Poseidon swim-team member
aims to make Olympic waves

By Joey Matthews

 
Katie Schroeder placed in eight events at the state championships.
Katie Schroeder has a stair step of dreams that she’s pursuing in her quest to be the best possible swimmer that she can be. “When I’m 14, I want to make the Junior National cut (qualifying time),” said the Chickahominy Middle School seventh-grader. “When I’m 16, I want to make the Senior National cut.” Those would be two tremendous accomplishments for Schroeder, a member of the Poseidon swim club, but those are only short-term goals. As for the more distant future, she’s aiming to climb the highest peaks. “I’m trying to make the Olympics,” she said.

She has been a young lady on a tear for quite some time. She swam in the state-championship meet in late July. You can only qualify for eight events, and she placed first in five events, and second in the remaining three events. That made her high-point scorer out of all female swimmers, in all age groups at that meet.

That qualified her to swim on the Virginia State team which swam in Buffalo, N.Y., in early August. The Virginia team finished first against state teams from the entire East Coast. Schroeder contributed by finishing seventh in the 200-meter butterfly and was on all four girls relay teams.

She also finds time to swim for Atlee Recreation Association in the summer (Greater Richmond Aquatic League division). She was undefeated this season and broke a GRAL division record in the 100 freestyle.

She leaves no stones unturned in her mission to reach her goals. She practices five to six days per week, for about two hours each session with the Poseidon team, which practices across the James River at the Riverside Wellness and Fitness Center.
It’s about a 50-minute drive each way. “I really like the coaches, including my coach, Mark Bennett,” she said.

You won’t hear her complaining about all the work. “I think it’s fun,” she said, of the grind of working overtime in the pool. “It’s a sport that I can meet people from around the state (and outside the state).” She has been extremely successful in recent months. Her favorite event is the butterfly. “I like it a lot, and I practice it a lot,” she said.

She refuses to be sidetracked from the lofty goals that she has set for herself. “I’m going to keep working hard,” she said.
The recent Summer Olympic Games served to make her more determined. “I really got inspired after watching them,” she said.
Her favorite swimmer is Jenny Thompson, who swam on a gold medal-winning relay team.

Swimming is a family thing for the Schroeders. “My sister, Kristi, got me started,” Katie said. “She also swims for Poseidon (she’s a sophomore at Atlee).” Her 6-year-old brother, Kyle, started swimming for Atlee Recreation Association this summer.

Schroeder gets tons of support from her parents — Jeff and Cheree — who take the girls to a lot of their practices and go to meets to cheer for them.

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Former TRAC, Atlee swim teammates make
their marks at Virginia Military Institute
Photo by Joey Matthews
Former Atlee students and Team Richmond Aquatic Club members Sean Matson, left, Jim Driggs and Bart Payne have excelled as members of the swim team, as well as students at Virginia Military Institute.
By Joey Matthews

Sean Matson was the first to commit to attend Virginia Military, where he would continue his standout swimming/academic career, late in the spring of 2001.

“It was June 16,” said his good friend and fellow Team Richmond Aquatic Club and Atlee High School swim teammate Jim Driggs. “I still remember the day.”

Matson, now a junior at VMI, said, “I wanted to find out earlier, but I didn’t get in early decision, then I didn’t get in regular decision, but I bugged the guy at the admissions office so much, that he finally let me in.”

Of course, it didn’t go exactly like that, but Matson was determined to attend the respected institution of higher learning and undertake the rigorous challenges for which it’s well known. “The challenge was the biggest thing,” said Matson, of his desire to attend VMI. “I wanted to do it.”

He’s planning to go into the Navy after he graduates from VMI, with designs on becoming a Navy SEAL. “Becoming a SEAL has been a goal of mine since I was 15 years old,” he said. “I started working out with SEALTEAMPT in Richmond when I was 16 and still continue every break that I am home. Their program helped me achieve so many goals so far, and I plan on continuing it because of the great program that John McGuire has set up.”

Driggs was the next to commit to VMI, where he would also continue his storied swim/academic career. “I followed him (Matson),” he said. “If it wasn’t for those guys (Matson and a few others), I wouldn’t have gone there.”

