Fluvanna Sports in Review 9/8

Cross Country

On Sept. 7, the Fluvanna Cross Country team competed in a small meet held at Pleasant Grove for their third race of the season.  Pushing through the race and focusing on having a good run, the Flucos drove through the competition with persistence.  

The boys’ team has declined in numbers over the years, leaving only a few runners who are fast enough to place, but despite these setbacks the Flucos are still trying  push themselves harder and harder every race.  While placing second out of the three teams that showed to the race on the 7th, the whole team ran hard, with Senior Jack Rice finishing in 1st place, and Junior John Bossong placing 13th.  “I was confident about going into race, and I knew that I could hopefully win it,” said Rice who had a time of 17:56.     

Meanwhile, the Lady Flucos have had an outstanding season so far, and this race added onto the incredible pace of the team.  With the team placing first overall, they had several runners place in the top seven, including Freshman Emily Smeds finishing in 1st, Senior Saige Haney finishing 2nd, and Sophomore Heidi Lintecum finishing 4th.  “We felt really good as a team going into the race, and the fact we came out on top was not a surprise,” said Haney.  

The next meet for the Cross Country team will be Sept. 13 at Orange County High School.         

Volleyball

On Sept. 5, the Lady Flucos competed  against the Monticello Mustangs at Monticello High School.  Despite the hard effort put forth the Lady Flucos, the Mustangs came out on top by a score of 1-3 in sets.

This is one of the Varsity girls’ first losses this season.  Many girls on the Lady Flucos varsity team have been playing together for years and their chemistry shows on the court.  “We started off really strong, then we started making too many mistakes, and let them get ahead,” said Junior Christina Walker on their hard- fought loss against the Mustangs.  With their confidence and determination the Lady Flucos have proven to be one of the best volleyball teams in the district, despite their few losses this season.

Meanwhile the JV Lady Flucos came out of their week with a tough loss over the JV Mustang.  With their passion for the game and for victory, the JV team started out hot but kept making simple mistakes, something the Mustangs picked up on. “Volleyball is a sport, but it’s also a mental game, and mentally we were disconnected.  But we did some team bonding and we are super excited for our game against Western,” said Sophomore Madison Grubbs about her team’s loss.  

Both teams’ next game will be Sept. 12 against Western Albemarle at FCHS.   

Golf

Due to rain, the Sept. 6 match against Albemarle High School was canceled due to weather. The team used the rest of the week to practice their game. “We have been working really hard trying to perfect our swing, the contact with the ball, and our putting.” said Sophomore Ethan Yancey. His teammate, Freshman Jarred Williams, stated that he hopes to be one of the best on the team by the end of the season. The team’s next match will be against Western Albemarle on Sept. 13.

Football

The Friday night lights where on the football team on Sept. 1 when the Flucos visited Spotsylvania High School to take on the Knights. Coming off of their first win of the season against Blue Stone, the Flucos were hoping for another win, but lost the game by a disappointing score of 34-21.

Still, there were glimpses of hope within the game, including Junior Prophet Harris’ kick return touchdown. “I ran the ball about 80 yards to score a touchdown. After I scored, the team came over and started hyping me up and we took that momentum into the following quarter which helped us gain a lot of yards on offense and defense,” Harris said. He added that the touchdown motivated the team and encouraged them to keep their hearts in the game.

Even with the discouraging loss, Junior Scotty Campbell focused on the positive. “We’ve been playing together for so long, I feel like we have become better and closer as a team…most of us have played together since Junior Varsity and the Freshman team. A lot of us also on the weekend hang out and we become closer that way as well,” he said. Junior Towler Wescoat, who plays middle linebacker, said that encouragement from the Fluco fans also keeps them going.  “Seeing all the fans there [in the stands] coming out to support us gives the team a lot of confidence,” he said.

Meanwhile, the JV team had a bye week. They will take on Madison away on Sept. 13, while varsity will face Madison on Sept. 15 at home.

Competition cheer

The competition cheer team will have their first of four competitions of the season on Sept. 16 at Brookville. The team is practicing three times a week on perfecting their competition team to prepare, something they’ve been working on since the beginning of August. Team member Amina Wilson has been on the team for two years and is a flyer and a tumbler.

“We have a difficult stunt that takes a lot of practice to perfect, so we’ve been really focusing on that. The hardest thing about being a flyer is making sure I’m tight and balanced so I don’t fall and can help my bases stay strong and safe. If I’m wobbly, that will mess them up, so I don’t look down and I make sure I focus on sticking the stunt rather than worrying about who is below me,” said Wilson.