Year: Freshman
  The skinny: Stepped right into the No.1 spot for the Trojans and didn’t lose (15-0) to a Dominion District foe in singles this year. Her only losses in the region were to Emily Hahn and Yasmin Fotovat. She was the district tournament singles winner and player of the year and advanced to the region semifinals.

For the second straight year, six area schools placed among the nation’s top 1,500 high schools in an annual survey conducted by Newsweek magazine. James River High School in Chesterfield County was the area’s top-rated school, coming in at 246. Last year, it topped the area list at 210. The schools were ranked based on a formula that combines the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests and divides that by the number of graduating seniors.

Kristin Carpenter, volleyball standout at Hanover High, and Ben DeJarnette, cross country and track star for Atlee, win top Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers honors and $7,500 scholarships.

Kristin Carpenter of Hanover High School and Ben DeJarnette of Atlee High School are the 2009 Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers Scholar-Athletes of the Year. They were chosen from 10 girls and 10 boys finalists and will receive $7,500 scholarships. Carpenter was a volleyball standout. DeJarnette starred in cross country and distance races in indoor and outdoor track.

Central Region boys tennis champion Kyle Parker of Mills Godwin advanced to the final of the Virginia High School League Group AAA singles tournament with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Sidarth Balaji of Fairfax today at the Fairfax Racquet Club.

Teams in baseball, softball, girls soccer and boys soccer begin high school playoffs today.

The Mills Godwin girls soccer team has found its strategy: wait until the last possible second to score the winning goal to render a comeback virtually impossible. The Eagles did it in a 2-1 win in sudden death in the Central Region semifinal Wednesday, and they did it again in last night’s 1-0 victory over Atlee in the region championship game.

Class: Senior Age: 17 GPA: 3.8 April achievements: A softball pitcher, she was 4-0. In 32 innings, she struck out 42, walked two and gave up four earned runs. She batted .370, drove in eight runs and scored eight. Was selected for the VHSCA All-Star game this summer. Other athletic accomplishments: Currently hitting .420 with 15 RBI. Has 78 strikeouts in 57 innings. Pitched all 20 innings in a loss to Lee-Davis in the district tournament final. Is district pitcher of the year this season and a four-time all-district first-teamer. Second-team all-Central Region and All-Metro last year. Academic achievements: Beta Club; district all-academic four years; region all-academic three years; volunteer at Atlee Little League; umpire for Mechanicsville Little League. College plans: Will attend Radford University and play softball. Favorite subject: History/government Favorite food: Chicken tenders Key to sports success: “My father. He’s pushed me, and he’s supported me.“ Key to academic success: “I push myself to get good grades. I don’t like grades that are unacceptable.“ Top priority: “Getting myself ready for my freshman year in college so I won’t be homesick.“ Pet peeve: “When I’m texting, and it takes someone 30 minutes to answer.“ Best sports memory: “Pitching 20 innings. I wasn’t getting tired. I was impressed with myself. I didn’t know I could go that long.“ If you could travel anywhere: “Australia.“ Most prized possession: “The puppy we got at Christmas.“ Biggest challenge: “Procrastinating. A lot of time, I’ll wait to the last minute to do a project or a paper. I get it done. Once I get started, I’m all right.“ - Arthur Utley

Quarterfinals: Top bracket, Midlothian (12-3-3) at Deep Run (12-3-2), 7 p.m.; Prince George (9-6-1) at Atlee (15-0-2), 7; Lower bracket, Mills Godwin (13-3-1) at Cosby (14-2-1), 5:30; Hanover (11-4-1) at Thomas Dale (14-1-1), 5
  Semifinals: Tomorrow at Cosby High, 5 and 7:30 p.m.
  Final: Friday at Cosby High, 5:30 p.m.

Freshman Emily Hahn of Douglas Freeman High School defeated Atlee junior Yasmin Fotovat 6-4, 6-1 to capture the Central Region girls tennis singles title at Mills Godwin. There were seven service breaks in the first set before Hahn made it eight to tie the match 4-4. She held serve to make it 5-4 then broke Fotovat’s serve to win the set.

Atlee girls soccer coach Bruce Lovelace prefers the Raiders stay out of the spotlight as long as possible each season. The Raiders can’t escape attention now after handing Mills Godwin its first loss of the season (1-0) last week at Godwin. Even though senior forwards Jordan Roseboro and Lindsey Booth are among the leading scorers in the area, sophomore Kimberly Glymph, a midfielder, netted the game’s only goal.

Atlee runner who will attend Oregon posted the best times in the 1,600 (4:14.16) and the 3,200 (9:12.83) this indoor season.

Early this season, someone in the Atlee High locker room started singing a country song. It turned out they all knew the words, and by the time the whole team was singing, the Raiders had an unofficial theme song. Atlee’s season ended yesterday with a 74-45 loss to Oakton in the Group AAA quarterfinals at Robinson Secondary School. The music hasn’t stopped.

The top area high school teams in the state tournament will face Northern Virginia high schools in quarterfinal play tonight and tomorrow night.

In today’s Group AAA quarterfinal battle of the Titans, the two most powerful players could be on the bench. Undefeated Oakton trailed in the Northern Region championship when T.C. Williams had Tierra Ruffin-Pratt on the floor. But the senior shooting guard came off the court with 10 points and a lot of first-half minutes left when she reinjured her left shoulder. Oakton cruised to the region title, pulling away in the fourth quarter and setting up tomorrow’s Group AAA quarterfinal against Central Region runner-up Atlee.