Zach Vrhovac’s victory in the 800-meter run paced the Albemarle boys track team to a fourth-place finish at the Group AAA meet.

The Chargers beat Albemarle 10-9 on Saturday in the state quarterfinals on the strength of junior attackman Brendan Waters’ game-winning shot two and 1/2 minutes into overtime.

Enrollment changes will knock several area high schools down to lower divisions for the 2009 and 2010 football seasons.

The Patriots more than made up for last week’s loss with an impressive 20-1 drubbing of the Bruins.

As they had before, Patriots gave the Hilltoppers all they could handle, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough as Glass narrowly prevailed, 5-4.

Anthony Kostelac’s victories in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs gave the Albemarle boys the title at Friday’s Northwest Region track meet.

Albemarle kept its win streak and state title hopes rolling on Friday in the Northwest Region semifinals against Osbourn Park, as the Patriots once again held on in a closely matched game, 7-6.

The Louisa County boys outdoor track team picked up where it left off after winning the Jefferson District title, capturing the Region II crown earlier this week.

The Patriots were unable to complete the comeback, falling to the Vikings, 5-2, in the Northwest Region championship.

Micalah Sacre tossed a one-hitter to lead Orange County to a 1-0 victory over Monticello in the Jefferson District softball final on Thursday.

Loudoun Valley senior Kiersten Pappas held off a challenge from Albemarle sophomore Megan Napolitano to repeat as Northwest Region singles champion.

Albemarle has been no stranger to close games this season, and the trend continued in the Patriots’ biggest game yet.

But behind a gutsy performance by the Albemarle defense and a handful of clutch saves from goalkeeper Austin Sigler, the Patriots were able to slip past the Eagles 6-5 to advance to the championship game.

In a mostly defensive game, the Patriots got back on the winning track after putting together a 5-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to win 7-3.

It certainly wasn’t high-octane lacrosse, but a three-goal surge by Albemarle in the first three minutes of the third quarter was enough to lift the Patriots to a 6-2 victory over Western Albemarle in a cross-county rivalry matchup Monday night.