HS: Spring state, region rankings, June 15

by Sheldon Shealer

June 15, 2015

Northern Virginia's large-school girls soccer state dominance rolls on, but there's a slight shift westward in the balance of power.

No longer are schools from the Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax area -- which border D.C. -- bringing home the hardware. It's their fellow Northern Virginia rivals from the more western suburbs of Loudoun County and Prince William that have emerged as state powers.

For the second straight year, since the Virginia High School League went to a six-class format, schools from Loudoun and Prince William counties swept the Class 4A, 5A and 6A titles. Battlefield (Haymarket, Va.) repeated as Class 6A state champions. Loudoun County (Leesburg, Va.) completed an undefeated season with the 4A crown and Broad Run (Ashburn, Va.) avenged its only loss in a Class 5A state final victory. Both the Class 5A and 4A state finals were all-Loudoun County affairs.

Over the past eight seasons, eight schools from Loudoun and Prince William counties have combined for 13 state titles and nine runner-up finishes in the larger school brackets (i.e. 6A, 5A, 4A in the current format; Group AAA, Group AA in the previous format.). The rest of the state has combined for five state titles during those years in those classifications. Virginia debuted a state tournament in 1984, and in the 32 years since, teams from Northern Virginia have claimed 29 of the 32 large-school titles (Group AAA, 1984-2013 and Class 6A, 2014-2015).

Elsewhere around the country last week, the girls at Saline (Saline, Mich.) completed an undefeated season to capture the Michigan Division I state title and the state's overall No. 1 ranking. Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa) won the large-school state title to earn the top billing in Iowa.

In boys soccer, Langley (McLean, Va.) and George Mason (Falls Church, Va.) added to Northern Virginia's boys soccer state title count, bringing home crowns that lead to a 1-2 finish in the state rankings. Meanwhile, Jamestown (Williamsburg, Va.), loaded with Virginia Legacy club players, claimed its second state title in four seasons to settle in at No. 3 in Virginia.

See the entire SPRING high school region and state rankings:

SPRING REGION RANKINGS: BOYS (June 15) | GIRLS (June 15)

SPRING STATE RANKINGS: BOYS (June 15) | GIRLS (June 15)