The 2024-25 school year is underway, and with that, it means it’s time for the Meridian Mustangs to start their fall sports season. One team, the co-ed Varsity golf club, has already begun its campaign while football, field hockey, cross country, volleyball, and cheer will be joining them in the coming weeks. It figures to be another exciting autumn in Falls Church, and there will be opportunities aplenty to come out and cheer on Meridian’s boys and girls.
Football will be the main attraction, with the Mustang home turf set to be packed with local supporters on Friday nights throughout the season. PJ Anderson’s squad lost a few key players, including offensive lineman Matthew Downs, RBs Alden Harrison and Omar Dabbourah, and all-purpose star James Teague, but returns most of a core from last season that improved to 4-7 after going 1-9 two years ago. QB Cruz Ruoff is back healthy while RB Alex Jacobson and receiver Ben Kozbelt figure to be among his top weapons, and Domanic Zacharias-Martin leads an experienced offensive line. On the defensive side of the ball, Junior Martinez and Deosity Bantan headline the defensive backfield while Jack Mossburg, Oumar Thompson, and Grady Jinks offer additional support. Anderson cites the team’s depth as a strength, with about 75 kids currently in the program, and claims they have worked incredibly hard this offseason to put themselves in a position to compete against any opponent in their district. They’ll start their season on Thursday, August 29th at McLean.
The field hockey girls look to prove they’re here to stay after their best season in program history a year ago, in which the team went 21-1 with its only loss coming in the State Finals. The team lost many of its key contributors from that squad, including C.C. Carmody, Cassie DuBois, and goaltender Briana Corry, but on the bright side, key returners Lucy Hladky, Delaney Flanagan, and Sara Meade should be able to pick up the pieces. Consider it more of a reload than a rebuild, and the team will keep itself battle-tested with matchups against a number of quality opponents including Heritage High School and Annandale High School. Their season opens against Wakefield next Monday.
As mentioned above, the golf club has already opened play as they look to leave the bitter taste of a disappointing ending in Regionals last year behind them. They have a new head coach in Tim Sample, who is feeling very hopeful in the group’s results thus far after they finished second in each of their two matchups against the six other teams in their district. Seniors Henry Brown and Noah Peng lead the charge while Sample named Alex Way, Sam Ettinger, Drew Fishel, and Charles Griffith as others to watch, and there has been a significant uptick in female representation on the team, with four new young ladies joining the squad after Era Inglis-Nela was the only one last season. Securing a Regionals bid once again should be the expecation for the Mustangs, while a trip to States is a reasonable and achievable goal. They’re next scheduled to compete on Thursday at Reston National.
Both cross country squads look to back up successful seasons a year ago, when the girls finished third and the boys fourth at Regionals while the girls then went on to finish eighth in States. The girls feature a team packed with seniors, most notably Molly Moore, Lydia Sturgill, and Katherine Steyn, while sophomore Michelle Malheiro also figures to be a key contributor. The boys will have a bit of a different look after star Tucker Albaugh graduated, but senior Kyle Kuck, junior William Anderson, and sophomore Sagar Nangia lead a group that should be highly competitive in its district. Both of their seasons will begin on Friday, August 30th at Nokesville Park.
Volleyball returns to the court as well, with the girls looking to build upon a 10-13 campaign a season ago that ended strong while the new boys’ squad is set to join them. The girls open their season next Monday at home against Warren County, while the boys will start on the road that same evening at Centreville High School against South County. Their home opener will be two days after that, on Wednesday the 28th against McLean.
Finally, the competitive cheer squad also gears up for another season, though theirs does not start until about a month later with their first competition coming on the 25th of September. We wish them the best of luck, as well as all the rest of our Mustang programs.
