After starting in early summer, the Fall Sports Season here at Menchville has officially come to an end. With no Fall Sports going on, and the turnaround to Winter Sports coming almost immediately after their conclusion, it’s easy for us to shift our attention toward the next sports season. But, before we do that, it’s important that we reflect on an incredible Fall Sports season and recognize all of the outstanding performances of our student-athletes over the past few months.

Cross Country: The Cross Country team at Menchville followed up a fantastic 2021 campaign with another great season, as the entire girls’ team and two individual boys qualified for the prestigious State Meet. Although it was disappointing that the entire boys’ team couldn’t make it to States, as this was the last chance for a team largely made up of seniors to qualify together, they did get two representatives in Johnny Crain (12) and Jack Gorton (11)-both of whom finished their qualifying 5k races at the Regional Meet with sub-19 minute times. As for the girls’ team, since they finished third overall at the Regional Meet, the entire team of Alyssa Ware (10), Kassey Daughtery (11), Nouela Limon Duparmeur (11), Charley Daughtery (9), Grace Manadero (9), Anje Klompenhouwer (10) and Elizabeth McElfresh (11) qualified for the State Meet.

Field Hockey: The always-dominant Field Hockey team had another great season this year, although their postseason run ended a little earlier than they had hoped. After finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record, they were bounced in the regional semi-finals in a controversial game that players maintain was lost only due to unfair officiating. Whether this criticism is true or not, the Field Hockey team still had a phenomenal season with many individual players being recognized on all-district and all-region teams, with the same ten players being honored on both teams. The players who made all-districts and all-region were Emma Gayle (11), Maddie Rogers (12), Ella Elliot (11), Gabby Phillips (11), Makenzie Tutone (11), Kinsey Knapp (11), Alora Chappell (10), Erin Pridgen (10), Samantha Major (11) and Alli Strickhouser (12).

Football: After a very promising 2021 season, the Football team continued to improve and went .500 this season-finishing with a 5-5 record and winning their first playoff game against a very tough Woodside team. Unfortunately, a tough loss to Maury in the second round of the playoffs ended their season. Although no district or region teams have been released up to this point, we can expect to see some Menchville names get the prestigious honor as both Evin Wells (12) and Terrell Thomas (12) had phenomenal individual seasons for the Monarchs.

Volleyball: The Girl’s Volleyball team at Menchville had one of their best seasons ever this year, going 17-1 and making it into the State Tournament. The girls started their season on a fourteen-game winning streak and never looked back, securing the best record in their district. Thanks to this nearly perfect season, Monarch Volleyball Head Coach Juan Puentes was awarded District Coach of the Year.

Golf: Although all Menchville fall teams had incredible seasons this year, there may be no team that did better than the Menchville Golf Team. Not only did they win the Regional Match, but they also placed sixth as a team at the State Match, with Paul Gere, Luke Combs, Bruce Hitt, Neel Palakanda, Craft Beasley and Thomas Aman all competing in the event.

Over the last few years, Menchville has solidified itself as one of the most dominant schools for sports in the district. And, after seasons like this, it’s safe to say that their reputation is very well deserved. Now, it’s time for Monarch athletes to see if they can continue this great success as they head into the Winer Sports Season.