List of 5 news stories.

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  This Week in Sports - Week #37

  5/21/2025

  3200 Meter Title Highlights Badger Success at Virginia State Championships!

  When I first met Hayes back in Mid-July, he told me about how different the team felt this season. "We graduated a senior who was our top runner last year- and he was a great leader, so somebody will have to step up." Somebody has. Hayes has organized runs on the weekends, and throughout the depths of winter, and pushed his teammates to be at their best in practice each and everyday.  He set an exceptional standard - with both speed and savvy - and has taken advantage of every opportunity to run, compete and elevate this team.

   

  Coming from behind with 300 meters to go, Hayes won the Tandem Two Mile on his home course back in August. He won the GPAC Cross Country Championship at Darden Towe. A few months later, he broke the tape as the individual VISAA Cross Country State Champion at Panorama Farms! Today, six months later, Hayes added to his long list of accomplishments by winning the 3200 Meter Race at the VISAA State Championships at VCU, thus cementing his place as the Virginia State Champion in BOTH Cross Country and Track and Field!
  
  Hayes faced significant adversity this season. After running a school record 9:43 in the 3200 Meters at Gus Lacy back in March, Hayes had to navigate a tricky injury. He altered his training - riding the bike - and enthusiastically supported his teammates while he did not compete in a few midseason meets. He recovered and was ready to dominate at Dogwood - and the race got cancelled due to weather. Hayes continued to focus on his training, preparing for today.

   

  The race went out slower than expected, and Hayes took advantage. He positioned himself towards the front, forced his competition to break the wind, and bided his time before making a move. After hitting the mile mark in 5:04, just one second behind his teammate and training partner Jack Blemker, Hayes turned it up a notch. He opened his stride, but the relaxed expression on his face remained the same. With two laps to go, Hayes moved to the front, increasing his pace steadily, each lap faster than the last. His closest challenger put in a spurt of his own - but it was futile - Hayes ran his second mile in 4:53 - a negative split for the ages!  Finishing in 9:57, Hayes claimed his second VISAA State Title of the year - while Jack Blemker (10:06) earned third place overall and a bronze medal!  A beautiful sight to see: two Tandem Badgers on the podium in the 3200! 

   

  Despite the brutal heat, Tandem enjoyed great success in the VISAA State Championships. The action began when Jack Blemker toed the line in the 4x800 relay -  taking on a talented heat of middle distance runners, and kicking it off with a 2:09! Jack Johnson took the baton next, wrapping up his exceptional season with two competitive laps that kept Tandem right in the mix! Peter ran the third leg, moving up and passing opposing runners with tenacity and found another gear! Miles brought it home - running the first of his three races today (he also ran the 4x400 and a 4:56 mile) - and Tandem finished in a strong time of 9:16! 

   

  Moments later, Aiden took his position at the start of the 4x100 meters! Throughout the season, Aiden has demonstrated excellent running form - and perfected each of our drills. It paid off today. With strong technique, he wrapped up a brilliant career and had a textbook start out of the blocks. Gabriel took the baton off the curve, blitzing down the backstretch and passing the baton to Nari at full speed. Wrapping up an excellent season for our sprinters, Nari was elite - setting up Ian to log another strong anchor leg - as Tandem finished with a strong time of 48.94! 

   

  Asher and Gabriel continued their incredible success in the open 400 - Asher improved his PR by a full second!  His time of 54.4 is blazing fast - earning him a top ten state finish. Gabriel ran 55.1, competing with limited rest after his speedy leg of the 4x100, and delivering yet another strong performance. There was no rest for the weary: the magic continued for our epic 400 meter duo in the 4x400 meter relay! Miles got the ball rolling with an aggressive 55 second leg. He got the baton to Hayes who was fresh off the 3200 (and an incredible 4:30 mile!). Despite that, he still passed six runners before getting the baton to Asher - who maintained Tandem's position on the backstretch - running an exceptional 400! Gabriel closed out the race with a beautiful anchor leg, flying by his competition at the line and finishing in 3:43, giving the Badgers a 6th place finish.

   

  In the fall, Lucy decided to change her distance running mindset and become a risk taker! Today, she led an epic 3200 meter Badger trio, working closely with Claire and Eloise. Taking on the best Virginia has to offer, Lucy matched every single move her competition made. She ran the first lap in 1:35, and the second lap was even faster - in large part because she took a risk - maintaining contact with the runners in front of her. Lucy hit the mile in 6:50, and with confidence, she continued to pick up the pace as she challenged her competition. What did her teammates do?  They stayed right on her tail! Lucy finished the race in 14:00 flat - as did Claire (who had an epic last 200 meter kick!) and Eloise came through in 14:01! What an amazing season for Tandem's Distance trio - they have trained so hard together!

