LEADERS: Coach Chris Pollock, Spencer Brown ‘22, Zane Ratliff ‘22, Will Hoff ‘23 and Hayden Burns ‘22 show off the championship plaque at Nansemond-Suffolk on May 21. Ratliff and Hoff earned All-State honors. Photo by Eason Zhou
Boys’ lacrosse: 
beat Nansemond-Suffolk Academy 8-7 on May 21 at NSA in VISAA D2 State Championship;
revenged earlier loss to NSA 8-7 in overtime during regular season, which forced NCS to travel to NSA for the final;
defeated VES 11-8 on May 19 at home;
took lead early, lost the lead, then came back in second half;
scored with goals by Zane Ratliff ‘22, Ian Cann ‘23, Joe Mason ‘23, Caleb Thompson ‘23 and Jack Durham ‘25;
controlled possessions as Ashton Cornett ‘24 won 12 of 17 faceoffs;
kept the scoring advantage when Hayden Burns ‘22 saved eight shots;
won three state championships in last five years;
won first state championship in 2010.


“Offense played out of their minds. Defense played out of their minds. Faceoff played out of his mind. Phenomenal effort by everybody. Especially Hayden, he’s our No. 1 goalie.” - JoJo Mason ‘23 

“We had a great start to the game. Defense had a couple of bad plays that let in a couple of goals. Second half we turned it up and [scored]three or four and it was electric. They couldn’t stop us. We got the momentum.When we get the momentum, nobody can stop our lacrosse team.”  - Jack Durham ‘25​

“While we did not play our best lacrosse game we kept it close in the quarter and then tied it right before halftime at 5-5.  They scored a goal in the 3rd period that hit the referee and bounced right to the NSA player who passed it and scored.  We then scored 3 goals in the 4th quarter to take the lead 8-6.  They scored to make it 8-7 and then won the next faceoff.  We played great defense and had a scoring chance at our end, which was saved by the NSA goalie.  They then got the ball back and threw it over the midline, but we were called for offsides so they got the ball back.  We then got a push in the back penalty, which we fought off.  They were able to get a shot off with 50 seconds left, but they missed the goal and Ian ran out the shot to give us possession.  He cleared the ball and after a timeout, we were running out the clock, and Ian got hit in the head so we basically ran out the clock.  I think the fact that we played a close game in the semis against VES helped us against NSA. They had two blowout victories and we were battle tested. The boys never got down and played hard for 48 minutes. A total team effort! - Coach Pollock

Down 2-4 after singles, the boys won all three doubles sets to secure their second straight Virginia Independent Conference championship over tennis archival Covenant. Held at the Boarshead Club in Charlottesville because the weather forecast called for rain, the match started at 5 and ended at 9:15, likely a record for longest match in school history. In the video, watch No. 3 doubles Colin Chandel '23 rip a backhand winner down the line on championship point. Chandel also won his match at No. 4 singles. In the picture above, Captain No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles Rees Wenk '22 holds the championship plaque while No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles Connor Erwin '22 and No. 1 singles and doubles Henry Lugar '25 show their plaques for earning First-Team All-Conference awards. From left to right: Erwin, Rees, No. 6 Tyler Bloomfield '25, Lugar, Chandel, No. 5. Jacob Juneau '26, No. 3 doubles Christian Lang '25 and Sam Schaefer '26. 

Since I was about 10 years old, I have always had a significant obsession with cycling. When I was young and learning how to ride a bike, I never had training wheels. I learned very quickly and loved doing it. 
When I started to take it seriously, I dropped all my other sports for it. I rode almost every day of the week, putting in 10-hour, 150-200-mile weeks. This consists of trail riding, road riding, and fixe riding.
My first fast season was the fall of 2019. Thanks to my coach Chris Berry, I trained all summer for the big race series. NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) is a series in every state once a year. When I was 11, I won the middle school category of about 60 riders. This year NICA was in the fall.
Soon after, at the start of 2020, my season came to a screeching halt. Covid hit, and all of my race events were canceled. I continued to work hard without any racing throughout 2020.
Racing started back up in the spring of 2021 during the Virginia High School (VAHS) race series that takes place in different places around Virginia. I raced in the middle school category. In 8th grade, which 
was my last middle school race. In a field of nearly 130 riders, I came away with the biggest win. 
During the summer, My coach and I, Chris rode from Lewisburg to Cass WV on the greenbrier river trail. This was an out and back ride that took about 11 hours. In total it was 157 miles. We also did it on Fixies. A fixie is a bike with no gears, and you can not stop pedaling.
Toward the end of summer and near the start of fall, I started working hard again. I was in the gym 3 times a week doing weight training, putting in 100+ mile weeks. I was just about to begin my freshman year, and NICA was coming up faster than ever, and I tried my best to be ready. I came away with second place in the first race at Miller School. At the second race, two weeks later, In Stokesville, VA, I got the win. In the past, I have always had amazing races at Stokesville and never lost a NICA or a VAHS race there. In the next two races, I was 2nd place. Overall that season, I was the No. 2 freshman in Virginia.
VAHS starts at Miller School next week. I am hoping to do very well. This is the peak of my spring season

The 2022 season began with boys lacrosse team achieving great results. Until late April, they were ranked No. 1 in VISAA D-II, but after a loss to a recent overtime loss to Nansemond Suffolk, they dropped to No. 2. 
Such a good situation is inseparable from the excellent performance of the team members. 
Ian Cann ‘23 has helped the team stay high in the poll by scoring 18 goals and making 15 assists for 33 points (second only to Zane Ratliff ‘22) as one of the attackers, through April 22. He is undoubtedly one of the important players on the team.
Cann has played Lacrosse for eight years so far, which is longer than some players’ time combined. He said the energy that you get from the team and the fast pace of the game motivates him for this long time.
Cann said that he feels great about this season and thinks the team does a great job of working together on the field, but he feels that the team could have better practices. Also, he hopes people or other things can be improved.
The team  graduated ten players last year after winning the state championship. As one of the main players this year, Ian has expectations for the results of this year’s team. He says no team is going to be the same. He just expects everyone to play their game and play as a team because that’s what it takes to be a successful team.This year’s situation makes him a little bit stressed, because he didn’t know what to expect, but after a couple games he feels comfortable with the team this year.
Ian wants to play college lacrosse, but he is not only a lacrosse player, but also a football player.  He said that he reclassed because he has only played seven and a half football games in the past two years because of injuries. And he prefers football, but a lot of people tell him that he should focus on lacrosse.     
“I just want to thank my family for always supporting me in everything I do and pushing me to become not only an athlete but also making me the best person that I can be,” Cann said. “I also want to thank my coaches for pushing me to work on things that I could be better at. Finally my friends and teammates for always having my back on and off the field.