W-L Athletic Championships - Washington

Quick Stats

District VHSL titles: 229*
Region VHSL titles: 26
State VHSL titles: 30
State titles (Crew): 22
National titles (Crew): 15
International titles (Crew): 2
For VHSL (Virginia High School League) sports, W-L has competed in the Potomac District, Great Falls District, Northern District, National District, and Liberty Conference/District (since 2013).

Athletic Hall of Fame: https://wlathletics.org/main/alumnitr

Baseball

District: 1928, 1931, 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2013
Region: 1972, 1977
State: 1949, 1950

Boys Basketball

District: 1927, 1928, 1934, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2022
Region: 2020 (Region 6D Finalist), 2022 (Region 6D Finalist)
State: 1962, 1963, 1966, 2020 (Class 6 State Quarterfinalist), 2022 (Class 6 State Quarterfinalist)

Cheerleading

District: 2009, 2012, 2013, 2024

Boys Crew

NOVAs / Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships (Varsity 8): 1949, 1950, 1951, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1987, 1989
Stotesbury (Varsity 8): 1949, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971
National Schoolboy / Scholastic Rowing Association of America (Varsity 8): 1949, 1950, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1989
Henley Royal Regatta (Varsity 8): 1964, 1969
Other boys championship boats (over 140-plus from 1949-2019): https://w-lcrewboosters.org/history/champion-boats/

Girls Crew

NOVAs / Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships (Varsity 8): 1979, 1989, 2019
National Schoolboy / Scholastic Rowing Association of America (Varsity 8): 2019 (Second Place)
Other girls championship boats (over 36-plus from 1975-2019): https://w-lcrewboosters.org/history/champion-boats/

Boys Cross Country

District: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1968, 2004, 2006, 2013 (c), 2014 (c)
Region: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1980
State: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1980 (runner up)

Girls Cross Country

District: 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 (d/c), 2018
Region: 2018
State: 2018 (6A State Third Place)

Debate

District: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014 (c), 2017 (d/c), 2018
Region: 2000
State: 1963, 1967, 1968, 1975, 2016 (6A State Third Place)

Field Hockey

District: 2004, 2011, 2013, 2020

Football

District: 1927*, 1928*, 1929*, 1937*, 1939*, 1942***, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1975, 2013, 2023, 2024
State: 1929 (non-VHSL)**, 1956, 1960

Golf

District: 2014, 2024

Boys Gymnastics

District: 1971, 1972, 1985, 1996, 1997, 1999
Region: 1971
State: 1971

Girls Gymnastics

District: 1976, 1983, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2020, 2021
Region: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021
State: 2019 (6A State Third Place)

Ice Hockey (club team)

Capital Scholastic Hockey League: 2019, 2021, 2022

Boys Lacrosse

District: 2010

Girls Lacrosse

District: 2015

Rifle

District / Eastern Conference: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1992, 2018

Boys Soccer

District: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 2006, 2011, 2014 (d/c), 2015, 2017 (d/c), 2022
Region: 1970, 1972, 2016
State: 2016

Girls Soccer

District: 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2010, 2014 (c), 2024

Softball

District: 1976
Region: 2021

Boys Swim and Dive

District: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2012, 2013

Boys Tennis

District: 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013

Girls Tennis

District: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2008
Region: 1977
State: 1977

Boys Indoor Track

District: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1981, 2014, 2022
State: 1943, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1963

Girls Indoor Track

District: 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021
Region: 2020 (Region 6D Finalist)
State: 2020 (Class 6 Third Place)

Boys Outdoor Track

District: 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2022

Girls Outdoor Track

District: 1975, 2013, 2023

Volleyball

District: 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019
Region: 2019
State: 2019 (6A State Semifinalist)

Wrestling

District: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1980, 2018, 2019
Region: 1962
State: 1959

Ultimate Frisbee

Virginia High School State Ultimate Frisbee Tournament (Washington-Lee / Yorktown Joint Girls Team): 2015 champions
The 2019 Boys Team ranked #1 in Virginia and 23rd nationally.
The 2021 Coed Team placed second at States. The 2022 Boys Team is ranked 21st nationally.

Academic State VHSL Champions

eSports: 2020
Film: 2018 (Narrative Category)

Rivalries

Old Oaken Bucket, W-L vs. G.W. (Football), wins: 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941 (tie), 1942, 1943, 1944 (tie), 1945, 1946, 1956 , 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 (tie), 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970; overall record from 1935-1970: 21 wins, 12 losses, 3 ties
W-L/Yorktown Rivalry Game (Football), wins: (Yorktown won the first game of the series in 1961.) 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966 (tie), 1967?, 1970 (the mud-bowl), 1971, 1972?, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978?, 1982, 2010 (playoff win), 2013, 2015, 2016; 2023
The Champions Cup, W-L vs. McLean (Football), wins: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019; 2023 overall record from 2009-2021: 7 wins, 7 losses
“Battle of Arlington” for the Arlington Cup, W-L/Yorktown Rivalry Game (Ice Hockey), wins: 2017, 2019, 2020; 2023; 2024 overall record: 5 wins, 6 losses
Arlington Cup, awarded to the team with the most wins among W-L, Wakefield, Yorktown (Soccer)
Arlington County Cross Country Championship meet with W-L, Wakefield, Yorktown, and O’Connell: a decades’ long tradition at the Bluemont Park 5k course
W-L vs. G.W. (Boys Basketball): 1930s-70s
W-L vs. Yorktown (Boys Basketball): 1960s-2020s
W-L vs. South Lakes (Boys Basketball): In the 1980s, W-L’s Palmer brothers and South Lakes’ Grant Hill battled for Great Falls District basketball supremacy. Most recently in the Liberty District (2010s-20s), W-L and South Lakes faced each other on multiple occasions for the district and regional titles.

Miscellaneous Titles

W-L was named a National Banner Unified Champion School by the Special Olympics: 2020

Notes

*According to the History of W-L, 1924-1939, the late 20s through the 30s were some of the most successful years in W-L sports history. Unfortunately, the list of district and state titles for these early years is incomplete, but it has been based on a list used over the past few decades for the school’s sports championship banners. Other championship teams have recently been added to the list as research progresses. (For example, The 1937 football team won the district according to the Crossed Sabres, but the date is not listed on its championship banner. Similarly the ’27 and ’28 district champion teams are mentioned in the 1930 Blue and Gray, and the 1939 squad was undefeated.)

**The 1929 football team tied Big Stone Gap, and both teams shared the state title. W-L was undefeated against its Virginia opponents, losing only to the Devitt Preparatory School in Forest Hills, DC. The VHSL (Virginia High School League) does not list this title in the Book of Records, as there were multiple contested state title games in the early years of interscholastic football; the VHSL only recognizes the championships that received the most press coverage (source, VHSL).

***The entire starting lineup of the 1942 varsity football team made the All Northern Virginia Team. While W-L’s 1939 and 1942 teams were undefeated, W-L’s first uncontested VHSL state championship was in 1956. Wayne Ballard’s 42 yard field goal ended a stalemate, securing a thrilling Thanksgiving Day victory over arch rival G.W. and the school’s first uncontested VHSL state football title. The game made national news. (Undefeated Norview High School in Norfolk played an easier schedule and thus the VHSL’s rating system favored W-L for the state title.)