Morris “Mo” Levin

Morris “Mo” Levin played high school basketball in Asbury Park, New Jersey. As a high school junior he played on the JV's fifth team. Mo became a successful basketball player through determination and because of a freak accident that occurred during a baseball game while a junior in high school - a thrown ball shattered his glasses, implanting shards of the glass lens into his right eye, leaving him without sight in that eye. Mo bad been an outstanding baseball player but following the accident, he concentrated all his athletic efforts on basketball. Through sheer determination and hard work, he became first-team varsity starting center in his senior year.

Following graduation in 1947, Mo moved to Arlington. He soon became involved in the county basketball league and in 1948 and 1949 was a player/coach for teams sponsored by the South Arlington Lions. In 1950, he entered the University of Maryland and played basketball for four years, three years on the varsity team (1951-1954), becoming starting center his senior year. Mo received his degree from Maryland in January of 1955 and soon thereafter became a social studies teacher and assistant to head basketball coach, Ralph (Pop) Guinther, at Washington-Lee. The 1955 W-L team turned in a 23-3 record, won the Northern District and finished runner-up in the state.

In 1956, Mo became the head coach. During his seventeen year head coaching career at W-L, his teams won 219 games, four district titles (1960, 1962-63 and 1964) and three state championships (1962, 1963 and 1966). Mo was the recipient of the Better Sports Club Coach of the Year Award in 1962, the Royal Crown Cola Coach of the Year Award in 1966, and the Coach and Athlete Magazine Coach of the Year Award in 1966.

John E. "Mac" McLaughlin was born in Youngstown, Ohio. Mac was a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. His first involvement with soccer came in the mid-50s when, as a Marine, he participated on an All-Service soccer team that traveled around the Mediterranean and southern Europe pitting American military teams against local teams.

As a Marine, Mac participated in combat actions is Korea, Lebanon and Vietnam. He and his wife, Jackie, settled in Arlington in 1958. His first involvement with Arlington soccer came in 1973 when he coached an under-14 girls team for the Arledge Soccer Club. In 1975, Mac became vice president of the fledgling Arlington Soccer Association (ASA). The following year he was elected president of the ASA. In 1977, with the growth in the number of players and teams, the ASA Board of Directors selected Mac to work full time to manage the activities of the association as Executive Director, a position he held for the following 33 years.

In this position, Mac worked with the 12 member clubs to register players and create teams as well as allocate practice space and develop game schedules for the member clubs. He not only arranged to schedule referees from a local referee association but also trained youth referees from players in the ASA. Mac handled all of the ASA finances, including collecting player fees and, in turn, paying referees.

As the ASA progressed, more skilled soccer players were placed on "travel" teams that played against teams from other jurisdictions. Since the travel leagues dealt only with their member clubs, Mac assumed the responsibility for the Arlington travel teams. This led to an annual Thanksgiving tournament (1980-1988) between the ASA and the travel teams, which was coordinated by Mac.

From 1977-2010, nothing happened in youth soccer in Arlington without Mac playing a vital part. From its small beginnings in the early 1970s with 24 teams and 500 players, youth soccer in Arlington grew to nearly 400 teams and almost 6,000 players by 2010. His service to youth soccer was recognized by his induction into the Arlington Soccer Association Hall of Fame and his receipt of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association's Exemplary Service Award. The Better Sports Club named him Sportsman of the Year in 2009.

Mac McLaughlin passed away in 2015 at the age of 84.
 

Tim Mengering was born in West Virginia and grew up in Arlington, where he graduated from Washington-Lee. He went on to graduate from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio and did post-graduate work in child development, physical education, athletic training and secondary education at the University of Virginia, William & Mary, Virginia Tech and Shenandoah University.

In 1971, Tim began his 32-year career as a physical education teacher in the Arlington County public school system. Tim worked at several elementary schools including Nellie Custis, Oakridge, Jamestown, Long Branch and Hoffman-Boston.

Tim has served as a Virginia State Board Member for the USA Gymnastics organization, which is the national governing body for virtually all aspects of the sport including the Junior Olympics program for women's gymnastics. Tim is also a Certified USA Gymnastics Meet Director. In the mid-1970s, Tim and fellow P.E. teacher, Steve Garman, began incorporating gymnastics instruction into the after-school recreation programs at the elementary schools where they taught. They soon realized that there was sufficient local talent and interest in gymnastics to create a competitive team. In 1979, Tim and Steve established the Arlington Aerials, which then consisted of approximately 20 gymnasts. The new team became one of only two women's gymnastics teams in Arlington participating in the rigorous Junior Olympic program.

