Here are the champions for each of the twenty-four sports in 4A for which the VHSL awarded championships. The school that won the most titles might come as a bit of a surprise. [I did not include cheerleading. Also, I had no idea that 4A crowned champions in field hockey and boys volleyball.]
Golf - E. C. Glass
Cross Country (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Cross Country (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Field Hockey - Great Bridge
Volleyball (Boys) - Monacan
Volleyball (Girls) - Loudoun County
Football - Salem
Indoor Track (Boys) - William Fleming
Indoor Track (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Swimming & Diving (Boys) - Jefferson Forest
Swimming & Diving (Girls) - Jamestown
Wrestling - Great Bridge
Basketball (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Basketball (Girls) - Monacan
Outdoor Track (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Outdoor Track (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Lacrosse (Boys) - Riverside (3A)
Lacrosse (Girls) - George Mason (2A)
Tennis (Boys) - Rock Ridge
Tennis (Girls) - Hanover
Baseball - Liberty Christian Academy
Softball - Woodgrove
Soccer (Boys) - Kettle Run
Soccer (Girls) - Jefferson Forest
Schools winning multiple championships:
4 - E. C. Glass
3 - Loudoun Valley
2 - Great Bridge, Jefferson Forest, Monacan
Congrats to all these schools on a great year, particularly E. C. Glass. The Hilltoppers came close to claiming five crowns, as their boys lacrosse team dropped a close one to Riverside in the final.
Championships by geographic region:
[As defined by yours truly. Since Riverside and George Mason compete in 4A in lacrosse, I included them in Northern Virginia.]
9 - Northern Virginia (14 schools, including three in Fauquier Co., plus Riverside and GM)
7 - Lynchburg & environs (4 schools)
3 - Richmond & environs (6 schools)
3 - Tidewater (12 schools)
2 - Roanoke & environs (3 schools)
0 - Fredericksburg & environs (5 schools, including Eastern View)
0 - Winchester & northern valley (5 schools, including Harrisonburg)
0 - Charlottesville & environs (2 schools - C'ville and Louisa Co.)
0 - Piedmont (2 schools - Bassett and GW)
0 - Southwest (2 schools - Carroll Co. and Pulaski Co.)
Clearly, the Lynchburg area got the most bang for the buck ratio-wise, with three of the four schools winning titles (only Amherst Co. got skunked). If any region's performance could be viewed as disappointing, I suppose the Fredericksburg and Winchester areas, as well as Tidewater could all be candidates.
The close of this school year's competition marks the end of an era - the "Conference Era", to be precise. What has stood out most to me about this four-year period is the absurd amount of travel, in all sports, for first-round regional contests. While I have enjoyed seeing some new teams in football, it's generally been in the familiar surroundings of Salem Stadium. I don't imagine it's too much fun when the shoe is on the other foot, and it's your team that has to get on a bus for three-plus hours for a regional game. Often just to receive a pounding on the other end. All things considered, I think the VHSL made good moves in scrapping the conferences, and in going back to four regions per classification. By cutting regions (such as 4A West) that cover enormous amounts of territory in half, regional travel should be greatly reduced, similar to what we usually saw prior to 2013. With four regions, you have four natural semi-finalists, which I think makes more sense for state playoffs. And in many areas of the state, the conferences made no sense. I think it looked like a better organizational idea on paper than it turned out to be in actual practice. For example, Salem and George Washington shared a conference for four years, yet hardly ever (maybe never?) did battle in any sport during the regular season in all that time. In many places, some schools didn't play every other conference school in the regular season, so there was no regular season conference champion, official or otherwise. Yet, all the teams would then engage in a conference tournament or meet, to determine which teams went on to regional play. Too bad, so sad for any dominant teams that just happened to have a bad night (or day) in the conference semi-finals.
I don't know how seeds for regional tournaments will be determined now. In the old days, when all the schools in a given district were in the same classification, district tournaments made perfect sense. In basketball, they were usually quite exciting, and relevant. Now of course, many districts are comprised of schools in three or more different classifications, so district tournaments aren't as good of a solution, and can be logistical nightmares. I don't know what the new solutions will be. Let's all just hope they prove to be fair and equitable.
