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Top 100: Bob Brower, Madison Everything, 1978
All-region selection in four sports, Brower remains legendary at Madison.
Bob Brower, a 1978 graduate and the only athlete ever to letter in four sports in one year at James Madison High School, is one of those legendary figures. The type of figure whose name has grown in local sports lore.
Top 100: Eric Sievers, Washington-Lee, Football, 1976
Generals tight end Starred at Maryland before flying `Air Coryell' in San Diego.
Think about some of the greatest NFL offenses of all time — the Cleveland Browns of the 1950's under QB Otto Graham; the 1983-84 Redskins who eclipsed the all-time mark for most points scored in a season; the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams of a few years ago who moved the football and scored seemingly at will.
Top 100: Wes Suter, South Lakes Gymnastics, 1982
Former Olympian was a pioneer in men's gymnastics, won 15 state titles.
Wes Suter, a 1981 graduate of South Lakes High School and 1988 Olympic gymnast, was so competitive that his physical education teachers had a game that they played with him — one in which he was an unwilling participant.
Top 100: Pat Toomay, Edison, Football, 1966
Although he considered himself a basketball player in high school, Pat Toomay went on to have an amazing NFL career. He was a Super Bowl champion with Dallas, a member of a winless team with Tampa Bay and was coached by John Madden while in Oakland.
Top 100: Pete Schourek, Marshall, Baseball, 1987
Schourek catapulted Marshall to baseball success in mid-80's before 11-year MLB career.
Pete Schourek gained national notoriety in 1995 when he finished second to Major League Baseball pitching sensation Greg Maddux in the race for the National League Cy Young Award — awarded to baseball's top pitchers each year. Schourek nailed down 18 wins that season and picked up the Game 1 victory for the Cincinnati Reds in their eventual five-game series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
Top 100: Rickey Harris, Centreville, Track and Field
When Centreville’s Rickey Harris was entered in a race, it was almost a foregone conclusion that he was going to win. "You almost got to the point where you didn’t watch him that much because you knew that he was going to win," said Centreville track coach Roy Ferri.
Top 100: Reggie Harrison, Washington-Lee, Football, 1969
Former Generals star had huge punt block in Super Bowl X.
Reggie Harrison found football fame as both a collegiate and a professional NFL running back. But he found his true love for the game as a high school standout at Washington-Lee in Arlington.
Top 100: Jay Franklin, Madison, Baseball, 1971
Northern Region's highest MLB draft pick continues 20-year battle with mental illness.
Each time that Jay Franklin takes a sip of his soda, he unwillingly flashes the scar on the bottom of his right arm. It’s a reminder to his mother, Pat, and sister, Trudy — sitting just feet away and listening to him tell his story — of just how bad things have gotten.
Top 100: Eric Dorsey, McLean Football, 1982
Man among boys: Dorsey went from quiet kid to two-time Super Bowl champion.
What most people who knew Eric Dorsey before he went on to stardom with Notre Dame and the New York Football Giants would remember is his quiet demeanor, which was in sharp contrast to his fear-injecting football ability.
Top 100: Barry Johnson, Herndon, Football, Basketball, Soccer, 1986
Unforgettable Johnson is still the name Herndon fans remember the most.
The frigid cup of coffee sitting in front of Barry Johnson is evidence of how forgetful he is. Johnson, arguably the greatest athlete in the history of Herndon High School, strolls down memory lane, telling stories of his high school, college and National Football League careers for nearly an hour before realizing that, not only has he not tasted the cup of joe sitting in front of him, he hasn't even dashed it with any cream or sugar.
Top 100: Sharif Karie, West Springfield, Track, 1997
Running away from a war zone in Somalia to running to titles in the U.S.
Twelve individual state titles, three team titles and two relay titles start to explain just how good of a runner Sharif Karie was. Add to that the fact that he didn't spend his entire high school career in Virginia, and he gets a little better.
Top 100: Meghan McCarthy, Robinson, Track, 1992
The stud from Robinson set the state record for individual state titles won.
Winning five state titles in one year is beyond a dream come true for any athlete. For Meghan McCarthy, a 1992 Robinson graduate, it happened in her freshman year of high school.
Top 100: Damone Boone, West Springfield, Football, 1996
The Spartan rushed to many records.
"He is as good as they come." -- Lake Braddock Coach Francis Dall.
Top 100: Eugene Chung, Oakton, Football, 1987
Chung led Oakton football's defense and helped turn a winless Cougar program into a 9-1 regional powerhouse.
Eugene Chung was just a kid lost among the big names at Oakton High School in the late 1980's. Chung, who suffered through one of the worst losing streaks of that decade while the Cougars failed to win a game in the 1985 and 1986 football seasons, was a quiet lineman who drew no joy from grabbing headlines or even talking amongst his teammates.
Top 100: Earl Lloyd, Parker Gray, Basketball, 1946
Alexandria's Lloyd is the `Jackie Robinson' of the National Basketball Association.
Many people probably do not even recognize the name Earl Lloyd. But unlike the well-recognized Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Lloyd never became a household name.
Top 100: Keith Lyle, Marshall Football, 1990
Keith Lyle spent nine years in the National Football League, most of them for the St. Louis Rams during the late 90's, as a free safety. But Lyle, remembered in the Northern Region by those that coached against him as incredibly fast, was an impressive high school quarterback before heading to the University of Virginia.
Top 100: Scott Secules, Football
Scott Secules grew up around football. He would go and watch practice while his father, Tom, was an assistant coach at Annandale High School. He would throw the ball around with the players and coaches.
Top 100: Tiombe' Hurd, West Potomac, Track, 1992
Former Wolverine star made U.S. Olympic squad on third try in 2004.
West Potomac High track and field star Tiombe' Hurd had to be talked into trying out for the Wolverines' squad as a sophomore. "She did not come out as a freshmen," said former West Potomac High head track coach Don Beeby, in a 2004 story on the former Olympian.
Top 100: Cathron Birge, Track, Lake Braddock 1986
Teammate in an individual sport.
When the Lake Braddock girls track team won the Northern Region Championship in 1986, the lone senior was out with a mono diagnosis. Many wondered if Cathron Birge would be able to run in the following week's state championship.
Top 100: Bryant Johnson, Herndon Football, 1986
Barry Johnson, arguably Herndon High School's greatest athlete, remembers a newspaper article that tore him up inside. He doesn't remember the specifics, but he remembers reading the words as something to the effect of "There is only one Johnson at Herndon High School."