December 2009 WinStar - Meg Carpenter

Meg Carpenter is a senior at Albemarle High School who began playing volleyball in the 8th grade. While playing for the Patriots she has been a 3 year starter. During her time on the team they have gone 68-14, had two State tournament appearances and won the State title once. This year she was voted to the 2nd team All District.

In addition to volleyball Meg also plays soccer for both the school and club and is involved in the school's jazz choir where she loves to sing Christmas music in the community.

Her favorite subject is Math and she is interested in studying architecture in college.

Her coach at AHS, Mark Ragland says......"Meg has established herself in the record books as one of the leaders in the Career Service Percentage as she ranks in the top 5 in single service percentage, 95.8% and career service 93.9%, as well as single season service points 236. She is the ultimate teammate and athlete as she approached every practice with an incredible attitude, determined mindset and a wonderful work ethic. As a team captain she did a remarkable job setting the tone for practice.

Her concentration is totally on others and doing what is noble and virtuous on all occasions and for these reasons she was a delight to coach."

December 2009 WinStar - Elizabeth Morgan

Elizabeth has played the number one singles spot on the Varsity Girls Tennis Team at STAB for the past four years and has been the team's captain for the past three years. She was selected to the ALL-LIS team the past three years and selected the All Central Virginia 2nd team. Outside of school tennis, she has played on her club's junior tennis team for 6 years as well as in numerous USTA tournaments over the summer. In the past 9 months she has improved her ranking to 48 in the Girls 18’s Mid-Atlantic Section.

In her spare time Elizabeth has volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club, taught vacation Bible School at her church and all competed on the Varsity Soccer team and played the violin for the school's orchestra.

Her coach, Hollis Hunt says of Elizabeth, "she is the type of player every coach dreams of having on their team as she exhibits 100% effort daily. She is a strategically focused player who is determined, yet humble as the number one single player for four consecutive years. Genuine sportsmanship was a strong trait at every practice and match!!"

April 2009 WinStar - Liz Barclay

Liz is a senior at Albemarle High School and has been competing in Cross Country, Indoor Track, Soccer and Outdoor Track. During her career at AHS she has fought through anemia and torn ligaments yet she has remained a competitor throughout her years. She has competed in the 1600, 1000, 400 and High Jump in Indoor Track and in outdoor track she competed in the 3200, 1600, 800, 400 and 200 meter races. This past fall she competed in the State Cross Country meet and the Indoor State Meet as well.

Liz says, “I grew up playing soccer, swimming, dancing but I was always intrigued by running.” At AHS she has been able to run all three seasons and play soccer in the spring as well. This spring her times were 11:11 for the 3200 meters, 2:18 for the 800 meters and 26.0 for the 200 meters. Coach Franklin says this of his spring track captain, “Liz is a role model for her peers and is not only a great athlete on the track but she is a great student as well.” Liz will be attending the College of William and Mary in the fall on a Cross Country and Track scholarship.

Congratulations to Liz and best of luck at William and Mary!!

April 2009 WinStar - Ali Angell

Ali Angell is a senior at Albemarle High School and Co-Captain the women’s Tennis Team. For this season Ali is 7-1 in singles and 6-1 in doubles and for her three years on the team she is an outstanding 45-4 and 30-2.

She has been named Honorable Mention for Central Virginia. Ali says “I’ve been playing since I was very young and have loved all of it. It’s one of my best sports because it is just as much mental as it is physical which presents more challenges than most”. In addition to tennis Ali is also a member of the Spanish Honor Society, the English Honor Society, the Beta Club, the Key Club, the Patriot Athletic Leaders, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Peer Counseling organization at AHS. Twice she has been awarded for her service and her leadership and plans to attend Virginia Tech next year with a focus on business .

Coach Rich Lindsay says “Ali is a tremendous athlete and tennis player and we owe a great deal of the success we have enjoyed as a team to her efforts. She is a team leader and a solid performer on the court. What I like most about the opportunity to coach Ali is that she is such a wonderful person. Make no mistake, she is good at tennis but sports do not define her. Ali’s game doesn’t jump off the court to the untrained eye but she is very hard to beat. Every match that she starts she finds ways to win. She controls her emotions on the court and feeds off the weaknesses of the opponent. Since her sophomore year when she joined the team she has played in the top six and her record speaks for itself”.

