Christmas has come and gone, but plenty of holiday tournaments will take place around the Commonwealth before we close out 2022 and usher in the New Year of 2023. They will certainly have an impact on the rankings, and above all, will give coaches a chance to further prep their teams for the district, regional and state pushes that await once the calendar flips to January.
Some teams are playing in out-of-state events as well. Getting to travel and experience that again is rather refreshing for so many coaches and players, given that COVID prevented that from happening in most instances the past couple years.
We're also keeping an eye on a few veteran coaches approaching victory milestones. At Radford, Rick Cormany came into the season with 750 victories - third all-time in VHSL history behind only the late great Bill Littlepage (755 wins) of Hopewell fame and Paul Hatcher (897 wins), the decorated sideline boss in Staunton at the school once known as Robert E. Lee.
Cormany went into Christmas just three wins away from matching Littlepage, so he should be moving into second place sooner than later.
Meanwhile, some wondered if Billy Pope would ever get to 500 wins when his career started with a winless 0-20 campaign at Powhatan in 1984. Pope landed at Northside in 1986, and the rest as they say, was history. He guided the Vikings to a Class 3 State Championship during 2019, with about a dozen or so other State Tournament appearances. At 5-0 on this season, he's sitting at 596 wins and closing in on 600.
In Suffolk at Nansemond River High School, Ed Young has seen his Warriors reel off seven straight victories following a season-opening loss to city rival King's Fork. That puts him at 495 wins in his career, which also included stops at Green Run, Norview and the defunct Suffolk High where the Red Raiders won the Group A 1987 State Championship, in addition to stints on the collegiate level
Check out more in the latest rankings below...
* Indicates record including Eastern District Tournament games
Honorable Mention:
James River-Midlothian (7-0)
Colgan (7-1)
Fairfax (5-1)
Edison (7-1)
George Marshall (7-1)
Honorable Mention:
Norview (7-2; 4-2*)
Kecoughtan (6-2)
Princess Anne (7-2)
Cox (7-1)
Stafford (7-1)
Honorable Mention:
Loudoun Valley (5-2)
Grafton (6-3)
Honorable Mention:
Skyline (5-0)
Wilson Memorial (4-3)
Staunton (6-1)
Honorable Mention:
Glenvar (5-1)
Madison County (5-3)
Alleghany (4-2)
Honorable Mention:
Chilhowie (5-1)
Carver Academy (5-1)
Middlesex (6-2)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald and The Farmville Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him from 10 AM to Noon on 757 Saturday Sports Talk on ESPN Radio 94.1.
