Our local athletes had plenty of success and achievements this year. Here are what The News-Gazette deemed the top five local sports stories of 2025.
National Title For SVU
The Southern Virginia University men’s volleyball team won the school’s first-ever national title by defeating Springfield College 3-0 in the Division III championship match in late April in Salem.
The Knights, who went 35-1, earned a 25-20, 25-23, 27-25 victory in the finals. Guiding SVU was head coach Tom Peterson, who started the program in 2017. Peterson was named the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC), Region III and national coach of the year. Senior outside hitter Christian Sheaffer, who led the Knights with 13 kills in the finals, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
SVU’s only loss last spring was a 3-1 setback at Springfield College in late March. After that, the Knights won 11 straight matches, claiming their second consecutive CVC title, going 7-0 in the conference.
PM Harriers Three-Peat
Led by individual winner Kebryl Chandler, the Parry McCluer High School cross country team won its third consecutive Class 1 state championship in early November in Salem.
Chandler, who had placed second in the state the previous two years, completed the flat 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 16.8 seconds to win by about 34 seconds over the runner-up, Eastern Montgomery’s Calvin Wilbon (15:51).
With five runners in the top 12, the Blues scored 36 points, and Eastern Montgomery (52) placed second of 12 teams, finishing as the runner-up for the second year in a row.
The other four Blues in the top 12, who earned all-state honors by placing in the top 15, were sophomore Caleb Cooper (sixth, 16:22.6), seniors Josh Cooper (eighth, 16:31.2) and Logan Wheelock (ninth, 16:35.4), and sophomore Hinckley Lovelance (15th, 16:46.4). PM’s final two runners were sophomore Sebastian George (32nd, 18:18.8) and junior Sam Carpenter (56th, 19:11.3).
Guiding the Blues was Chris Poluikis, in his 20th year as PM’s head coach.
Pfaff Swims To State Titles
Rockbridge County High School’s Spencer Pfaff concluded his high school career by winning Class 3 state titles in the boys’ 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races at the state meet in early March in Richmond.
Pfaff, who graduated in the spring, repeated as the state champion in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 20.53 seconds in the preliminaries, breaking 2004 RC graduate William Copeland’s state meet record from when Copeland won the state title in 2004. Pfaff’s winning time in the finals was almost as fast, 20.61 seconds. In the 100-yard freestyle, Pfaff won the state title in 46.76 seconds. Pfaff now swims for Division III school Grinnell College in Iowa.
The RC boys placed sixth of 33 at the state meet. Guiding the Wildcats was Erica Bisaillon, now in her fourth year as RC’s head coach.
Richardson Tops State In Shot PM thrower Kamilah Richardson won Class 1 state shot put titles for the girls’ indoor and outdoor track and field teams.
In March, Richardson became the Blues’ first female thrower to win a state title when she placed first with a toss of 38 feet, 2.25 inches at Liberty University.
During the outdoor season, before graduating, Richardson set the school record in May with a toss of 38-8. She then won the outdoor state title with a throw of 38-1.75. Guiding her was PM throwing coach Danny Cole.
Runners-Up Again The RC girls lacrosse team won its fifth consecutive Region 4D title before falling 14-4 in the Class 4 state finals to Western Albemarle in mid-June in Charlottesville.
It was the fifth year in a row that the Wildcats’ season concluded with a loss to Western, which won its third consecutive state title, its second straight at the expense of the Wildcats. The previous three years, the Wildcats had lost to Western in the state semifinals.
RC, which went 15-3, had narrowly lost to Western in mid-March, with the Warriors eking out a 12-10 victory in Lexington. The Wildcats’ only other loss this season was a 12-11 setback against The Covenant School in Charlottesville in late March.
The Wildcats cruised through the Region 4D tournament, defeating Blacksburg 20-7 in the finals. They then trounced John Champe 23-6 in the state quarterfinals before overcoming Powhatan 15-12 in the state semifinals.
Six RC girls lacrosse players earned all-state honors. All-state first-team selections were Region 4D player of the year Anna Nye, a sophomore midfielder; and a pair of juniors, attacker Lola Mulitalo and defender Nadia Gaydos. Wildcats selected to the allstate second team were sophomore attacker Ruby Goodhart and two seniors, attacker Josie Caldwell and defender Emily Humphreys.
Guiding the Wildcats in her seventh year as their head coach was Susan Nye, the Region 4D coach of the year.
