Moyer Runs Rings Around Competition
Clarke County Athlete Has 13 State Titles

By Carl Little
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, June 6, 2008

BERRYVILLE, Va. -- Danielle Moyer has had her toenails broken off by competitors' cleats so many times that she rarely bothers to paint them. Sometimes she gnaws on her fingernails, so they, too, hardly ever get a splash of polish.

But when Moyer started collecting rings three years ago, she figured she would jazz up her look by wearing them.

Despite her simple style, Moyer graduated from Clarke County High School on Sunday as its most decorated athlete since the school opened in 1954. In her four-year career, she was a part of 13 state championships -- eight team titles and five individual. Her final haul came at Saturday's Virginia A track and field championships in Radford, where she anchored her 4x400 relay team to a victory and helped Clarke County win its first girls' title.

"I really like the [ring] from when our 4x4 team won" in 2007, Moyer said. "It has four stones in it, and we each put our birthstone in the order that we ran. People ask me why I have these random colors, but I know what they mean."

Moyer, 18, earned her first state titles during fall 2004 when, as a freshman, she won the individual state cross-country championship while sparking the Eagles to the team victory, the first of four straight. During track and field the next spring, she became the state 1,600-meter champion after winning the first of two soccer crowns.

"One of the strengths of our athletic programs is our strong youth programs," said Stacy Sefton, a Clarke County assistant principal. "A lot of our kids have been playing with or against each other since kindergarten."

The daughter of Jim Moyer, who played baseball for George Mason University, and Kim Stutzman, who played soccer at Radford, Moyer owns state soccer records for career goals (136), assists (67) and points (304), and this past spring was selected first-team All-Met.

This past basketball season, Moyer averaged nearly 12.5 points per game, led the team in steals with 4.63 per game and finished her career with a 72-12 record. Of Clarke County's nine girls' team championships, Moyer has been part of all but one: cheer competition.

In April, Moyer became the first individual in the 36-year history of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame to receive a special commendation. The lone previous recipients were a Tuckahoe Little League all-star team that advanced to the 1967 World Series, and the 1976 Virginia Military Institute basketball team that lost in the East Region final of the NCAA tournament.

"It epitomizes who she is," said Eddie Webb, the Hall's president. "She's a winner."

It is difficult to say where Moyer ranks on the all-time state title list. Paula Girven and Sheena Johnson each collected nine individual outdoor track and field championships while at Gar-Field High, Girven from 1974 to 1976 and Johnson from 1997 to 2000. Johnson also owned six indoors.

"Some of these other [athletes] could've played other sports and won more titles," said Mike McCall, communications director for the VHSL. "But to participate in 13 championships is remarkable."

Moyer has had a few losses. She's been runner-up to a state team title four times. Last month, Clarke County fell to Riverheads in the first round of the Region B girls' soccer tournament, marking the first time in Moyer's career that she did not advance to the state tournament. "That kind of hurt a little," she said.

Moyer has been involved in student government, National Honors Society and several community service projects while at Clarke County. But she has no plans to continue varsity athletics at University of Virginia in August.

That is just fine with Moyer, who drew interest from Division II and III schools but is opting to play intramurals at Virginia. In sports, she has nothing left to prove.