2016 was a busy year for Albemarle. Everyone said that 2016 was not a good year, but a lot of things happened at our school. Here’s a month-by-month breakdown of everything that happened this past year.

January
Girls’ swimming won the Ben Hair title
Boys’ swimming won the Ben Hair title

February
Boys’ varsity basketball won Conference championship
Boys’ and girls’ swimming both earned 3rd in the 5A state championship

Graduated senior Nick Pease enters the water for his backstroke event at FUMA. He broke the pool record by nearly two seconds.

March
Boys’ varsity basketball made it State semifinals
AHS Jazz Ensemble earned 1st in Combo Division at the Annual Jazz Festival
Patriot Singers received a perfect score at the District Assessment
Forensics team won second in the Regional Trophy
April
Math Team won 1st in the Virginia Mathematics League
Hairspray production

The basketball team celebrates after their quarterfinal win against Hampton in States at ODU on March 4. 2016 was the first time in school history that the basketball team has gone to States.

May
Destination Imagination team earned 22nd place in Globals. Members included seniors Ayoade Balogun, Sophie Henny, Kiernan Dimeglio, Maggie Matthews, Rachel Park, and Elly Haden and sophomore Katy Haden.
“Last year our team did really well. I’ve been to Globals six times and every year it grows, so it’s just a great experience,” Katy Haden said.
Crew rowing earned four first places and one second place at States

Graduated senior Will Banner, seniors John Wray and Clark Benham, and graduated senior Graham Haynie hold the State cup on May 14. Their quad won States in 2016.

June
Boys’ varsity soccer won States
“Several people on our team didn’t even speak English, so the fact that we could all come together to achieve a common goal was just awesome,” junior Andrew Weber said.
Girls varsity soccer competed in State semifinals

July

The pod is being constructed in the bus lot. Over the summer, the English teachers moved their classrooms into the building just off of the gym. 

August

School starts, pod opens

September
Sophomore Josh Robinson attended a White House forum to share his experiences with TEAM 19 program.
Two AHS films were screened at the Vinegar Hill Theater as part of the National Endowment for the Humanities Film Festival. Senior Sarah Luria and juniors Lily Casteen and Nick Buck produced the film “Live and In Color” and juniors Elizabeth Nolan and Jacob Hoenig produced “The World on One Pitch”.

Sophomore Josh Robinson presented at the White House on Sept. 12 about TEAM 19. TEAM 19 is a class made up of 65 students who are graduating in 2019 where they can learn all four core subjects in the same classroom. 

October
Lantern Literary/Art Magazine achieved Gold from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for 2016
Varsity field hockey won conference championships
Girls’ varsity cross country won AHS Invitational
Varsity field hockey finishes in Region quarterfinals
Seniors won Homecoming Spirit Week

Senior Katherine Mayo dribbles up the field against Orange County on Oct. 24 in the Conference semifinals. The team won 2-0 to advance to the championship game. 

November
Seniors won the Powderpuff tournament
Varsity football got to second round of playoffs
Girls’ varsity cross country finished 3rd in States
Boys’ varsity cross country finished 6th in States
Varsity volleyball makes it to Regional quarterfinals
“Everyone really wanted to push each other to be better, so that helped our whole team to be better because everyone wanted to help each other all season,” junior Jessica Kostelac said.
Little Women production
Seniors Austin Katstra & Katherine Mayo were state finalists for the High School Heisman
Seniors Diana Harley and Sammy Major won Best Actor awards at VTA
AHS String Trio performed at the Student Achievement Fair

December
Boys’ varsity basketball won the Daily Progress Holiday Tournament
Girls’ varsity basketball got second in the Daily Progress Holiday Tournament