Falls Church School Board lauds Meridian’s state-champion golf squad

Members of the state-champion Meridian High School varsity golf team were honored Dec. 10 by the Falls Church School Board.

“That’s an impressive achievement — we’re really proud,” School Board Chairman Tate Gould said in reaction to the team’s Virginia High School League Class 3 state crown, achieved during competition on the Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg.

It was the golf team’s first-ever state championship and represented an “amazing run,” Superintendent Peter Noonan said.

On hand at the Dec. 10 salute were the six Meridian players who competed in the state tournament: Noah Peng, Henry Brown, Alex Way, Atticus Kim, Charles Griffith and Drew Fishel.

“These guys just really came through,” coach Tim Sample told School Board members. “They really brought it together.”

The state crown came after what Sample termed an “interesting” beginning to the season. He had been hired as coach three weeks before the start of the season, and there hadn’t been practices or tryouts.

“We turned that around really quickly,” Sample said, thanking then-Meridian athletic director Brian Parke for his support.

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.