Good luck to Ali in the upcoming play-offs and at Virginia Tech in the fall!

April 2009 WinStar - Elizabeth Brightwell

Elizabeth Brightwell is a senior at St. Anne’s Belfield. She is the only girl on her school’s golf team and has received the Low Scoring Average award as well as the Coach’s Award.

A nationally-ranked junior golfer, Elizabeth has eight top-10 finishes in American Junior Golf Association events. Last August, she won a three day AJGA event at Richter Park in Danbury, Connecticut with scores of 75, 74 and 73. For three years, she was selected as one of the eight girls to represent Virginia against Maryland in team matches; she was twice selected as one of four girls from Virginia to represent Virginia and Maryland in matches against the Carolinas. With a qualifying score of 75, she won the Low Junior Award at last summer’s Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Amateur.

Interested in politics as well as golf, Elizabeth is president of the Young Liberals at St. Anne’s and has worked on local, sate and national election campaigns. As president of her class for two years, she led service and social projects. She likes to read, snowboard and is teaching herself to play the guitar. She took ballet, jazz and tap lessons for thirteen years, eventually giving up dance for golf.

One of Elizabeth’s coaches is Kandi Comer from Glenmore Country Club and she says of her, “through hard work Elizabeth has developed a complete golf game. She has worked hard to develop all parts of the game including a full swing and short game. She has also worked very hard on the fitness aspect of the game. By putting all these parts together it will allow her to play at the next level. It is always fun to see the players reach their goals and it has always been Elizabeth’s goal to play at UVA and she will be there in the fall.”

Elizabeth has signed a National Letter of Intent to play on the UVa women’s golf team, which is currently ranked third in the nation.

Congratulations and best of luck to Elizabeth at UVa!!

March 2009 WinStar - Seana Acker

Seana is a freshman at Western Albemarle High School and a member of the Varsity Swim Team. She also swims competitively year round for the Charlottesville YMCA and in the summer for a local athletic club. Seana has qualified for the short and long course YMCA Nationals as a freshman and placed in the top five of the summer Jefferson Area Swim League competition held in Charlottesville.

Recently Seana was one of the leading scorers on her high school team where they placed 3rd in the VHSL state competition. She swam on two of the top eight relays and finished ninth in the 200 IM and eleventh in the 100 Breast. At the regional meet, Seana swam on two first place relays, taking first in the 100 Breast and second in the 200 IM. Her coach Diana Bowen says “Seana’s performance during the regular season was equally impressive. As a ninth grader she has shown leadership and dedication to this team.”

Outside of school Seana is an active member of her church youth group, has played Classical guitar for eight years and also plays the flute and piano. She has participated in recreational soccer for over four years. Seana loves working with small children and was a volunteer “Coach in Training” for her summer swim team and plans to coach again in the summer of 2009.

Congratulations Seana on your accomplishments and being selected as a Women in Sports WinStar!!

Febuary 2009 WinStar - Kara Elder

Kara Elder is a senior at Albemarle High School who has been very busy since August in the AHS gymnasium. In the fall she was captain of the first ever AHS State Champion Volleyball Team, selected to 1st Team All District, All-Northwest Region and All State as well as being selected as the Central Virginia Volleyball Player of the Year. In addition she was the team’s co MVP and holds the school record for the most kills in a season.

Immediately after helping her team win the state volleyball title she began her senior year on the basketball court where she has lettered for 3 years. Her stats include 104 rebounds, 30 assists and 39 steals, 12 blocks and she made close to 50% of her shot attempts. Outside of athletics Kara is a member of the school’s Beta Club, the National Art Honor Society, DECA, Patriot Athletic Leaders, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Female Athletes Striving Together. In her spare time she has a part time job and volunteers with church activities, middle school volleyball and Special Olympics. Her goals are to play college volleyball but regardless of her major she wants the opportunity to give back in her field.

AHS Basketball Coach Anita Jenkins told WinS that “Kara is a consistent player on the court and a great role model both on and off the court. Her strengths include her shooting ability, her rebounding and her unselfish teamwork. During the time that she had to sit out because of injury she never once complained and she continued to cheer on her teammates. She is a star in every sense of the word and a true pleasure to coach!”