   

  Gabriel's 4x400 meter anchor leg capped off a truly special Varsity Track and Field season for Tandem. This team had over 50 athletes! New school records were established in the Boys 400, Boys and Girls Discus, Boys 3200 and Boys 1600! All of our athletes earned consistent PR's (personal records) in the sprints, jumps, throws, hurdles, relays and distance events! We had an immeasurable amount of fun! And of course, Hayes represented Tandem with the 3200 Title at VISAA State Championships!

   

  Congratulations to all of our Tandem Track and Field Varsity Badgers!  It was such an absolute joy to work with this team. I know I speak for fellow coaches Jason, Ned and Melissa when I say just how incredibly proud I am of all we have accomplished this season.  This team worked so hard - always taking on one more interval when they believed they had reached their limit - achieved so much - and had so much fun!

   

  There are so many people to thank! Thank you to Captains Owen and Claire for setting the tone with your strong leadership! Thank you to fellow Track and Field Coaches Jason, Ned and Melissa - I have enjoyed every moment of running down the dream with you. I am grateful for all of your hard work - track and field meets are long - and exhausting - and often far away... and we gave it our all for so many hours - on weekends - and in all different types of weather conditions! Thank you to all of the families for your support - travelling far and wide to cheer on the Tandem Badgers, and providing snacks to fuel our athletes. Thanks to Todd for getting the buses ready to roll, to Roger, Solomon and Travis for preparing our facilities, to Jessica and Renee for their medical expertise and to all of our teachers for their flexibility when the team departs early. And of course, thanks to our athletes for working hard and making it fun!

   

  Congratulations on an exceptional year of hard competition, Tandem. You better Badger Up, because we're just getting started. I can't wait to run it back.
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  College Signing for Tandem Senior

  5/16/2025
  We were proud to celebrate Tandem senior Emma P this week as she signed to play soccer for Bryn Mawr College (NCAA Division III) in Bryn Mawr, PA. Emma's strong midfield presence has been a strength of Tandem soccer teams during all eight of Emma's years playing on our teams. The Bryn Mawr Owls are lucky to be getting Emma as a player! The signing took place in the Community Hall, and Emma's teammates, coaches, family and lots of faculty and students were on hand to witness her big moment.
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  This Week in Sports - Week #36

  5/16/2025
  Middle School Track Badgers Break the Tape at the Ragged Mountain Championships!
  It's been eight weeks since he took the line for the first time in the 400 meters, and throughout the duration in between, Grayson has worked diligently on his knee drive, efficiency and stride turnover. This afternoon, Grayson took on the toughest competition Central Virginia has to offer. The meet featured nearly thirty teams and a large crowd at a big time venue - the University of Virginia. When the gun sounded, Grayson's reaction time was elite - he immediately began to cut in towards lane one. Once he settled into position, there were 15 athletes chasing him down - and only one ahead of him. As he made his way around the 200 meter mark, Grayson's stride length increased as he made an aggressive move - blitzing around his last remaining opponent and taking the lead. With a chorus of Tandem families and friends cheering his name, Grayson broke the tape - taking home victory in his heat of the 400 meters - and a three second Personal Record!

   

  The Tandem 8th Graders have had the luxury of training with, and competing against, more experienced athletes. They have pushed themselves for three months - finding another gear during interval workouts, long runs, or core body strengthening. Today, for the first time this season, they got to take on their age group peers - and proved to be up to the task - dashing past middle school competition from all over Central Virginia.

   

  This wonderful group of 8th Graders has established great routines - ranging from their sing-alongs on the bus ride (and they were HOT-TO-GO on the track today) to their focus during the warm up. As a result, when the meet began, our Badgers were locked in, focused and ready - a balance of nervous and confident - and it was impressive to watch!
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  The Long View: The Rise of Tandem XC Issue 3

  5/9/2025
  Emma Johnson
  Part 4: A Meet at Home
  
  

  It’s a beautiful day for cross country and this race is like few others: Tandem’s first home cross country meet. It’s been a dream of Jason’s for years, to be able to host something on campus. There are only two schools competing, Tandem and St. Anne’s Belfield. The course comprises five loops around the athletic fields, up the hill to the Field House and back down again, swerving through bird houses. It’s not an ideal course. It’s hard to keep track of the number of laps, both when you’re racing and exhausted, and for those managing the meet, trying to track who has another lap to go and who to direct toward the finish line. Still the energy feels jubilant and positive. The boys have their spikes on and shiny sunglasses so you can’t see their eyes.

  Hayes runs his race smart, sticking with the front runner, pacing all the way. At the final downhill of the last lap he kicks ahead. I look to Jason’s face and see fierce joy. “Yes!” he cries as he pumps his fist.
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  This Week in Sports - Week #35

  5/9/2025
  Dave Levy, Athletic Director
  This week marked the end of the season for Varsity Girls Soccer. They finished the season with three one-goal victories and a whole lot of fun. Their final home game was a 4-0 win against Wakefield Country Day. Next week, Ultimate Frisbee will have their final contest and Varsity Track & Field will compete at the VISAA State meet. Check out some photos from the UVA Dogwood Invitational Meet last weekend (which got truncated by rain) by clicking on the headline.