Gonzaga Takes First Hard Step Toward WCAC Lacrosse Title

After finishing the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular season in a three-way tie for second place, Gonzaga drew the league boys' lacrosse tournament's fourth seed when names were picked out of a hat. That misfortune gave the Purple Eagles the most difficult first-round game among the WCAC's top half yesterday, but they survived with a 9-7 win over Paul VI.

Now Gonzaga must deal with the other challenge accompanying the fourth seed: a semifinal trip Thursday to top-seeded DeMatha, which beat St. John's (D.C.) yesterday, 16-1.

"You figure with the way DeMatha has dominated our league over the last 10 years, you've got to go through them to get to the championship no matter what," Eagles Coach Casey O'Neill said, "so regardless [of seed], you have to play the best. We're excited to go out there and play them."

Thursday's other boys' semifinal will feature third-seeded Good Counsel -- a 12-8 winner over O'Connell -- at defending WCAC champion and No. 2 seed St. Mary's Ryken, which beat Bishop Ireton, 16-6.

Leaving Patriot Center

Northern Region principals and athletic directors voted unanimously to move the region boys' and girls' basketball semifinals and championships to Robinson Secondary School after calling Patriot Center home for 14 of the past 15 years.

The cost to use Patriot Center, on the campus of George Mason University, has averaged about $37,000 each of the past four years. Running the tournament at Robinson, just down Sideburn Road from GMU, is likely to cost about a quarter of that, Robinson Athletic Director Mike McGurk said.

The region's net income from the 2008 tournament was $28,013, the lowest total by far this decade.

"The argument financially is that it makes a lot of sense to move it," McGurk said, adding that having the event at a high school gym will offer more schedule flexibility and perhaps a more exciting game environment. "We felt like we've done as much as we can do [to limit expenses], and it still seems to be a downward trend."

According to signage at Robinson, the Rams' gym holds 5,288 spectators, a little more than half the number of fans that Patriot Center can accommodate.

Attendance at the region games at Patriot Center topped out at 7,561 for the 2005 boys' semifinals. The girls' semifinals have drawn fewer than 2,000 fans in 10 of 14 years at Patriot Center. (Because of snow, the 2003 semifinals and championships were held at Robinson.)

Failure to Communicate

The T.C. Williams Invitational track and field meet, scheduled for last Saturday at Chantilly High School, was canceled because the two schools could not reach an agreement over how proceeds would be divided.

T.C. Williams Director of Student Activities Kerry Donley said he believed T.C. was supposed to operate a concession stand to defray some of the costs of the meet, but later learned that Chantilly wanted its boosters to run the stand. As a result, Donley said he canceled the meet last Thursday.