“Why not us?” is the feeling around the Lady Flucos program in 2012. With a new school, in a new gym, with a new team, the Flucos plan to be a top contender in the Jefferson District. The team will be anchored by Hannah Miller, who recently committed to play college volleyball at Christopher Newport University, and senior teammate Emily Sherriff. Alongside them will be a combination of up and coming young players such as Emily Haden, Leslie Walters and Kylee Dixon.
The Flucos kicked off their season Aug.25 against Spotsylvania County High School (SCHS). The Flucos outperformed SCHS in almost every aspect of the game as they cruised to an easy 3-0 win. However, the win was short lived.
The Flucos then turned around and faced the Goochland High School Bulldogs in the second game of the night. This game was not as close as the first. Both teams fought hard down the stretch, but in the end it was Goochland that proved victorious 3-2.
The loss was an obvious setback, but a great lesson nonetheless. The Flucos have shown early on their resilience and toughness, characteristics hard to find in a young team. The loss may be a blemish on their record, but the girls came away confident in their future.
“We’re really starting to get used to playing together, we have a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to a great season,” said Dixon.
The Lady Flucos junior varsity program also had a strong showing as they came away with a 1-1 record after the weekend. The young Flucos are lead by captains Kelsey Silverman and Tiffani Shaheen who are confident in the ability of their team.
“The greatest part about the tournament was watching our team make huge comebacks,” said Silverman. “We are a young, but talented group.”
The future is bright for the Fluco Volleyball program as the majority of them are young. With only two seniors in the program, the Flucos will rely heavily on their young talent as well as their developing stars on junior varsity.
Cross country
Cross country is tough. Endurance means everything. In a sport where the only thing an athlete has in his arsenal of weapons is his mental toughness and his own will to succeed; the ability to endure pain is the key to success.
The Lady Fluco cross country team may not be the oldest team in the district, as the core of the group is 11th grade or younger, but endurance is not something they lack. The perfect combination of youth, experience, and senior leadership has the Flucos poised to make another extraordinary championship run. Coming off an undefeated season from a year ago, the only thing the Flucos want is more–more wins, more accolades, and more championships.
“Losing a key member of our team and having one of our top girls struggle with a stress fracture is a setback, but we have a lot of potential on our team and I can’t wait to see who’s going to step up and fill in those gaps,” said junior Nicole Douma. “We plan to defend our district title, succeed in an undefeated season, and finish in the top three in regions.”
On the men’s side, the goals are similar—namely, to win. The Flucos are lead by senior Chris Markham, who was the only runner to advance out of the region a year ago. However, Markham’s supporting cast may be the strongest it has ever been. Sophomore sensation Travis Moe leads the rest of the pack, along with Doug Daniels and Drew Walls.
Although, the Flucos are young, the team feels that they have a “secret weapon” that sets them apart from other teams. The weapon isn’t super powers or bionic legs. But most of them would argue that their weapon is more powerful: a brotherly bond of unity that has each runner with one thing on their minds– the team.
“Our goal this year is to make it to regional’s as a team,” said Doug Daniels. “We’re like a family this year; we don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
Golf
The Fluvanna boys’ golf team took to the tees in early August. As usual, it was the first of the varsity sports to begin competition. The Flucos have competed in matches against multiple district opponents including Louisa, Powhatan, and powerhouse Western Albemarle.
The Flucos played three nine-hole matches, two 18-hole matches, and one 27-hole tournament. Although none of these matches have resulted in a victory for the Flucos, junior Dylan Garrett is still optimistic.
“We’ve been able to reach our goal from last year of lowering our numbers and playing hole by hole,” said Garrett.
Garrett has been one of the top performers for the Flucos this season, shooting his way into the low 50s against Louisa Aug. 21. Also atop the list for Fluvanna is junior Troy Coleman, who shot a 47 at the Louisa match.
Other key varsity players include seniors Brett Bickley and Brian Haislip, and juniors Zach Hubbard and Derek Warner.
“We’ve been pretty steady,” said Haislip, “we’ve had good times and bad times.” Haislip also noted that assistant coach Steve Szarmach has made the short game for the Flucos a big focus. “We go out and play the course before the match so we can work of tactics,” said Haislip.
Fluvanna’s next match will be a home match against Monticello on Aug. 30.
Junior varsity football
The Fluvanna Junior varsity football team kicked off their season with a scrimmage against Fort Defiance on Aug. 11. In that game, the Flucos tied the Indians 7-7. Key players on offense for the squad include freshman quarterback Gavin Patrick and running back Mark Grooms.
“We’re a lot more positive this year than last year,” said Patrick. That positive attitude may be attributed to the Flucos’ new facilities such as the brand new weight room and turf field.
The Flucos will try to turn that positive attitude into wins on the gridiron. “Our goal is to be above .500,” said Patrick.
In its most recent game, Fluvanna faced Prince Edward on the road. The team showed signs of growth, but in the end, lost 18-6 to the Eagles.
This year the squad will be under the coaching of Mike Sheridan, who also coaches baseball for Fluvanna. Fluvanna’s next game will be a Wednesday (Aug. 29) matchup against the Goochland Bulldogs.
Varsity football
Expectations were high for the Flucos last Friday night as they hosted the Prince Edward Eagles in the first game at the Phil Browning Stadium. And to the audience’s delight, they did not disappoint, crushing the Eagles 43-14.
“After the first snap of the game, the butterflies were gone,” said senior quarterback Dashon Tibbs.
On that first offensive play, Tibbs connected with sophomore Jalen Harrison in the corner of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown. Fluvanna got possession in the red zone after a missed snap was controlled by the Fluco defense on the previous play.
In the second quarter, Fluvanna began running downhill. Senior Jovan Burton exploded for three touchdowns, all within the ten yard line. Cristian Franco added a field goal late to give Fluvanna a 30-0 lead going into the locker room.
“It was all offensive linemen,” said Burton. “Holes were wide open and everything was inside the ten yard line.”
Fluvanna’s defense kept their course in the second half. For the game, the Flucos capitalized on four turnovers. Junior linebacker Jesse Loktis got in on the action by adding an interception return for a touchdown in the second half. The only scores the Flucos gave up came in “garbage time” as the Eagles scored two touchdowns.
“Give it to the defense. They got that ball back for us,” said Tibbs. “We were almost never on our side of the field.”
Tibbs showed great poise throughout the game tossing for more than 130 yards while completing on eight of his fourteen throws. He ran for 36 more yards. Seniors Devin Goode and Jovan Burton split the rushing load, combining for over 140 yards on the ground.
Fluvanna has many positives to take from their thrashing of Prince Edward, and will look to carry that momentum into their next game. The Flucos will travel to Goochland for a non-district game on Friday (Aug. 31.)
