Leesburg, Va. — In a 0-0 tie, facing a perennial Class 5 state power, the Independence High School field hockey team turned to a freshman to get the job done. And Sammie Goin answered the call. With less than 5 minutes to play in the second quarter of a scoreless Potomac District matchup, the Tigers earned their second penalty stroke of the night, and Goin lined up to try her hand at breaking the 0-0 tie. Goin connected. “You have to go into it thinking you can do it for your team then just go and get it done,” Goin…
Author: Owen Gotimer
Owen Gotimer
Owen Gotimer is an award-winning journalist and small business owner from Leesburg, Virginia. After graduating from Heritage High School, Owen spent his college years at Syracuse University, where he studied broadcast and digital journalism in the renowned Newhouse School of Public Communications, before earning a Masters degree in social media, culture, and society from the University of Westminster. Owen owns OG Media, a full-service marketing partner specializing in website design & development, content creation, and graphic design & print. Additionally, Owen is the president of of the Jeffrey C. Fowler Memorial Scholarship.
Sterling, Va. — Second-year programs are often smaller in numbers and in stature, but that hasn’t stopped the Lightridge High School football team from earning seven wins over their first ten varsity games. The Lightning bear an athletic offense and a hardworking defense, and both played a major role in holding off the Dominion Titans, 20-7, on September 10 in Sterling. On the opening drive of the game, the Lightning defense stuffed the Titans’ offense forcing a 3-and-out before recovering a punt at their own 30 yard line. From there, Lightridge senior quarterback Jordan Dorsey quickly got to work, hitting…
Leesburg, Va. — The Loudoun County High School field hockey team scored midway through the first quarter to take a 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later the Broad Run Spartans evened things out at 1-1. However, neither team scored for the next 27 minutes, 21 seconds, until at the 2:39 mark in the third quarter Loudoun County freshman CeCe Tomaszewski put the Captains back on top. That late-third-quarter goal opened the floodgates as the Captains exploded to score three goals in the fourth quarter to defeat the Spartans, 5-2, on September 9 in Leesburg. “Our girls came together and played our…
Purcellville, Va. — It took the Loudoun Valley High School volleyball team more than a few points to settle in, but once they did, the Vikings were rolling. After an early adjustment to Heritage’s tipping, Loudoun Valley rallied to sweep the Pride—25-18, 25-13, 25-14—in a Dulles District matchup on September 8 in Purcellville. “I figured they’d probably do a little more tipping because we tend to play a deeper defense,” Loudoun Valley head coach Carmel Keilty said. “They were hitting some short hits, and once we made the necessary adjustments in the first set, we started to play much better.”…
Ashburn, Va. — The Independence High School football has had anything but a normal initiation into varsity competition. In 2019, Independence opened its doors for the first time, welcoming a class of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors but no seniors. In 2020, the Tigers varsity football season was pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then just four months later, Independence opened its 2021 campaign with a postponed Week 1 along with a reclassification from VHSL Class 3 to VHSL Class 5. And every step along the way, the Tigers were up for the challenge. In their…
Ashburn, Va. — It took the Broad Run train less than 50 seconds and just two plays to get rolling in their season opener against rival Briar Woods on August 27 in Ashburn. After choosing to receive the opening kickoff, Broad Run senior quarterback Brett Griffis tossed a 7-yard slant over the middle to open his senior campaign. Then on the very next play, Griffis threw a screen pass to senior receiver Arnav Thornhill, who scurried up the Broad Run sideline 61 yards to the end zone. Senior kicker Garrett Bennion drilled the PAT, and, in just 49 seconds, the…