By Spencer DuPuis
LoCoSports Staff Writer
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Leesburg (August 25, 2015) — The Heritage High School athletic department is getting ready to start another fall sports season. The Pride will compete in the newly aligned Conference 21B of the VHSL 4A West region. Here’s how things are shaping up!
Pride football looks to show their improvement in 2015 under head coach Reed Prosser
Heritage football returns a big core group of their team this year, including junior quarterback Alex Carlin, senior receiver Cole Miller and senior running back Mitchell Westbrook, who are all expected to have big seasons, also, don’t be surprised if senior receiver Andrew Sylvain has a breakout year. Heritage also expects big things from its offensive line as they have had their fair share of hiccups over the last couple of seasons.
“I’m excited about our team this year,” Prosser said. “[With the seniors] being committed to the program and the weight room for three years we should see a lot of improvement: if you lift a kid for three years, you will really see the fruits of their labor come to fruition. But what I’m really most excited about is our offensive line, we’re big, strong and we can impose our will a lot more this year.
Pride volleyball is ready to compete at a higher level this year under head coach Allison Smith
The Heritage volleyball team returns seven players, including four seniors and three juniors. Their new additions include two sophomores, who moved up from JV, and one freshman. They expect seniors Brittany Crammer and Peyton Hersey to standout along with junior Skyla Richardson.
“We are thrilled with the quality of our team this season,” Smith said. “Expectations are high for this coming season, and we feel as though we have a combination of talent with experienced returning varsity players and skillful new additions that are proving to be positive assets. The outlook for this season is great!”
Pride golf is looking to continue its rise from last season under head coach Matt Swartz
Heritage returns eight players, who had great seasons last year, and add one freshman. The team is led by junior Eli Newman, but look out for juniors Garrett Ganley and Josh Petrillo who have vastly improved their games since last season. On August 24, Heritage beat John Champe in a head-to-head matchup 151-170, where Newman shot the low-medalist round of 35 for the Pride.
“[It’s a] junior heavy team with a lot of experience,” Swartz said. “We have high hopes for the season, [we]have already won the George Pavlis tournament and finished third in the Curly Lickliter tournament.”
Pride cross country teams come in with a lot of hope for the season under head coach Doug Gilbert
The boys will be led by four seniors: Ari Dashmyagmar, Derrick Lemon, Owen Little and Brendan Thompson, whom will collaborate with a set of young runners. The girls will have their fleet of top runners back, led by Weini Kelati and Georgie Mackenzie, followed by, Megan Collins, Audrey Corbet, Neal Fleming, Yaiza Kinney, Malia Sample and Sarah Smith.
“The girls team returns its full top nine after finishing third at the state meet last season,” Gilbert said. “They have big goals and are working hard to reach them! The boys team barely missed a berth to the region last year and are seeking redemption this season.”
