Local Catholic high schools are celebrating a historic spring sports season filled with conference titles, national rankings and shattered school records. See how teams from St. Paul VI, Bishop Ireton, Bishop O’Connell, and Pope John Paul the Great dominated the postseason.
St. Paul VI Catholic High School, Chantilly
Boys Lacrosse
PVI Boys Lacrosse went 15-1 this spring, winning the WCAC regular season and making program history with its first-ever WCAC Championship, defeating St. John’s 10-8 on Cooper Field at Georgetown University on Monday, May 11, 2026. Gavin Gilmore ’26 was named WCAC Player of the Year. Jeff Schwartz was named WCAC Coach of the Year.
Baseball
PVI Baseball went 21-4 this season and was undefeated in the WCAC for the first time in program history to secure the conference’s regular season title. They became state champions at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights, VA, beating St. Anne’s Belfield 7-6 for the VISAA Championship. In April, they finished as runner-up at the Southeastern Baseball Classic and All Faiths Classic. Aiden Gallagher was named WCAC Co-Player of the Year, and head coach Billy Emerson was named WCAC Coach of the Year.
Softball
PVI Softball went 19-3 this spring, winning the WCAC regular season title and solidifying themselves as one of the best teams in the DMV this season. Faith Colligan was named WCAC Co-Player of the Year, and head coach Jeff Torres was named WCAC Coach of the Year.
Girls Golf
PVI girls golf outplayed the competition at the VISAA Championships at Williamsburg National Golf Course, capturing the program’s first state title in dominant fashion. The Panthers finished with a team total of 332, an impressive 15 strokes ahead of Collegiate School, and 27 strokes ahead of St. Catherine’s School, proving themselves the team to beat from start to finish. Adding to the celebration, Mikaila Lamas ’26 and Olivia Cho ’28 each recorded the lowest score of 71 over 18 holes, earning the honor of VISAA individual co-champions.
Boys Volleyball
PVI Boys Volleyball went 9-2 this spring, finishing No. 1 overall in the ISVBL and winning six straight games to finish the regular season. They became No. 1 in the Independent Schools Boys Volleyball League (ISBVL) for the first time in 11 years. The championship took place at PVI’s Panther Athletic Center, where the Panthers started out with an 11-20 deficit in the first set against Washington International School (WIS) from DC.
Boys Tennis
PVI Boys Tennis went 10-4 this season and finished third in the WCAC regular season standings. They entered the state playoffs as the No. 5 seed and did not advance after being eliminated by the No. 4 seed, St. Christopher’s School by a score of 5-0.
Girls Lacrosse
PVI Girls Lacrosse went 10-8, finishing second in the conference and ending the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. Head coach Dana Drever has been an active force in her first year at PVI as she and the team look to carry the momentum into next season.
Track and Field
PVI Track and Field has competed in a handful of events throughout the spring season and has seen multiple runners achieve personal as well as team records at several relays. Varsity Track & Field hosted the Virginia State Catholic Championships on May 9, and made history as both the boys and girls teams walked away as the 2026 Virginia State Catholic Champions. It was the first time both teams have won the title together. The competition was very close as the underdog Panthers took on eight Catholic teams from around the state. Christian Rutland ’26 was named Field Event Athlete of the Meet after winning both the long jump (22-5.75) and triple jump (42-9) and setting new school records in both events. More highlights include Keyon Johnson setting school records of 10.76 in the boys 100m dash and 6.83 in the boys 60m, Cooper Colcombe setting a school record of 48.7 in the boys 400m and the high jump (6’4’’), and Kathia Kouami setting a school record of 8.20 in the girls 60m. The girls 4x400m relay team of Keshia Kouami ’28, Elliana Taddeo ’27, Chloe Rakowitz ’26, Kathia Kouami ’28 won the event and set a new meet record of 4:08.
Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria
Track and Field
Senior Regan Schultz won the 800-meter run and the 3200-meter run at the Draper Invitational. Her times of 2:19.02 and 11:17.11 set Ireton school records. Junior Jason Day broke a 20-year-old Ireton record at the PR Northern Virginia Invitational in the 3200-meter race with a time of 9:24.72.
Girls Golf
Ireton fielded its first ever all-girls golf team. The team earned a berth into the WCAC Golf Championship as one of the top four teams in the conference.
Bishop O’Connell High School, Arlington
Baseball
The Knights won the 2026 WCAC baseball championship, securing their first title in 25 years. They defeated Paul VI in a decisive game 3 victory to claim the championship.
Track and Field
This spring, the boys 4×800 team ran an outstanding time of 8:02.99. The team consisted of Lance Jayme ’26, Jayse Brefczynski ’27, Landon Brefczynski ’29, and Johnny O’Donnell ’27. Breaking the record for the third time this year, the boys 4×100 team ran an impressive 42.37, consisting of athletes Cam Bowser ’26, Zander Schied ’26, David Joanel ’28, and Tim Robertson ’29. The old record (42.80) was set in 2022.
Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School, Potomac Shores
Girls Lacrosse
On May 8, JPII’s girls lacrosse team hosted the VCAC championship game and secured the win for the fourth year in a row as conference tournament champions.
Track and Field
Sophomore Eberechi Obasi, younger sister to JPII alum and record-holding athlete Chichi Obasi, just became the new school record holder in the 100m dash when she won the VCAC Championships breaking Chichi’s record by 0.04 seconds. She has her eyes set on several other records that are held by Chichi who is currently competing on the Track and Field team at the U.S. Naval Academy. At the VCAC Championships, Eby won the 100m, 200m and 400m races to score 30 points for the team. She is also ranked 10th in VISAA in the 100m dash,10th in the 200m dash, and 8th in the 400m dash.
Defending VISAA 2025 Discus Champion and JPII junior, Angelina Kovac, is currently ranked an outstanding 1st in VISAA and 2nd in the State of Virginia for Discus as well as ranked 3rd in VISAA for Shot Put.
For boys, sophomore Izaiah Wingfield is currently ranked 5th in VISAA in the 400m dash and 5th in VISAA in the 200m dash. Senior Jonah Berkey is ranked 7th in VISAA in the 100m dash.
Softball
Softball advanced to the Division 1 VISAA Softball tournament finishing as runners-up in the VCAC Championship against Fredericksburg Christian.
Baseball
Jack Dreany recorded impressive stats for the 2026 season. In just 20 games played, Dreany had a .375 batting average, a .568 on base percentage, a 1.086 on base percentage plus slugging, a .518 slugging percentage, 8 runs batted in, 24 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, 27 putouts, and 3 assists. In the teams latest contest, he went 2 for 3 with a walk, 3 runs scored and a stolen base. Prep Baseball Report highlighted his play last week stating: “Dreany provided a versatile offensive spark this week, combining extra-base power with aggressive baserunning. His disciplined approach resulted in three walks, consistently putting him in a position to impact the score.”
The baseball team advanced to the VCAC Tournament Finals, falling to Trinity Christian in a high-scoring game May 7.
