STANDING OUT: Washington athletes earn fall all-conference honors
Published 6:19 pm Friday, January 29, 2016
![MICHAEL PRUNKA | DAILY NEWS FANCY FOOTWORK: Freddy Jimenez makes a quick, simple move to beat a North Johnston defender when the two sides met for a third time in the state playoffs. Jimenez was named the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference Player-of-the-Year.](https://www.thewashingtondailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/01/WEBSPORTS_Washington-athletes-earn-fall-all-conference-honors1.jpg)
MICHAEL PRUNKA | DAILY NEWS
FANCY FOOTWORK: Freddy Jimenez makes a quick, simple move to beat a North Johnston defender when the two sides met for a third time in the state playoffs. Jimenez was named the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference Player-of-the-Year.
Washington’s football team, despite an early exit from the postseason, had a strong campaign that brought home a share of the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference title. But the fall was successful for many other Pam Pack teams.
What it resulted in was 11 all-conference selections between soccer, tennis and volleyball.
The soccer team demolished almost every club in its path en route to a berth in the 2-A state championship. The Pam Pack ran the table in the league with a perfect 10-0 record. The boys were scored on just half a dozen times in those 10 games while the offense poured on 73 goals.
Striker Freddy Jimenez’s offensive contributions earned him conference Player-of-the-Year honors. He was, by far, the league’s most deadly player on attack.
Jimenez didn’t work alone. Midfielders Kyle Hodges, Eric Ruiz and Miguel Hernandez all received conference honors and were a big part in Jimenez’s and the team’s offensive success. Coach Jim Kozuch always stressed midfield performance and building up the play.
Hodges, Ruiz and Hernandez were never shy on attack, either. Hodges established himself as a scoring threat with an airborne ball and Ruiz proved to have a nice finishing touch, too. All three helped Jimenez because opposing defenses were never able to key in on him too much without leaving the others wide open to score.
On the back end, Holt and Ben McKeithan both earned all-conference honors, too. The fraternal defensemen played an important role in limiting the amount of scoring chances that even made it through to goalkeeper Williams Tate. Holt took a great deal of pride in being assigned to the opponent’s top striker and both helped the team hold the entire conference to just six goals against.
The McKeithans also played roles on offense, too. Holt was a scoring threat with his head and Ben oftentimes helped push the play up the field.
Washington’s girls’ tennis had plenty of success in conference this season, too. The girls had a nearly perfect 9-1 record in the league. They stumbled with a 6-0 loss at Beddingfield late in the season, but were dominant otherwise. Danielle Duckwall, Nechelle Everette and Logan Crisp led the way as the team’s top-three singles competitors. Duckwall was 8-6 as the No. 1, Everette finished 6-5 at No. 2 and Crisp went 6-3 at No. 3.
Duckwall and Everette were also a strong No. 1 doubles pairing. They were 6-2.
DAVID CUCCHIARA | DAILY NEWS
TOSSING IT BACK: Sarah Lynch serves the ball back over in an early-season match with Southside. She stood out in a big way during a down season for the Pam Pack.
Sydney Lewis also stood out as a strong option in the middle of the pack. All four girls were all-conference selections.
Volleyball struggled this season. The girls only earned one win in conference, but junior Sarah Lynch was honored for her contributions to the team. Her skill on the court, as well as her leadership, helped Washington rally at the end of the season. The girls wrapped their campaign up with back-to-back games at North Johnston Despite losing both, they took the Panthers to five sets on each occasion.