The Keydet junior is considering attending medical school when his VMI hitch ends.

Fellow TRAC and Atlee teammate Bart Payne followed his buddies the next year. “I went up with Sean’s parents for a visit, then I went up for a visit with an alumnus.”

The rest is Keydet history for the three friends, who all have already persevered and excelled at the Lexington school.

All three performed well in their swim efforts at VMI. Matson and Driggs will be among the tri-captains on next year’s team.

At the Northeast Conference Championships, which were held Feb. 18-21 at the Prince George Learning and Aquatics Complex in Landover, Md., each of the terrific trio had standout efforts.

• Driggs earned all-conference honors; he placed third in the 100 backstroke, fifth in 50 freestyle and second in 200 freestyle. He holds records in the 200 freestyle and as a member of the 200 freestyle relay team at VMI and in the 100 backstroke at Randolph-Macon College.

• Matson was fifth in 200 butterfly, went best times in all events and was a member of an award-winning relay team.

• Payne was fourth in 200 butterfly and had top honors in everything he swam, with personal best times. He was a member of an award-winning relay team.

Their work as on-campus leaders has been equally impressive.

Payne was a co-captain of the team this year. Swimming is a nice diversion for him, as well as a labor of love. “It gets your mind off everything,” he said. “It’s fun, and keeps us in shape.”

He has a 3.7 grade-point average, majoring in mechanical engineering. He’s in the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society.

He’s proud and happy that he has persevered at VMI through the good and tough times. “You have a lot of close friendships,” he said. “It gives you a lot of options when you come out.”

• Matson and Company work overtime to succeed in and out of the pool. In addition to their daily work in the pool (about three hours), they each lift weights for about an hour prior to practice. “I stay up all night a lot of times studying, from 6:30 through 2 a.m.,” Driggs said.

The work has benefited the young men in lots of other areas of their lives. “It helped me get ready for everything,” Matson said. “You stay in shape. It helps me with my grades more than anything. You have to set your schedule up at school and stick with it. The challenge was the biggest part for me, and I loved it.”

He is working towards a degree in civil engineering. He has held rank in the corps as a cadre corporal and cadre master sergeant the past two years. “The first year on cadre I was in charge of a squad of RATS (freshmen),” he said. “Currently, as Master Sergeant, I am in charge of a whole company of about 40 RATS. During the year, I lead them in drill competitions, perfected their uniform appearance, and helped mold them into cadets.”

Driggs credits his Atlee friends for his successful sojourn at VMI. “I wouldn’t be there if they weren’t there,” he said. “Them, and about two or three other people.”

They are great friends, who “push each other in practice,” he said.

Driggs hopes to go into either pediatrics or sports medicine after graduation. He has held the rank of platoon sergeant, and will “hopefully be a lieutenant next year,” he said. “Both positions include taking proper accountability, marching the company and being responsible for the overall appearance of my platoon.”

He lettered on the Keydet swim team the past three years. He holds two swimming records (200 freestyle and 200-medley relay).

He also trained with SEALTEMPT since he was 16 and continues that each break he has when he comes home. He also praised McGuire for the program that he set up

He has been Dean’s List each semester except one. He holds a 3.4 GPA. He was elected as class of 2005 secretary by his class. He’s in charge of setting up and running General Committee meetings, which punish cadets who don’t obey the rules, and Executive Committee meetings that deal with more serious cases.

The three young men are proud of what they have accomplished in and out of the pool at VMI. They are learning lessons of friendship, camaraderie, competition and quality work that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“When you finish, you can say you’re proud of what you’ve done,” Driggs said.
 

