Among the numerous banners hanging in the gym, the softball team?s district banner bears a single date ? 1976.
“The last time we won a district championship was in 1976 and we hope 2010 will be the next,” freshman Mina Don said.
According to senior Christine Grilliot, the team uses an old softball jersey believed to be from 1976 as a source of inspiration before games.
Varsity is currently 4-1 in the district; they played Stone Bridge High School on Friday, but results were not available as of press time. The team had a 25-2 victory over South Lakes High School last Tuesday and beat Langley, Thomas Jefferson and Herndon High Schools by more than six points each.
“It feels good to win by such a margin,” Grilliot said. “In previous years, we?ve had a lot of close games; but this year, our wins have been solid.”
Last season, the team reached the district championships, but lost to Stone Bridge High School. This season, they hopes to win the district title and defeat South Bridge during the season.
“I really want to win districts for the seniors because they got so close last year,” Don said.
The team accomplished the latter goal on Thursday, after beating the defending district champions, Stone Bridge High School, 2-1.
In addition to being winning district championships, head coach Laura Campbell hopes the team will compete and place high in the Regional tournament.
Unlike previous season, varsity has a high number of freshman players, who have “a lot of potential,” according to Grilliot.
“We have some strong freshman and we?re improving each week,” Grilliot said.
Campbell feels that “all of the teams in the district are competitive,” but Grilliot and Don see McLean High School as their greatest competition. The team lost to McLean earlier in the season, but Grilliot is hopeful that the outcome of the next game against McLean, which will be played on Friday, will be positive.
“We?ve been working harder and it should be a good game [this] time,” Grilliot said.
Two weeks ago, the team was ranked seventh in region by the Northern Region Softball Coaches Association. The team gained fourth place last week.