By Brian Hoffman
An outstanding year of athletic accomplishments has earned Glenvar High School its second ever National Guard Cup from the Virginia High School League.
The Cup, which was formerly known as the Central Fidelity Cup, the Wachovia Cup and the Wells Fargo Cup honors all around excellence in a school’s athletic program, and the Highlanders came out on top in Class 2 this year.
First awarded in 1990, the Cup represents 33 seasons of excellence, with six Cups awarded for academic activities and athletics in each of the VHSL’s six enrollment classifications. A point system determines the winners based on overall performance in VHSL state championship competitions. Points are awarded on the following basis: first place, 50; second place, 45; third place, 40; fourth place, 35; fifth place, 30; sixth place, 25; seventh place, 20; and eighth place, 15. In a tie, the schools receive an equal number of points based on the number of schools that tie and the number of schools that finish higher in the standings. For example, semifinal losers split third and fourth place points (37.5 points each). Schools earning the League’s Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award earn 50 points each.
Glenvar finished with 422.5 total points over the combined fall, winter and spring sports seasons. Bruton High of Williamsburg, VA was second with 377.5 points and Three Rivers District rival Radford was third with 317.5. Glenvar’s accomplishment was even more impressive considering the Highlanders compete in a very tough Three Rivers District, which had four district members finish in the top 10. Floyd County was seventh and Alleghany was 10th.
Glenvar scored 72.5 points in the fall season, fueled by a state championship in volleyball. The Highlanders had 115 points in the winter, highlighted by a girls’ indoor track championship, but at that point they trailed Bruton by 75 points.
The spring season is what put the Highlanders over the top. Glenvar won state Class 2 championships in girls’ outdoor track, girls’ tennis and girls’ soccer while the boys’ soccer team was state runner-up. The Highlanders outscored Bruton 235 to 115 in the spring to blow by the Panthers and win the cup by 45 points.
This year marks the first time since 1994 that Glenvar has won the prestigious VHSL award. At that time there were just three classifications instead of six, and Glenvar was in Group A, the smallest of three. In 2014 the VHSL went to six classifications in all sports and the Highlanders are in Class 2, with Class 6 being the largest schools in the state and Class 1 being the smallest. There are 50 schools in Class 2 and 39 scored points during the 2021-22 school year.
Salem High is in Class 4 and the Spartans finished 14th among 50 schools. The Spartans scored 57.5 points in the fall, 20 in the winter and 85 in the spring for a total of 162.5. The winner in Class 4 was Western Albemarle with 567.5 points, the fourth straight Cup for the Warriors and seventh overall. Blacksburg, a River Ridge District rival of Salem, was second with 357.5.
In other classifications Auburn won for the fourth straight time and the fifth time in six years in Class 1, with no Cups awarded in 2019-20 due to COVID-19. In Class 3 Maggie Walked claimed its seventh Cup overall after winning six in a row in Class 2 from 2014-19. Deep Run won its fourth Cup since 2017 in Class 5 and Battlefield High won for the first time in Class 6.
This is the first year the Virginia Army National Guard is sponsoring the trophy. The Virginia Army National Guard has been serving the Virginia communities since 1607. To learn more about the Virginia Army National Guard, visit https://nationalguard.com/select-your-state/VA.