On Friday, April 27th, the 5th Annual MaxPreps Girls' Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard visited northern Virginia to celebrate the Oakton High School Cougars' championship season. The Cougars completed a perfect 31-0 season to capture their 1st state championship in school history. To cap off this outstanding season, the Cougars finished No. 31 in the MaxPreps Freeman rankings out of 20,000 girl's team nationwide!
The Tour arrived on campus at Oakton High School and was greeted by Assistant Coach Christa Jay. Coach Jay showed us around the very large school and explained how excited the school and team were to be receiving this national honor. The time for the trophy presentation was rapidly approaching and students, faculty, and staff all started to flood into the Oakton gymnasium. It quickly became apparent how proud Oakton High School was of their girl's basketball team because the gym was at capacity with standing room only! The Oakton gym was rocking with excitement for the trophy presentation with students doing ‘the wave' around the gym in anticipation. Oakton Athletics Director Pat Full began the ceremony by introducing MaxPreps representative Kevin Lynch. Kevin addressed the crowd and informed them on how the Freeman rankings work, and how special of a season the Cougars had just completed earning their 1st ever state championship in school history. Kevin then introduced Virginia Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Kenneth Castro. SSG Castro spoke on how he had a chance to bond with the team before the trophy ceremony. He explained it was apparent that the Oakton girl's basketball team was a team full of character and determination. The team persevered and displayed hard work throughout their season, culminating with a state title victory over their arch nemesis, Princess Anne High School. SSG Castro then called up veteran Head Coach Fred Priester and proudly presented him with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy and a championship rafter banner. With Coach Priester sporting his commemorative Tour of Champions t-shirt, he gladly accepted this prestigious award and then thanked MaxPreps and the Army National Guard for honoring his team. Coach Priester also thanked the school and community for their devoted support of the team throughout the year and throughout the playoffs.
After the trophy presentation, the Oakton girl's basketball team posed for photos and offered interviews in their new Tour of Champions t-shirts. All the Oakton player's parents were very proud of their children and were ecstatic to share in the honor and take photos with the beautiful "Minuteman" trophy. Oakton High School is a perfect example of great team character that was built through outstanding leadership from their coaches and strong community support. Congratulations to the Oakton Cougars and we hope to see you on next year's tour!