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Hanover schools hold quad track meet
Photos by Joey Matthews
Atlee track teammates Kelly Payne, left, Brooke Young and Abbey Baker at Wednesday’s meet.
Atlee’s Dana Harvey won the hurdles race on Wednesday.
Atlee freshman Erica Zeidler gets off to a strong start in a heat of the 100 at Wednesday’s quad meet at Atlee; Hanover coach Robert Pauley and distance girls Lauren Russell, Marta Varga and Alicia Grove.
Former Lee-Davis teammates Ryan Carson, left, and Marcus Jackson competed against each other in a heat of the 100 race; Jackson now runs at Hanover. Chelsea Goss, below, does it all at Atlee.
Atlee’s Brian Ford, above, won three events at Wednesday’s quad meet at Atlee; Hanover’s Justin Locke, below, is a young standout on the first-year track program.
L-D’s Kathy Howard, above, won the shot put.
By Joey Matthews

Notes, quotes and opinion from a Hanover schools-only quad meet between Atlee, Lee-Davis, Hanover and Patrick Henry that was held on Wednesday at Atlee:

First things, first.

Atlee’s girls edged Patrick Henry 81-80, followed by Lee-Davis (72) and Hanover (21).

The Raider boys scored 111 points to win, followed by Patrick Henry (75), Lee-Davis (65) and Hanover (8).

Individual Mechanicsville winners on the girls side were Lee-Davis’ Rachel Butler in the triple jump (36-5) and 200 (26.92), Lee-Davis’ Kathy Howard in the shot put (39-7), Atlee’s Sledd in the discus (100-2), Lee-Davis’ Nicole Bost in the pole vault (9-0), the Atlee 3,200 relay team of Alicia Kemmler, Nici Thomas, Rebecca McDowell and Chelsea Goss (10:47.85), Atlee’s Kelly Payne in the 1,600 (5:44.63), Atlee’s Anna Bushkar in the 400 (1:01.16), Atlee’s Dana Harvey in the 300 hurdles (50.18), Lee-Davis’ Brittany Long in the 800 (2:35.21), Atlee’s McDowell in the 3,200 (12:38.68) and the Atlee 1,600 relay team of Goss, Harvey, Miller and Bushkar (4:29.39).

Individual Mechanicsville winners on the boys side were Atlee’s Bryan Jones in the long jump (20-7-3/4), triple jump (40-3-3/4) and 110 hurdles (16.20), Atlee’s Mazzei in the high jump (5-10), Lee-Davis’ Kevin Kunkowski in the shot put (45-0-1/2), Atlee’s Eric Sandridge in the pole vault (11-0), the Lee-Davis 3,200-relay team of Ned Upshaw, Matt King, Kyle Mohn and Ryan Webb (9:07.20), Lee-Davis’ Tyler Carter in the 1,600 (4:29.10) and 3,200 (9:54.27), Atlee’s Coker in the 400 (51.59), Atlee’s Sperlazza in the 300 hurdles (42.38), Lee-Davis’ Webb in the 800 (2:03), Atlee’s Matt Griffis in the 200 (23.07) and Atlee’s 1,600-relay team of Sperlazza, Daniel Williams, Andrew Tucker and Josephn Mazzei (3:39.28).

You know you’ve reached the big-time in high-school athletics when your fans aren’t satisfied just with a first-place finish, but want you to keep reaching newer, higher milestones. As the ever-personable Kathy Howard threw the shot put, a couple of friends urged her on, “Come on, you can break 40!”

Howard gave it her best shot, but won with a toss of 39-7. She won the Central Region indoor crown with a heave of 41-1-1/2 and finished fifth in the state. Only a sophomore, armed with a strong work ethic and a standout coach in Nick DeLuca, she only figures to get better. “My goal is to hit 40, maybe 41,” she said.

She’s still overcoming the effects of a knee injury that sidelined her for most of last year’s spring season. “It feels good today,” she said.

She loves to compete ... especially against herself. “Really when I think about competing, I compete against myself, not anyone else,” she said. “Every time I go to a meet, I try to improve.”

• Bryan Jones was King of Versatility, winning the long jump, triple jump and 110 hurdles. He also competed in the 200. “I just want to be the best I can,” he said. “It was kind of cold out here. It was not a real, real competitive meet for me. I’m just trying to get back in shape after the end of indoor season.”

He calls the triple jump his best event. He finished third in the indoor regional meet (43-11) and seventh in the state. His best triple jump is 45-7. His goal, he said, “is 47 or 48.”

