Nate Friends, McLean Soccer, Basketball, 1991
Friends dominated the basketball court and soccer field to help McLean to several regional tournament appearances.
Chantilly coach Jim Smith was a relative unknown when he took over the reeling McLean High School boys basketball team back in 1989.
Top 100: Randy Dodson, Brandon Richardson, Herndon Basketball, 1994
Dodson and Richardson built the groundwork for modern-day Herndon hoops teams.
With 17 years worth of tournaments, clinics, bounce-passes, pick-and-rolls, dog-fights, over-time thrillers and thousands of other memories to sift through, Herndon head coach Gary Hall goes back to his first year as head coach when asked about the most influential basketball players in Herndon High School's history.
Top 100: Lori Grimm, Washington-Lee, Softball, 1976
In Arlington sports lore, Grimm has excelled as female athlete and coach.
When being a female sports standout was not the norm back in the mid 1970's, Arlington's Lori Grimm excelled on the softball diamond, the soccer field, and the basketball court.
Top 100: Morgan Marr, Madison Softball, 1999
Free-spirited Marr pitched her way to success, four all-state selections, two region titles, and SEC pitching.
What made 1999 Madison graduate and four-time all-state softball selection Morgan Marr so special was that she had "the gracefulness and competitiveness all in one," said her mother Barbara, who used to drive her ballerina daughter between softball games, dance classes and beauty pageants.
Top 100: Norris Davis, South Lakes, 1984
Seahawk wide receiver, defensive back and track star went on to UNC and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.
There is no telling how much damage Norris Davis could have done on the high school football field if given the opportunity to play the position that his talent eventually led him to while at the University of North Carolina.
Top 100: John Crone, Yorktown, Football, 2004
Team leader dominated on the gridiron and at the plate for the Patriots.
Few Arlington-area prep school athletic stars have been the overpowering Northern Region forces in two sports that recent Yorktown High graduate John Crone (Class of 2004) was.
Top 100: Jasmine Thomas, Oakton, Basketball, 2007
Only a senior in high school, Thomas is already one of the Northern Region's greatest.
Jasmine Thomas is only a rising senior in high school. The career statistics for Thomas, arguably one of the greatest — if not the greatest — Northern Region girls basketball player, have not been finalized.
Top 100: Lindsey Ertter, Langley, Swim, 2001
Ertter won six state titles and swam in two Olympic trials
Lindsey Ertter is retired now, but not really. The 2001 Langley High School graduate and breaststroker said that she is still coming to grips with missing out on the Olympic swimming goal she dreamed up while watching Janet Evans cruise to gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Editorial: Separate and Unequal?
If we don't believe that poor students are less innately talented, then the disparities in Northern Virginia are truly unfair.
The numbers are eye-popping. Latino students are 22 percent of Fairfax County Public Schools students, but 2.7 percent of the incoming Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology freshman class, the class of 2016. Of the 480 students, seven are black. That's 1.4 percent, while black students are 10 percent of the county school system.
Top 100: Clay Kirby, Washington-Lee Baseball, 1966
Former Generals ace pitched for `Big Red Machine' in the 70s.
Whether his teams were winning big or losing big, former major league pitcher Clay Kirby could always be counted on to take the mound and give his team some quality innings.
Top 100: John Curtis, Fairfax 1988, Wrestler
Collegiate All-American applies lessons learned from wrestling to all aspects of life.
During his senior year at Fairfax High School, John Curtis never slept on his back, because that is the position a wrestler is in when he gets pinned.
Top 100: Michelle Pearson, Gymnastics, Edison 2000
The powerful gymnast earned six individual state titles in two years.
Strength is the word that comes out of people's mouths when asked about Michelle Pearson. According to the Virginia High School League record book, the 2000 Edison graduate is the most decorated female individual high school gymnast in the Northern Region's history with six titles.
Top 100: Alexa Lange, Herndon, Track, 1990
"Go-Go Lexa" won 1988 state title after nearly quitting running.
Alexa Lange, the 1988 3200-meter AAA state track champion, 1989 AAA state cross-country runner-up, 1989 third place finisher at the FootLocker National Southeast regional cross-country tournament and 1999 Texas State Championship triathlete, never saw the point in running before she set foot on the track at Herndon High School.
Top 100: Robbie Maclay, Langley, Lacrosse, 2006
Lacrosse All-American Robbie Maclay played 12 seasons of sports at Langley.
Langley 2006 graduate Robbie Maclay's impact is still fresh in the minds of lacrosse fans, players and coaches in the Northern Region. Maclay just graduated from Langley after having competed in 12 seasons of sports and after becoming the first athlete to do so in 10 years at the McLean-based high school.
Top 100: Michelle Duhart, Wakefield Basketball, 1996
Warriors' all-time scoring leader went on to play on Purdue's national championship team.
Michelle Duhart recently recalled her ninth grade year as a member of the Wakefield High girls basketball team. That Warriors squad, coached by current Wakefield Athletic Director Noel Deskins, struggled to be competitive that season. So team members looked for little victories.
Top 100: Billy Davis, Mount Vernon, Football, 1980
At Clemson University, Billy Davis will forever be known as the player who's clutch, long punt return helped the Tigers defeat Nebraska, 22-15, in the 1981 Orange Bowl football game which decided the national collegiate championship.
Top 100: Joe Lowe, Wakefield Basketball, Football
Former Warriors basketball guard tallied over 1,000 career points, was also Wakefield's football QB.
Current Wakefield High boys basketball coach Tony Bentley recalls his days growing up in the Green Valley neighborhood of south Arlington and idolizing one of the area's great prep school basketball stars, Joe Lowe.
Top 100: Chris Sabo, Herndon Wrestling, 1993
Sabo helped catapult Herndon to a decade of dominance.
The sweat that was sweat, blood that was shed, tears that were cried and dreams that were dreamt in Herndon High School's mat-room yielded several individual state championship titles — seven to be exact.
Top 100: Skye Eddy, Herndon, 1989
In an article entitled "Eye on the Skye" from the March 30, 1988 edition of the Herndon Connection, 16-year-old Herndon High School junior Skye Eddy's day was described as a 5:30 a.m. wake up call and a late-night bed fall.
Top 100: Katie Ruckert, Madison Tennis
Katie Ruckert was simply dominant. A 2001 graduate of Madison High school, Ruckert sits in a first place tie for the most AAA state tennis titles in a career in Virginia High School League history.