After several years at Gunston, the program expanded to such a degree that a larger facility was needed for Arlington's competitive and recreational gymnasts. In 2000, the Arlington Aerials moved into the Barcroft Sports & Fitness Center, a 28,500 square-foot county athletic complex on Four Run Mile Drive.

The Arlington Aerials competitive team has grown to over 150 gymnasts from the 20 that originally started the program. There are currently more than 1,500 local residents enrolled in the recreational gymnastics program that Tim and Steve initiated, and is now run by the Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources.

There are approximately 65 gymnastics clubs throughout Virginia that are eligible to compete at the state Junior Olympic championships. Over a seven-year period, the Arlington Aerials captured a total of 579 Virginia state medals and 29 regional medals. This is a testament to the effort and expertise put forth by Tim Mengering for so many years.

Wayne Millner played seven seasons (1936-1941 & 1945) for the Washington Redskins, where he was named All-Pro and caught two touchdown passes from Sammy Baugh as the franchise won its first NFL Championship in 1937, defeating Chicago Bears 28-21.

Millner was a resident of Arlington during his playing days with the Redskins. During his NFL career, he caught 124 passes for 1,578 yards and 12 touchdowns, the best ever for a Redskin up to that time. While playing in the NFL, he was assistant coach at Catholic University, helping them to the 1940 Sun Bowl. Later, he returned to the Redskins as a scout. 

He is a member of the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame and the NFL All-Decade Team of the 30s. He was a consensus All-American at Notre Dame, and was later selected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He entered the Navy after the 1941 season, missing three seasons of play in the NFL to serve during World War II. 

In 1968, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He died while living in Arlington in 1976.

Bill Murray is a lifetime resident of Arlington. He played Little League baseball for  Stewart Buick, coached by the legendary Bert Whittington. At Kenmore Junior High,  he played football, basketball, wrestled and competed in sprints and long jump for  the track team. At Washington-Lee High School, Bill was the starting shortstop for the  baseball team as a junior and senior, winning the Northern District championship both  years. His junior year team defeated Bishop O’Connell High School, ending its 42-game  winning streak, a national high school record at that time. Playing football at W-L, Bill  was a starting running back and linebacker. He was captain of the team his senior year  and was an All-District running back. That year he won the Al Harringer Award as the  school’s Athlete of the Year. He was inducted into W-L’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.  

Bill went on to play football at Randolph-Macon College, where he started at running back for three years.  His junior year the team went undefeated, and remains the only undefeated team in the school’s history.  In his senior year, Randolph-Macon was declared the NCAA Small College Co-National Champion. Both  of those teams have been inducted into the Randolph-Macon Athletic Hall of Fame.  

In addition to his athletic achievements, Bill has been a major contributor to Arlington sports. He has  coached youth baseball and currently serves on the Board of the Arlington Senior Babe Ruth League.  He has also served as Chairman of the Arlington Sports Commission, the body that advises the County  Board on sports issues. In 2009, Bill co-founded the Arlington Sports Foundation, whose purpose is to  seek funds for the construction/renovation of athletic facilities. He has also served on the Board of the  Arlington Sports Hall of Fame and is currently President of the Better Sports Club of Arlington. 

Del Norwood coached junior varsity baseball at Washington-Lee in 1957 and 1958 with a record of 31-5. He coached varsity baseball from 1959-1987 with a record of 384-180. His teams won Districts 19 times and Regionals 14 times. Although for more than half of his career, Virginia did not recognize state champions in baseball, Norwood's teams achieved state runner-up status twice. He is the most successful baseball coach in the program's history.

Norwood also coached varsity soccer, starting the program in 1964, with five years of winter soccer before moving the team to the fall for another seventeen years winning over 300 games. Other involvements in athletics at Washington-Lee include starting the varsity rifle team in 1960, coaching JV boys basketball for two years in 1972 and 1973, restarting the girls varsity basketball program in 1974, coaching for fifteen years and coaching the boys and girls varsity cross-country teams from 1985-1987. He was also official boys varsity basketball timer from 1965-1985 and wrestling timer over the same period. Perhaps Norwood's greatest contribution to Washington-Lee was his dedication. A coach and a teacher for over 32 years, until his retirement in January of 1988, Norwood never missed a single day of school when students were present.

Del Norwood was born in Rockland, Maine. He graduated from Gould Academy in Bethel, in 1946. While at Gould, he earned varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1950, lettering in basketball and baseball, and earned his Master’s Degree from George Washington University in 1966.

Norwood signed a professional baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1950. His five-year minor league record was 46-34. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1952-1954. Del managed professionally in the Appalachian Rookie League for the Minnesota Twins from 1960-1963, winning the league twice and finishing second twice. He managed for the Kansas City Royals organization in 1964. Norwood managed the semi-pro Luray Colonials from 1965-1968, winning the league all four years. 

