St. Catherine’s, runner-up to Flint Hill in the VIS Division I state tennis tournament the past two years, gained revenge with an 8-1 romp yesterday on St. Christopher’s courts and reached the semifinals. St. Catherine’s lost only at No. 1 singles, where Sonja Meighan beat Callie Whitlock 10-4. St. Catherine’s will play Norfolk Academy on Friday at 1 p.m. at St. Christopher’s. Collegiate also advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 win over Episcopal

Taylor Thomas saved three penalty strokes and Margaret Williams scored on the final penalty stroke of the shootout to give Collegiate a 2-1 win yesterday and its second consecutive Division I League of Independent Schools field hockey title. The Cougars lost twice to the Saints in the regular season but grabbed the lead through Margaret Martin in the first half. Wren Schoeffler tied the match with 12:10 to go for the top-seeded Saints. Dana Guillquist made two saves for St. Catherine’s.

Maddie New made 31 assists to help third-seeded James River defeat No. 6 L.C. Bird 3-0 in the Dominion District boys volleyball quarterfinals yesterday. Drew McLean added eight kills, three digs, a block and an assist for the Rapids. Andy Putnam totaled 16 digs for the Skyhawks, and Matt Bienvenu contributed four blocks, 12 assists and three digs.

Meet the L.C. Bird football coach and hear his thoughts on the Skyhawks’ district competition.

High school football practice is underway, and Arthur Utley offers a preview of the season.

The end of the high school sports season is the perfect time to reflect and honor the student-athletes who grace our fields and sports pages for 10 months out of the year. The Times-Dispatch will put the finishing touches on its 2008-09 high school sports coverage at the end of this month and in early July with the naming of the All-Metro spring sports teams.

It would be easy to say the high school career of Hanover senior softball player Amanda Woolard has taken a downward spiral. The expected path of most players has them starting off on a young, struggling team as a freshman then they win a state championship as an experienced senior. The opposite holds true for Woolard. As a freshman, Woolard was the starting left fielder on the Hawks’ 2006 AAA state championship team. The only path for Woolard to take was a descent from that highlight moment.

Collegiate took the VISAA boys tennis title by sweeping singles play to build an insurmountable lead against Potomac. Senior Dylan Moon capped off the sweep by ralling from a 4-1 deficit to win 10-4. Throughout the tournament, Collegiate won 16 of its 18 singles matches. Collegiate 6, Potomac 3 Singles: Max Schnur (C) d. Kareem Farah 10-6; Colin Elliott (C) d. Zach Hublitz 10-1; Brady Straus (C) d. Ned Mandel 10-8; Dylan Moon (C) d. Sam Fleuchaus 10-4; Michael Perel (C) d. Austin Ness 10-5; Andrew Elliott (C) d. David Scott 10-3

Boys athlete of week Gary LeClair Steward, baseball What he did: In five games, the second baseman/pitcher was 12 for 16 with two home runs, a triple, three doubles, 12 RBI and three stolen bases. On the mound, he went 2-0, allowing eight hits and four walks in 82/3 innings. He struck out seven. Age: 17 Three words your friends would use to describe you: “Fun, smart and hardworking.“ Strengths: “My speed and fast hands at the plate.“ I’m working to improve: “My fielding in the outfield. Because of my speed, that may be a better option for me [in the future].“ Biggest challenge: “Probably taking all honors courses and keeping up my GPA.“ He has a 4.1 GPA. Favorite food: Steak Favorite ice cream: Chocolate chip cookie dough Favorite subject: Chemistry. “My teacher is really good.“ Best sports memory: “After having ACL [knee] surgery my freshman year, my first hit was a triple. After that, I knew I was back.“ If you had one wish: “It would be to get a baseball field on campus at Steward for Coach [Bruce] Secrest.“ Possession you can’t do without: “Probably my cell phone. I always have it on me.“ Sports person you admire most: “Derek Jeter. Whenever he goes on the field, he goes 100 percent.“ What’s on your iPod: “Everything really - rap, country and rock.“ Facebook or MySpace? Facebook One thing about you most people don’t know: “I have a twin sister, Colette. She goes to Deep Run.“ - Tim Pearrell

The cancellation of yesterday’s scheduled track meet at Hanover was the 76th postponement or cancellation for Hanover this spring.

The challenge of playing away from home is about to become more daunting for many high school sports teams in the Central Region. Travel could be affected as activities directors cope with the economy and looming budget cuts.

Central Region high schools don’t require their athletes to pay to play. Most local activities directors hope they never have to. “I’ve heard no discussions, none whatsoever, about anything like that in this area,“ said Patrick Henry High School activities director Dennis Minton. “Is it happening across the country? Yes. But I’ve heard nothing—no talks, no meetings, nothing—that would indicate that anything of that nature” is being considered locally.

Friday’s Results Collegiate————————————- 100 006 0—7 9 2
  Christchurch————————————- 200 000 0—2 4 5
Jung and Friddell; M. Payne, Przybyl (7) and Jordan. L: M. Payne Highlights: Stewart Finney (Col) 2 for 4; P.J. Melnick (Col) 3 for 3, 3 RBI; Andrew Bronson (Col) 2 for 4, RBI; Phillip Jordan (Chr) RBI triple, run

Sport writer Arthur Utley previews spring high school sports.

The Petersburg boys basketball team reigns as the No. 1 team in the Central Region and state entering the regular-season stretch run to the postseason tournaments. Meanwhile, some of the best young players in the commonwealth will be center stage Saturday at Benedictine in Slamfest VIII.