Va. Girls' Rowing Closely Competitive

Two weeks before the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships, the girls' varsity eight final is anyone's to win.

Yesterday at the Charlie Butt Regatta, favorite Robinson finished third. T.C. Williams won the 1,500-meter race, finishing in 5 minutes 46.8 seconds. Westfield finished second, 2.3 seconds behind the Titans.

When the varsity eight finals started, wind had picked up, meaning choppy water for the rowers. "It wasn't perfect rowing for anybody," T.C Williams Coach Steve Weir said. "I was expecting it to be a hard race."

Yorktown and McLean dueled in the Charlie Butt boys' varsity eight final. The Patriots had what looked like a comfortable lead as the course passed under Key Bridge. McLean then sprinted to close the gap, but Yorktown held it off.

"They were tough when they needed to be," said Yorktown Coach Andy Bacas. "That's why we work so hard, for days like today."

The Virginia championships will be held May 10 on the Occoquan River. "There are six teams in contention, that's the way it should be," Robinson Coach Rob Wasalaski said.

Purple Eagles Win

Gonzaga won the Foley Cup yesterday on the Anacostia River, beating rival St. Albans for the first time since 2005. The Eagles finished in 4:52.6, beating St. Albans by 5.4 seconds.

"We're doing pretty well locally, but the Philly crews are the gold standard," Gonzaga Coach Tom Spooner said.

Also on the Anacostia, National Cathedral won the Carr Cup in 5:31.7, edging Georgetown Visitation by 1.7 seconds.

MPSSAA Makes Move

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's Board of Control voted Friday to allow the state's public school coaches to coach non-school teams during the summer with few restrictions. The amendment, which allows coaches to work with their players on teams in summer leagues and some tournaments, passed by a 27-21 vote.

Wheeler Transferred

St. Albans junior varsity baseball coach Stephen Wheeler has been transferred from Suburban Hospital in Bethesda to National Rehabilitation Hospital in the District, a move St. Albans Athletic Director David Baad perceived as another positive sign in Wheeler's recovery.

Wheeler, 29, was coaching third base in a home game Tuesday night when a Georgetown Prep player accidentally hit Wheeler on the side of the head with a thrown ball from close range.

After emergency surgery for a cracked skull and hematoma, Wheeler had been listed in fair condition Wednesday and Thursday.

"The risk of things turning out not well seem to be greatly reduced and they wanted to him to get him started on his rehabilitation, Baad said."

Flint Hill's Net Gain

Flint Hill, the top-ranked boys' tennis team in Virginia Independent Schools Division I, defeated No. 2 Potomac School, 5-2, on Thursday. The featured match between Flint Hill's Zach Pine and Potomac School's Matt Feeley went three sets and lasted 2 hours 45 minutes. Pine, a 2007 All-Met who, along with his brother Jon, has signed to play for Virginia Tech, was down 4-0 in the final set before rallying to win 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

Jon Pine improved his high school singles record to 47-0 with his victory at the No. 2 spot. The Huskies, who also got wins Thursday from Brian Randolph, Garrett Widing and the doubles team of Philip Nelson and Joseph Chen, are the two-time defending VIS champions.

Staff writer Josh Barr and special correspondent Jeff Nelson contributed to this report.