayda was consistent and had a great love for the game of volleyball.

Falls Church was well represented in the Capitol Conference 13 Honors this year. After the regular season is over all the coaches of a sport meet together and vote on the best players. For Cheerleading Tacey Brown (12), Darius Bryant (11), Taylor Harvey (12), and Emily Santos (12) received All-Conference. On the Cross Country team, Sandy Kendall (12), Campbell Scheuerman (12), Emily Seracino (12), and Carlos Mahuiztl (12) received 2nd Team All-Conference. For Field Hockey, Meg Verhagen (11) received 2nd Team All-Conference and Chance Asher (11), Sophia Omar (11), Rachel Rannazzisi (11), and Connie Vuong (12) received Honorable Mention. On the Football team, Anthony Crutchfield (12), Adrian Collins (11), Deontae Hargrove (12), and Tyler Warren (11) received 1st Team All-Conference and Michael Reid (12) and Gelsey Serrano (12) received 2nd Team All-Conference. For the Volleyball team, Micaela Ortiz (12) received 1st Team All-Conference, Amber Ecelbarger (12) and Sarah Halverson (12) received 2nd Team All-Conference, and Shannon Baily (9) and Meaghan Wheeler (11) received Honorable Mention. Also, Volleyball Head Coach, Belinda Kim, was named Co-Coach of the Year.

We also had many Regional Honors this year. Tacey Brown (12) and Emily Santos (12) received Regional Honors for Cheerleading. We also had many Regional Qualifiers including Cheer, Volleyball, and the Girl’s Cross Country Team of Nithya Chaudari (10), Abigail Gagermeier (9), Sandy Kendall (12), Beatrice Maku (12), Olivia Rogers (10), Campbell Scheuerman (12), and Emily Seracino (12). Sandy Kendall (12) also qualified for States in Cross Country. At the end of the Awards, the Cheerleading District Champions banner was presented and the entire varsity team came on stage.