New school, new faces

By Shane Mettlen

Published: August 18, 2008

EVHS draws familiar names
When members of the Eastern View High School field hockey team look around they see familiar faces, but the setting sure is different.

Culpeper County High School long has had one of the top field hockey programs in the region and coach Peggy Allen led the Blue Devilettes to three straight Cedar Run District championships. But Allen was among the teachers transferred to Eastern View when the staff was put in place for the new high school, and when she opened tryouts there she was greeted by many of the most experienced returners from last year’s CCHS squad.

“It’s been really weird,” EVHS captain Gracie Gilmore said. “I never thought my senior year would ever be at a new school, but we look around here and everything is different.”

The mixture of old and new creates an interesting dynamic for the Cyclones, who join the challenging Battlefield District and will have plenty of competition from powerhouses such as Chancellor, Courtland and James Monroe.

“We probably have more returning players than the other school,” Allen said. “But we’re starting from new in a lot of positions.”

Along with Gilmore, Eastern View’s three other co-captains — Courtney Owens, Liz Crane and Bridget Lorentzen — all earned significant playing time at CCHS last year. Nicole Woodworth will be in goal for the Cyclones after excelling in that position for Culpeper a year ago and Jackie Bedsaul and Ana Gonzalez are also on the roster after playing key roles for CCHS in 2007.

Perhaps the most decorated player on the EVHS roster though is midfielder Megan Geisler, who was named honorable mention all-state last season for the Devilettes.

Despite all that talent, Allen is far from guaranteeing success at Eastern View.

“People need to step up and be leaders,” she said. “Just because we have kids with experience doesn’t mean we’ll do well. We’re going into a tough district. Every year you look and there’s been a Battlefield school in the state finals.”

Even though many of the Cyclones have played together in years past, Allen said there have still been some growing pains at practice.

“I don’t think we’re meshing well,” she said. “In my opinion we have lots of work to do. We need kids that can go in and learn to read the field and we’ve been bad at that. We need kids to read each other better.”

But so far the Eastern View players have been embracing the change of scenery and everything it brings.

“We’ve been working well,” Lorentzen said. “Some people don’t think it will go that well, but it’s a lot more exciting and what people expect from us is different.”

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or

CCHS has new stars
It’s the same field that played host to district champions and all-state performers in recent years and when the season starts today they’ll be wearing the familiar blue and gold uniforms.

But for the most part it’s a brand new era for the Culpeper County Blue Devilettes field hockey program. Longtime CCHS coach Peggy Allen and many of last year’s starters are at Eastern View High School and new CCHS coach Robin Bolt has an athletic but mostly inexperienced bunch to work with.

“We’ve got a young team, but I think we’re going to do OK,” Bolt said. “We’ve got a lot of new girls and with the schools splitting we have a lot of girls who had the opportunity to come out now.”

Sophomore Jessie Nerkowski, who also played on the varsity basketball and softball teams last year, is among the leaders on this year’s field hockey squad along with freshmen Lauren Mills and Rebecca Register, who played on the CCHS JV squad last year.

“It is very, very weird,” Nerkowski said. “It’s almost like starting over. I’m hoping a lot of the old traditions come back, but also I want to create something new. Coming in here with a bunch of new people I was a little worried, but there’s actually a bunch of new talent.”

With so many new players, Bolt turned to some of the more experienced field hockey minds in the area for help. She signed up Bonnie Templeton, a long-time CCHS assistant and Cathy Uribe, a former referee and varsity coach at Brooke Point, to round out the coaching staff.

The Devilettes have also gotten help in practice from Melissa Register and Courtney Lanham, who each graduated in the spring and plan to play field hockey in college this fall.

But even more than experienced coaches, Bolt is relying on players that have displayed athletic talent in other sports and hoping it can translate to success in field hockey.

Stephanie Giba was a contributor on the CCHS girls lacrosse team, also coached by Bolt, in the Spring and Courtney Daymude is out for field hockey after wrestling for the Blue Devils last season.

“I’ve never played before and I thought it was going to be a lot harder, but I kind of got the hang of it really fast,” Daymude said.

“It definitely requires a lot more physical contact than some sports.”

Now the new group of Devilettes are hoping that by seasons end they’ve kept the pride and traditon of CCHS field hockey alive and well.

“We’re Culpeper and this was the only school for as long as anyone could remember,” Nerkowski said. “For anyone to lose pride, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or .

Blue Devilettes Schedule
Date     Opponent         Time
August 21     Charlottesville         4:30 p.m.
August 28     at Forest Park       TBA
September 3   at Courtland         6 p.m.
September 8   at Stonewall Jackson   4:30 p.m. 
September 10   at Osbourn       4:30 p.m.   
September 15   at Fauquier           4:30 p.m.   
September 22   Osbourn Park       4:30 p.m. 
September 24   Liberty       4:30 p.m. 
September 29   Battlefield       4:30 p.m. 
October 1     Stonewall Jackson     4:30 p.m. 
October 6     Osbourn       4:30 p.m. 
October 8     Fauquier       4:30 p.m. 
October 13     Charlottesville         6:30 p.m. 
October 15     Osbourn Park             4 p.m. 
October 20     at Liberty       4:30 p.m. 
October 22     at Battlefield             6 p.m. 
October 27     Cedar Run Tournament   TBA  
October 28     Cedar Run Tournament   TBA
October 30     Cedar Run Tournament   TBA

Cyclones Schedule
Date       Opponent         Time
September 5     Herndon Inv.         TBA
September 6     Herndon Inv.          TBA
September 10     at King George         4 p.m.
September 12     Caroline         4 p.m.
September 17     at James Monroe       4 p.m.
September 19     Courtland         4 p.m.
September 24     at Chancellor           4 p.m.
September 26     Spotsylvania           4 p.m. 
October 3         King George         4 p.m. 
October 8       at Caroline         4 p.m. 
October 13       James Monroe         4 p.m. 
October 15       at Courtland           4 p.m. 
October 17       Chancellor         4 p.m. 
October 22       at Spotsylvania       4 p.m.