As for the key to a good triple-jump effort, he said, “You need to have good phases (hop, skip and jump) and make the second phase the best phase.”

• Atlee senior Kelly Payne won the 1,600. She finished third at the regional indoor meet in the 3,200 (5:36) and 11th in the state. She also competes in the 800.

• She was complemented by the likes of juniors Brooke Young and Abbey Baker. Young is a second-year Raider track athlete; Baker is a third-year performer. They ran on the Capital District-winning 4 X 800 relay team; Baker ran the second leg, Young the third. Both run the 800, as well as the 1,600.

“I love the camaraderie ... being out here with all my friends,” Baker said. “It makes me happy.”

Young said of her competitive philosophy, “I just focus mainly on getting done what I have to do.”

• Hanover freshman Justin Locke competes in the 1,600, 800 and runs on the 4 X 800 relay team. “The 1,600 is more endurance,” he said. “It’s also really fast. The 800 is almost a sprint. It’s really fast.”

He finished sixth in the 1,000 at the district indoor meet, earning a regional berth. “I’d like to go to the region in the 800,” he said, of an outdoor-season goal.

As for competing for Hanover, he said, “It’s a small team. You get to know your teammates better.”

Lee-Davis sophomore Ryan Carson and former Confederate teammate Marcus Jackson, now a senior at Hanover, got the dream of their respective seasons when they competed against each other in a heat of the 100 meters. “We’ve looked at our races in the past to see if we were running against each other, but it never happened,” Carson said. “Today, we finally got the chance. I love it. It makes me push harder.”

Carson won, followed by Jackson. It was Jackson’s first time running a 100 race. “I think I did alright, since it’s my first time,” he said. “I was happy I ran against him.”

Carson has competed since his days at Stonewall Middle School. “I want to improve my PR (personal-record),” he said. “You have to try to keep good form and get a good start. I got an excellent start.”

He also competes in the 200 and with the 4 X 400 relay team.

Jackson is a positive young man on the go. He works about 18 hours a week at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He played linebacker and running back on the Hawk first-year football team. He suffered a knee injury midway through the season. “It hurts every day,” he said. “It’s swollen now. I ice it every day. I just go out and try not to think about it.”

He competes in the 100, 200 and 400. He competed for the first time in the 100 and 200 at the meet at Atlee.

• Hanover junior Lauren Russell is a multi-sport standout. She finished second in the 200 freestyle and 17th in the state for the Hanover swim team. She also swims year-round for the Burkwood Aquatic Club team.

She’s also a force with which to be reckoned in track. She finished second in the 1,600 race (and runs the 3,200). She’s happy to be out for track. “It’s a nice change (from swimming),” she said. “It’s nice to be outside. I did it in middle school, and I wanted to do it some more.”

She added, “It’s a lot different (in track). There’s a lot more pounding on your knees when you do track.”

She’s happy to be aboard the Hawk train. “It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I like being with my teammates.”

• Hanover’s Marta Varga runs distance for the Hanover team. She competed in cross-country for the Hawks as well. She’s an exchange student from Germany.

• Hanover freshman Alicia Grove certainly could be a candidate for the Hawk Athletic Diversity award. She played volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter and now runs distance (1,600) and middle distance (800) for the track team. “I was going to do cross-country in the fall, but I decided to do volleyball,” she said.

She was happy with her run in the 1,600. “I did really well,” she said. “I just felt a lot of energy from all the people around me ... all the support.”

As for competing in track versus volleyball and basketball, she said, “It’s a lot more individual. There’s a smaller number of people. It’s a close-knit group.”

• Atlee junior Chelsea Goss is the kind of athlete that every coach loves to have on his or her team. “Wherever the coach needs me to go, I’ll go,” she said, of the events in which she competes.

She was a member of the 4 X 800 relay team that won the district indoor title. She ran a 2:34 split as anchor leg on the 4 X 800 relay team at the quad meet on Wednesday. “It’s a good way to start off the season,” she said.

