High school notes

Deep Run vacancy: girls basketball coach

Deep Run is searching for a varsity girls basketball coach.

Shawna Duda, who started the program when the school opened in 2002, has stepped down to spend more time with her family.

"I might get back into coaching sometime," Duda said. "My daughter [Savannah] is 15 months old and is a blast to play with."

She missed a couple of weeks in February 2008 to give birth.

Duda was a junior varsity and an assistant coach at Hermitage before moving to Deep Run, which began playing a varsity schedule in 2003-04. The Wildcats compiled a 118-36 record during her tenure. They won the Colonial District regular-season and tournament titles in 2004-05 and consistently were ranked in the Times-Dispatch Top 10.

Wildcats' rolling in softball again

Duda also coached Deep Run's softball team for three seasons before giving way to Stu Brown, who guided the Wildcats to the Central Region championship and the state tournament semifinals last year.

Brown has returned to Varina as the football coach. Eric Ozolins, an assistant last year along with former Highland Springs baseball coach Clyde Metzger, stepped into the head softball job at Deep Run. Metzger still is an assistant along with Ozolins' sister, Tammy, and junior varsity coach Ellie Blackburn, who played at Hermitage.

The Wildcats are 12-0 and ranked No.1 in the Times-Dispatch Top 10.

"You can't ask for more than 12-0," said Eric Ozolins, better known to the team as Coach Oz, "but with all the rain, we can't get any kind of rhythm. We're not real deep, and we're going to start running into good pitchers and teams."

The Wildcats have played a good schedule. They own victories over fellow top-10 members Powhatan (No.2), Lee-Davis (No.6) and two over No.10 Mills Godwin.

Ozolins coached football in New York (Buffalo) and at Wingate University (near Charlotte, N.C.) before hooking up with Brown at Deep Run.

"Stu was fun to work with. He and I have the same philosophy. When we're done, we get out of here," Ozolins said. "The girls bought into what he was doing. They work on being athletic [offseason agility drills]."

Pitcher Heather Lewis and catcher Erin Anderson are among the returnees along with outfielders Kelly Foate and Jena Baldaino and infielder/pitcher Brooke Blankenship. All are regulars in game result highlights.

Short takes

• The Southern Track Classic is the last major high school invitational before next week's district track meets. The meet is celebrating its 10th year today starting with field events at 5 p.m. at Sports Backers Stadium. Tickets are $5. Among the Richmond area athletes competing are Atlee's Ben DeJarnette (mile) and his sister, Emma (pole vault). Pole vaulter Lizzie Powell of Patrick Henry could challenge Emma DeJarnette. Austin Hersh of James River is a contender in the discus.

• The 10 winners of Allstate Foundation/Virginia High School League Achievement Awards will be recognized Monday at a lunch ceremony at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel. Each receives a $1,000 scholarship. Paige Johnston of Midlothian is the Group AAA female athlete of the year. Johnston, the Times-Dispatch indoor track athlete of the year and a scholar-athlete of the month recipient, has been on four state-title winning cross country teams and has excelled in indoor and outdoor track. She is headed to the University of Arkansas.

• The VHSL Division 5 and Division 6 football championship games will be played at the University of Virginia's Scott Stadium this fall (Dec. 12) and in 2010. U.Va. was the site for the 2007 title games. Last year's games were played at Virginia Tech. Liberty University will continue to play host to the Division 3 and 4 championships the next two years, and Salem is the venue for the Division 1 and 2 finals.

  Garland, Anderson contribute the points

The St. Catherine's girls lacrosse team knows where the points come from.

Senior Anne Garland and junior Alexa Anderson scored in every game in which they played [each missed three] before being shut out in Tuesday's LIS tournament loss to Collegiate.

"Having Anne and Alexa scoring in every game has helped us tremendously this year," second-year coach Barb DiArcangelo said.

Garland, an All-Metro tennis player who helped the Saints reach the state final last fall before suffering their only loss, is the leading scorer with 41 goals and eight assists.

"She is our all-around best player," DiArcangelo said.

Garland is headed to William and Mary but won't be playing tennis there. DiArcangelo said she is exploring a lacrosse walk-on spot with the Tribe for Garland.

Anderson, who missed all of last year because of a torn ACL, has logged 31 goals and 14 assists. She is the younger sister of Maggie Anderson, one of the Saints best all-time athletes. This past weekend, Alexa Anderson earned one of 18 spots in the Virginia region for the prestigious U.S. Lacrosse Women's Division tournament, which has been played since 1933. - Arthur Utley