Golf - E. C. Glass
Cross Country (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Cross Country (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Field Hockey - Great Bridge
Volleyball (Boys) - Monacan
Volleyball (Girls) - Loudoun County
Football - Salem
Indoor Track (Boys) - William Fleming
Indoor Track (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Swimming & Diving (Boys) - Jefferson Forest
Swimming & Diving (Girls) - Jamestown
Wrestling - Great Bridge
Basketball (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Basketball (Girls) - Monacan
Outdoor Track (Boys) - Loudoun Valley
Outdoor Track (Girls) - E. C. Glass
Lacrosse (Boys) - Riverside (3A)
Lacrosse (Girls) - George Mason (2A)
Tennis (Boys) - Rock Ridge
Tennis (Girls) - Hanover
Baseball - Liberty Christian Academy
Softball - Woodgrove
Soccer (Boys) - Kettle Run
Soccer (Girls) - Jefferson Forest
Schools winning multiple championships:
4 - E. C. Glass
3 - Loudoun Valley
2 - Great Bridge, Jefferson Forest, Monacan
Congrats to all these schools on a great year, particularly E. C. Glass. The Hilltoppers came close to claiming five crowns, as their boys lacrosse team dropped a close one to Riverside in the final.
Championships by geographic region:
[As defined by yours truly. Since Riverside and George Mason compete in 4A in lacrosse, I included them in Northern Virginia.]
9 - Northern Virginia (14 schools, including three in Fauquier Co., plus Riverside and GM)
7 - Lynchburg & environs (4 schools)
3 - Richmond & environs (6 schools)
3 - Tidewater (12 schools)
2 - Roanoke & environs (3 schools)
0 - Fredericksburg & environs (5 schools, including Eastern View)
0 - Winchester & northern valley (5 schools, including Harrisonburg)
0 - Charlottesville & environs (2 schools - C'ville and Louisa Co.)
0 - Piedmont (2 schools - Bassett and GW)
0 - Southwest (2 schools - Carroll Co. and Pulaski Co.)
Clearly, the Lynchburg area got the most bang for the buck ratio-wise, with three of the four schools winning titles (only Amherst Co. got skunked). If any region's performance could be viewed as disappointing, I suppose the Fredericksburg and Winchester areas, as well as Tidewater could all be candidates.
The close of this school year's competition marks the end of an era - the "Conference Era", to be precise. What has stood out most to me about this four-year period is the absurd amount of travel, in all sports, for first-round regional contests. While I have enjoyed seeing some new teams in football, it's generally been in the familiar surroundings of Salem Stadium. I don't imagine it's too much fun when the shoe is on the other foot, and it's your team that has to get on a bus for three-plus hours for a regional game. Often just to receive a pounding on the other end. All things considered, I think the VHSL made good moves in scrapping the conferences, and in going back to four regions per classification. By cutting regions (such as 4A West) that cover enormous amounts of territory in half, regional travel should be greatly reduced, similar to what we usually saw prior to 2013. With four regions, you have four natural semi-finalists, which I think makes more sense for state playoffs. And in many areas of the state, the conferences made no sense. I think it looked like a better organizational idea on paper than it turned out to be in actual practice. For example, Salem and George Washington shared a conference for four years, yet hardly ever (maybe never?) did battle in any sport during the regular season in all that time. In many places, some schools didn't play every other conference school in the regular season, so there was no regular season conference champion, official or otherwise. Yet, all the teams would then engage in a conference tournament or meet, to determine which teams went on to regional play. Too bad, so sad for any dominant teams that just happened to have a bad night (or day) in the conference semi-finals.
I don't know how seeds for regional tournaments will be determined now. In the old days, when all the schools in a given district were in the same classification, district tournaments made perfect sense. In basketball, they were usually quite exciting, and relevant. Now of course, many districts are comprised of schools in three or more different classifications, so district tournaments aren't as good of a solution, and can be logistical nightmares. I don't know what the new solutions will be. Let's all just hope they prove to be fair and equitable.
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