Del gained many honors through his association with baseball. Among them, he was named Coach of the Year by the Better Sports Club (1972), inducted into the Home Plate Club Sandlot Hall of Fame (1977) and the Virginia High School Hall of Fame (1992).

Tom Orndorff is well known in Arlington and beyond the metropolitan area as the head varsity softball coach at Arlington's Bishop Dennis J. O'Connell High School. He is also O' Connell's Assistant Athletic Director tasked with all the responsibilities and chores associated with that position.

A West Virginia University grad and former journalist, Orndorff has been coaching softball at O'Connell for the past 25 years and has compiled one of the most phenomenally successful records of any coach, anywhere, in any sport, over that period of time. Over the past quarter century, more than just a few of his teams have been ranked in the top echelon of high school softball teams in the U.S. Orndorff's success is the height of consistency. Competing in the metropolitan Catholic Girls leagues (the CGAA and WCAC) and against strong public high school teams over the past 20 years, his O'Connell teams have compiled a record of 450-54 and many regular season league, tournament and Virginia Independent School state championships.

Orndorff's reputation as a coach/teacher in developing outstanding players extends to colleges throughout the country, particularly those with strong women's softball programs. Many of his players have received full athletic scholarships and others partial scholarships based on their participation in softball at O'Connell.

Orndorlf also coaches softball outside of high school when the school is out on extended vacation. The age grouping for his teams (The Shamrocks) mirrors his high school  teams, usually 18yo and under. He's been coaching the Shamrocks for 30+ years with much of the same winning success, even though his teams have competed at a level of competition even greater than his high school teams. His Shamrock teams are "Travel" teams playing 60-70 games a season. Over the past 30 years, they've traveled the country, qualifying and playing in 20 ASA 18U Gold National tournaments. These national tournaments are huge, up to 64 of the best fast-pitch softball teams in the U.S. The travel team tournaments are usually dominated by West Coast and southwestern U.S. teams. Eastern teams do very well to finish in the top ten. Orndorff's teams have finished in the top ten seven times, finishing 2nd in 2003, and winning the tournament championship outright in 2005 with his Arlington-based Virginia Shamrocks - a truly outstanding achievement.

Orndorff has been honored with a number of prestigious awards for his success coaching softball. Twice he has been named National Travel Ball Coach of the Year (2002 & 2005) by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Other coaching honors include: Arlington Coach of the Year awarded by the Better Sports Club (1991), and being named "Coach of the Year" on several occasions by Washington Post, Journal Newspapers, Sun Gazette, its predecessors and other newspaper publications and periodicals.

Orndorff is held in the highest regard in softball circles nationally. He is one of 31 coaches from throughout the U.S. which include a great many who are collegiate Division I coaches that were named to the USA/ASA Team Coaching Pool for the Olympic quadrant years of 2005-2008.

Bob Peck has been involved in the Arlington sports scene for over fifty years. His enthusiasm for sports developed on the field of play, as a participant in his early years, and remains to this day as an active golfer. But Bob's main impact on sports has been and continues to be his sponsorship of community youth activities. Since 1939, his steadfast support of youth has brought him many accolades, including 1967 Arlington Sportsman of the Year.

As a civic leader Bob has served the Arlington community with distinction, first as an elected member (1952) of the County Board (serving as Chairman in 1953); active in the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, serving as president in 1956; and member of the Arlington County School Board 1958-61, serving as chairman two years.

John Randolph is a 1960 graduate of Washington Lee, where as an athlete he excelled in indoor & outdoor track and cross country. John continued his track career at William & Mary, running the 220, 440 and 880 events. After serving as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, John returned to his alma mater in 1967 to begin his distinguished coaching career capturing many Southern Conference and Virginia State championships. He became track coach at West Point in 1976, where his teams compiled a record of 54-4 in three years. For the next six years he headed the track program at the University of Florida during which time he also served as chairman of the U.S. Men's Olympic Development Committee, the group that prepared track and field athletes for the 1984 Olympics.

John served as Athletic Director at William & Mary from 1985 until 1995, when he died of cancer at the age of 53.

William Reinhart was the dean of coaches in local colleges and universities while at George Washington University, where he coached basketball, baseball and football. A resident of Arlington, he helped many athletes gain stardom from his tutelage. 

While he compiled a 193-133 baseball record and a 16-17-1 mark in football, it was in basketball that he earned a national reputation as an outstanding coach. In 24 seasons (1935-1942 & 1949-1966), his teams were 316-239, with 16 winning seasons in his first 18 years. His 1954 and 1961 teams made the NCAA Tournament after winning Southern Conference championships. His baseball teams won four conference championships. A champion throughout his athletic career, he was selected to the Helms Basketball Hall of Fame in 1956.

