WCA concluded their fall sports season the past few weeks, with season championship playoffs and a championship cross country meet. WCA opened a new era this fall as they transitioned to a new conference, the Virginia Metro Athletic Conference (VMAC), which is a new conference composed primarily of Richmond area teams, currently has Guardian Christian Academy, Grace Christian School and Grove Christian School among its members in addition to WCA, and is looking to expand eventually to a standard 8 team conference. The move was precipitated by a number of factors, not the least of which is travel, with all schools within a 40 minute transit of each other. In past years as part of the Metro Conference, the team frequently endured road trips of two-plus hours to Broadwater Academy on the Eastern Shore, and battled tunnel traffic trying to get to Atlantic Shores Christian School. The new conference and schedule has helped WCA not only reduce the strain of athletics on our busy schedules

Cross Country

Just one season into the newly minted Virginia Metro Athletic Conference, and WCA already has itself a sports title. The story of the season was definitely our cross country team, now in just its second year. Fueled by a growing young core of talent on the team, runners Jack Marlowe and Jacob Thibeault continued to impress with overall 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the VMAC Cross Country championship meet. Essential to the title-winning performance, however, was the strong showings of our later finishers, whose points were the deciding factor. Julian LaPastora finished 5th, and Cillian Clapp and Joe Dill also finished in the top 12, locking down the win.

Soccer

Under new Coach Calvin Singleton, the boys soccer team finished their season this fall with a winning record of 6-5-1 and 4-3 record inside the VMAC. In an up and down season, many contests were heavily impacted by player conflicts that reduced numbers to just over the minimum required played count, making second halves a challenge from an endurance perspective with so little rest to be had by players on the field. When at full strength, the Eagles showed what they were capable of as they advanced to the VMAC championship game with a 2-0 shutout over Grove Christian. The team would finish as conference runner-up after a 7-3 defeat at the hands of a strong Grace Christian School team. Jalen Vaughan, who was a prior All-Metro selection, was selected as the VMAC’s first Player of the Year in Varsity Boys soccer, while goalie Riley Linback and defenseman Liam McConnell earned first-team all-conference honors.

Volleyball

The record won’t fully tell the story of the 2019 girls WCA varsity volleyball program. The energy around the program this fall, despite managing just two wins on the season, has a palpable feeling of positive momentum. Coach Shannon Meyyar worked hard with an expanded group of seniors and underclassmen giving her the capability for frequent substitutions, (and consecutive years of play for many players), where WCA once struggled to field a full six players on the court. In addition to the increased numbers on the varsity team, WCA had such strong interest in the middle school grades that we started a JJV team as well, setting up a nice pipeline of players that will be able to grow together as teammates in a sport that almost demands players have strong familiarity with their teammates. Senior Isabell Comber earned Honorable Mention honors for the VMAC All-Conference team.

Field Hockey

The WCA Field hockey team is a group in which many of the players are not committed year-round Field Hockey players, but have played with each other for almost three years this fall. The result is a team that has continued to improve year after year. As a result of the shortage of middle school field hockey teams in our area, WCA has often had to play year-round competition in order to flesh out a full schedule, a challenge that will certainly pay dividends as the group ages up into their high school years. The team’s season highlight was most likely their 2-0 win over up-the-road rival Toano Middle School, with a 2-0 win on goals by Bekah Kish and Ally Rodenberg. Sophia Lee was strong in goal all season.

For further information on any of our fall sports teams, please contact our Athletic Director Pam Gibbons at ad@williamsburgchristian.org.