By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Flying Flucos field more teams in the spring than in any other season. There are baseball games and softball games. There are girls’ and boys’ soccer games, girls’ and boys’ lacrosse games, and girls’ and boys’ tennis matches. And there are girls’ and boys’ track and field meets, which are held simultaneously.
In some of these sports the Flucos have traditionally been quite strong and in others, not so much. However, the Fluco athletes are always out there giving their best.
This year, the baseball team under Coach Joel Gray is hoping for a very strong season with a number of standout performers returning. Their regular season begins with three home games. On March 18 they host Spotsylvania. On March 22 and March 26 they host Harrisonburg High and Monticello High. The baseball squad then travels to Orange County March 28. After that, the team heads south for a spring break tournament in South Carolina. Local attendance at boys’ baseball games has always been good and crowds are expected to be significant this year.
Softball is a sport in which the Flucos have frequently excelled, sending a number of players on to compete at the college level. The softball team’s early schedule is not a mirror image of the baseball team’s, as it will be later in the season when Jefferson District play begins. The girls’ season opens March 18 at home against Spotsylvania. On March 20 the girls travel to Harrisonburg. On March 22 and March 23 they play in a tournament in Richmond. On March 26 they host Monticello and they travel to Orange March 28.
Soccer is also a sport in which the Flucos have been competitive over the years, with some ups and downs. This season the schedules are nearly identical, with the boys and girls playing the same school on the same day, with one team at home and the other on the road. Both teams open their season with home and away games against Waynesboro High. On March 11 the girls are at home, while the boys head over the mountains. On March 18 the reverse is the case. On March 25 the girls travel to Monticello High, while the boys host the Mustangs. On March 28 the boys are at Orange, while the girls host the Hornets.
Lacrosse is a comparatively new sport at Fluvanna High and the Flucos still have not established a winning tradition, but they have fielded some top notch competitors. On March 12 the girls’ team opens its season at Powhatan. It is then home against Patrick Henry and Matoaca High March 15 and March 19. Because not all schools field lacrosse teams, the Fluco regular season schedule includes some schools that Fluvanna does not play in other sports. In fact, nearly half of the lacrosse teams’ schedules include competition against schools that are not on the schedules of other Fluco teams. Three more games for the girls in March are against Patrick Henry on the road, Liberty at home, and Glen Allen at home. The boys’ lacrosse team plays the same four teams as the girls for its first four games, away against Powhatan and Patrick Henry, home against Matoaca, and home against Patrick Henry, On March 26 instead of playing Liberty, the boys will take on Fork Union Military Academy.
In tennis, both the boys’ and girls’ teams have been making strides of late to increase their competitive position in the Jefferson District. This is a sport in which the schedules of the two teams mirror each other exactly. If the boys are at home against team A, the girls are on the road against the same team all year long. So listing the girls’ schedule reveals the boys’ schedule as well. The girls open March 11 hosting Waynesboro and then travel to the Little Giants March 18. On March 26 the girls travel to Monticello High and then on March 26 they are at Monticello. On March 28 they host Orange.
Last, but definitely not least, because it is a sport in which the Flucos have always been strong, comes outdoor track and field. Track meets are a huge operation, often with multiple teams in competition and an all-day schedule. This year, the Fluco teams start their season March 22 at Harrisonburg. On March 27 they are at Louisa. On April 10 they host the Fluvanna Invitational. Three days later they compete in the prestigious Gus Lacy meet. On April 17 they travel to William Monroe.
All spring sports are played outdoors; therefore, schedules are subject to change as occasional inclement weather is certain in the spring.
