Top 100: Evan Royster, Football
Westfield head football coach Tom Verbanic knew what he was getting when Evan Royster showed up on the football field during the summer before Royster’s freshman year. Verbanic, who coached Evan’s older brother Brandon for four years from 1996 to 1999, was well aware of the talent that the younger Royster possessed.
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: Scottie Reynolds, Herndon Basketball, 2006
Reynolds led Herndon to regional superiority and broke 13-year McDonald's All-American drought.
Scottie Reynolds is gone now. He has left the Northern Region's gymnasiums behind. They are now only a part of his past — one that is so much more important than all the awards or games he played in.
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: Bhawoh Jue, Football
During a playoff game against Herndon, Dan Meier’s Chantilly team was down 3-0 and Herndon had just taken possession of the ball at it’s own 20-yard line. Speedy Herndon running back Doug Kushin took the handoff and broke through the line of scrimmage. By midfield, Kushin was clear.
Top 100: Mike Imo, Football
Just after Robinson's football team fell to Centreville in the 2000 Northern Region championship, head coach Mark Bendorf sat down next to his star running back in the locker room. Bendorf watched as Mike Imoh looked around the locker room at the forty seniors that had just played their last high school football game — a 16-13 loss.
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: Brandon Snyder, Baseball
As kids his age are enjoying the summer after their first year of college, Brandon Snyder is sitting on a bus preparing to play the Batavia Muckdogs, a single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Top 100: Keith Moody, Herndon, Football, 1986
Moody's passion for both football and basketball took him through three colleges.
Keith Moody's talent put him in a situation that almost destroyed his athletic future and nearly kept him from becoming the first college graduate from his family.
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: Joe Koshansky, Baseball
Joe Koshansky was able to sum up his career as a baseball player at Chantilly High School in just one sentence: "I pitched pretty well and I hit a few home runs." Koshansky, who graduated in 2000, did much more for his team than pitch a few scoreless innings and hit a few over the fence.
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."
Top 100: Bob DeProspero, Robinson Wrestling, 1981
After not making the varsity wrestling team his freshman year of high school, Bob DeProspero, a 1981 Robinson graduate, went on to win all but one match in the remaining three years of his high school career.
Top 100: Eddie Royal, Football, 2003
Westfield was trailing early in the 2003 Group AAA Division 6 state championship game. It was a position that the Bulldogs had not been in very often that season.
Top 100: Jasmine Thomas, Oakton, Basketball, 2007
Only a senior in high school, Thomas is already one of the Northern Region's greatest.
Jasmine Thomas is only a rising senior in high school. The career statistics for Thomas, arguably one of the greatest — if not the greatest — Northern Region girls basketball player, have not been finalized.