She also ran the first leg on the 4 X 400 relay team and finished second in the 300 intermediate hurdles, behind sophomore teammate Dana Harvey. “We’re running buddies,” Goss said.

She started doing hurdles last spring because “they needed someone there,” she said.

It was not love at first sight. “It’s intimidating, but once you do it the first time, it’s easier, and then it gets easier each time you do it,” she said.

She runs lead leg in some relays and anchor leg in others. “In the lead leg, the pressure is on you to get off to a good place for the team,” she said. “As anchor, it’s all up to you. It comes to you and whoever you’re competing against.”

She’s an honor role kind of girl as well, making A’s and B’s.

She has been competing in track for Atlee since her eighth-grade year when she competed in indoor.

She loves being a team member. “I like everyone on the team a lot,” she said. “We’re just like a big group of friends.”

As for goals, she said, “I’m hoping to break 2:30 in the 800,” among other things, she said.
 

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Improving her Destiny Atlee grad Sprinkel prepares for W&M soccer playing with the big girls
 
BY FRED JETER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
 

 
ANNE SPRINKEL Richmond Destiny Player Anne Sprinkel shouldn't be in awe of the competition when she begins her college soccer career next month at William and Mary.

She's already exchanging moves with some of the best college players around.

The recent Atlee High graduate is getting her kicks this summer with the Richmond Destiny of the NCAA-sanctioned W-League.

"Basically, it's a feeder league for the pros," Sprinkel said. "It's really great for me, getting to play against this type competition. It's a different level, for sure, from what I'm used to, but I feel like I'm keeping up decently well."

 

Sprinkel and recent Midlothian High graduate Mary MacKenzie Grier are the only Destiny players with no college experience.

Destiny is coached by Ihor Dotsenko and plays most of its games at Virginia Commonwealth University's Cary Street Field (the team's July 23rd game will be played at UR Stadium). Other W-League affiliates are the Carolina (N.C.) Dynamo, Hampton Roads Piranhas, Asheville (N.C.) Splash, Bradenton (Fla.) Athletics, Northern Virginia Majestics and Charlotte (N.C.) Lady Eagles.

Sprinkel earned all-Capital District, all-Central Region and All-Metro honors this past spring for Atlee.

Playing along side Anna Bushkar, another All-Metro pick, Sprinkel scored 10 goals while helping the Raiders to the district title.

"Anne is so smart. She was like my coach on the field," Atlee coach Bruce Lovelace said. "Anne and Anna formed a tremendous midfield combination for us."

Bushkar will be enroll at the University of Virginia, but she has no plans at this point to continue soccer.

Sprinkel is attending William and Mary as a recruited walk-on. That means she has a spot on the team, but there is no scholarship money at this point. That could come in time.

She reports to W&M's pre-season training camp Aug. 11. The Tribe plays its first varsity game Aug. 27 against Loyola (Md.). There will be home-field exhibitions Aug. 18 and Aug. 21.

"I'm really looking forward to playing for William and Mary, and the experience I gain this summer will help," she said.

Under coach John Daly, W&M can boast of one of the most successful programs in the nation. The Tribe has won the CAA title nine times in the past 11 years, and it has made a dozen straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

Sprinkel has an older sister, Katie, who is a member of the W&M crew team. An older brother, former Atlee soccer player Matthew, is a student at VCU.

The Destiny might be described as a semi-pro team. The players receive a per diem on road trips, but there is no salary. The league was formed following the demise of the WUSA (Women's United Soccer Association) last year.

A few of Sprinkle's teammates are former pros.

"At first I was really intimidated," she said, "but I've found that if I work hard enough, I can definitely play."

Sprinkel is no stranger to a high level of play. She competed the past several years for the Richmond Strikers Premier club that ranked with the best in Virginia. She learned of the Destiny tryouts through her mother, Woodi.

"She saw an ad in the paper and told me about it," Sprinkel said. "Then, my Strikers coach [Linda Hamilton] said it would be a good idea to try out."

The National Honor Society member was a four-year varsity starter for Atlee and a three-time all-district pick.

Now, she's starting all over as a collegian. The experience shouldn't take her by surprise.