A collection of papers and memorabilia related to Reinhart is housed in the Special Collections Research Center of George Washington University, where he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1993. 

He coached Red Auerbach at GW who once said Reinhart’s coaching and fast-break offenses were “15 years ahead of their time.”  He died in 1971.

Bob Rusevlyan played varsity baseball, basketball and football at SI. John's High School, in D.C., 1951-1953. Bob was All-Metropolitan in all three sports as a junior and senior, and received the Touchdown Club award as the Prep School Player of the Year in 1953 and 1954. As a senior, Bob was elected captain of all three teams and was named Scholastic Sports Association Football Player of the Year as well as Athlete of the Year.

Bob accepted a football scholarship to the University of Maryland in 1954 and became a three-year starter as quarterback, defensive back and kick returner. He still holds the Terps record for most minutes played in a career and twice played 60 minutes in a game during his senior year. Bob received the Terps Coaches Award as Defensive Back of the Year in 1957 and 1958, and Offensive Back of the Year in 1958, when he was named All-ACC.  As a senior, Bob received the A V. Williams Award given to the Outstanding Citizen/Scholar/Athlete and the TEKE Trophy (now known as the Terrapin Club Award) as the student who, during his four years at the university, rendered the greatest service to football.

In 1959, Bob accepted a football coaching positon at O'Connell and remained head coach for five years, gaining a reputation as an outstanding football strategist. In 1960, he became head basketball coach, winning two state Catholic League Championships in 1962 and 1963. In 1961, Bob became athletic director and head golf coach. His golf teams were undefeated 1962 through 1964. In 1964 he left O’Connell to go into the banking business.

From 1970 to 1982, Bob was a highly successful coach in the Arlington County youth baseball and basketball programs. His teams won numerous county championships in both sports.

Bob Rusevlyan played varsity baseball, basketball and football at SI. John's High School, in D.C., 1951-1953. Bob was All-Metropolitan in all three sports as a junior and senior, and received the Touchdown Club award as the Prep School Player of the Year in 1953 and 1954. As a senior, Bob was elected captain of all three teams and was named Scholastic Sports Association Football Player of the Year as well as Athlete of the Year.

Bob accepted a football scholarship to the University of Maryland in 1954 and became a three-year starter as quarterback, defensive back and kick returner. He still holds the Terps record for most minutes played in a career and twice played 60 minutes in a game during his senior year. Bob received the Terps Coaches Award as Defensive Back of the Year in 1957 and 1958, and Offensive Back of the Year in 1958, when he was named All-ACC.  As a senior, Bob received the A V. Williams Award given to the Outstanding Citizen/Scholar/Athlete and the TEKE Trophy (now known as the Terrapin Club Award) as the student who, during his four years at the university, rendered the greatest service to football.

In 1959, Bob accepted a football coaching positon at O'Connell and remained head coach for five years, gaining a reputation as an outstanding football strategist. In 1960, he became head basketball coach, winning two state Catholic League Championships in 1962 and 1963. In 1961, Bob became athletic director and head golf coach. His golf teams were undefeated 1962 through 1964. In 1964 he left O’Connell to go into the banking business.

From 1970 to 1982, Bob was a highly successful coach in the Arlington County youth baseball and basketball programs. His teams won numerous county championships in both sports.

Milt Sherman grew up in Arlington, attending Tuckahoe Elementary and Swanson Middle School before graduating from Yorktown High School in 1969. He became a wrestler while at Swanson, and it changed the course of his life. At Yorktown, he was All State, as well as “Outstanding Wrestler” for the D.C. AAU at both the Junior Olympic and Open levels. Then, at East Carolina University, where he attained undergraduate and master’s degrees, he won 88% of his matches as a 4-year starter, won 11 championships while with the Pirates, was an All-American with USA Wrestling, and defeated three NCAA Division 1 national champions and two national runners-up. Settling in rural North Carolina, he became a career educator and coach, teaching at D.H. Conley High School in Greenville, N.C. for 30 years and then part-time at his alma mater ECU for 13 years. As a coach, he won a high school state championship and 2 state runner-up honors over three decades. He coached five high school All Americans, one of whom went on to be a 3-time national champion and Olympics coach. At retirement, Milt ranked # 2 all time in North Carolina coaching wins. 

As a writer, Milt has been published nationally over 25 times in Scholastic Coach, Wrestling USA, Amateur Wrestling News, and is author of the novel “Wrestling Spoken Here.” He continues to assist area high school wrestling teams and the ECU club team he founded nine years ago, and competes as a Senior Games athlete in badminton at the state and national level, placing 2nd and 3rd at national championships and winning 37 golds at North Carolina and Virginia state championships. Milt is an inductee in the ECU Athletic Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s North Carolina chapter.