Top 100: Wes Suter, South Lakes Gymnastics, 1982
Former Olympian was a pioneer in men's gymnastics, won 15 state titles.
Wes Suter, a 1981 graduate of South Lakes High School and 1988 Olympic gymnast, was so competitive that his physical education teachers had a game that they played with him — one in which he was an unwilling participant.
Top 100: Katie Smrcka-Duffy, Madison, Basketball, 1996
Record-setting Smrcka-Duffy showed competitive fire leading Madison to 1996 region title and two state finals appearances before college and pro career.
Katie Smrcka-Duffy was one of the most competitive athletes ever to come out of the Northern Region. If her play didn't show it, her mouth certainly did. Smrcka-Duffy was often the subject of media scrutiny even as just a junior and senior at Madison High School.
Top 100: Pete Schourek, Marshall, Baseball, 1987
Schourek catapulted Marshall to baseball success in mid-80's before 11-year MLB career.
Pete Schourek gained national notoriety in 1995 when he finished second to Major League Baseball pitching sensation Greg Maddux in the race for the National League Cy Young Award — awarded to baseball's top pitchers each year. Schourek nailed down 18 wins that season and picked up the Game 1 victory for the Cincinnati Reds in their eventual five-game series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
Top 100: Jay Franklin, Madison, Baseball, 1971
Northern Region's highest MLB draft pick continues 20-year battle with mental illness.
Each time that Jay Franklin takes a sip of his soda, he unwillingly flashes the scar on the bottom of his right arm. It’s a reminder to his mother, Pat, and sister, Trudy — sitting just feet away and listening to him tell his story — of just how bad things have gotten.
Top 100: Eric Dorsey, McLean Football, 1982
Man among boys: Dorsey went from quiet kid to two-time Super Bowl champion.
What most people who knew Eric Dorsey before he went on to stardom with Notre Dame and the New York Football Giants would remember is his quiet demeanor, which was in sharp contrast to his fear-injecting football ability.
Top 100: Nick Sorenson, Marshall, Football, 1995
Nick Sorenson could never understand why anyone wouldn't want to play sports year-round while in high school. "For me, sports was it in high school," said Sorenson, who is now a free safety and team captain with the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars.
Top 100: Brandon Royster, Fairfax, Football, 2000
The first play that the Fairfax Rebels ran against Paul VI during Brandon Royster’s senior season was a trick play. Quarterback Ian McAlpine tossed a pass near the sideline to wide receiver Mike Daniels, who before getting hit, tossed the ball backwards to Brandon Royster.
Top 100: Joey Beard, South Lakes, 1993
Over the Hill: Beard, the two-time AAA state POY, is the all-time leading scorer at South Lakes.
It would come as a surprise to many that Grant Hill, a 2-time NCAA basketball champion, a 7-time NBA all-star and former Olympic basketball player, is not the all-time leading scorer in South Lakes High School's boys basketball history. That honor belongs to a 6-foot 10-inch former McDonald's All-American (1993) named Joey Beard, who recorded 2,138 points in his career — exactly 110 points more than Hill.
Top 100: Billy Pulsipher, Fairfax, Baseball, 1991
Despite major setbacks, the phenom pitcher found his way back to the Major Leagues.
The promising baseball career of a 1991 Fairfax graduate almost ended just as it started. Billy Pulsipher took the mound for the New York Mets in 1995, riding a wave of confidence, but injuries and depression would take a toll on his career soon after.
Top 100: Keith Lyle, Marshall Football, 1990
Keith Lyle spent nine years in the National Football League, most of them for the St. Louis Rams during the late 90's, as a free safety. But Lyle, remembered in the Northern Region by those that coached against him as incredibly fast, was an impressive high school quarterback before heading to the University of Virginia.
Top 100: Christy Winters, South Lakes, Basketball, 1986
Christy Winters was recently inducted into the South Lakes High School Hall of Fame as a part of the school's first Hall of Fame Class.
Top 100: Michael Jackson, South Lakes, Basketball, 1982
Twenty-four years removed and he remembers like it was yesterday. "I fouled out early," said Otto Jett, recalling his senior year playing basketball for South Lakes in 1982. "So I was sitting on the bench."
Top 100: Mike Wallace, Madison, Baseball
Wallace carried Madison to Virginia's first official baseball championship before playing 117 games in the majors.
Mike Wallace won't give himself the credit he deserves. Like most professional baseball players, Wallace believes in a lot of luck and fortune. He believes that luck carried him and the Warhawks to the first Virginia High School League sponsored state championship in 1968 and luck helped Woodrow Wilson rip the title from him in 1969.
Top 100: Larry Fones, Fairfax Football, Baseball and Basketball, 1948
Larry Fones is from a different time. Fones is from a time when football players wore leather helmets and guns marked the end of the games' quarters.
Top 100: Kendyl Baugh, South Lakes, Track, 1989
Lessons from track helped six-time AAA state champion Baugh persevere through personal tragedy.
Kendyl Baugh regained that familiar sense of security as she walked her son around the track at South Lakes High School last year. The 35-year-old Baugh traveled back to Reston with her son Kellen — the lone survivor of what would have been four-year-old triplet sons.