Two highly successful high school head coaches of different girls sports who are members of the 700-win club recently were in the news.
Former Bishop O’Connell High School girls softball coach Tommy Orndorff was asked to attend the Knights recent home game against Bishop Ireton. Prior to the contest, he was presented with a state championship ring. His teams won 23 state titles, but Orndorff never had a state ring for any of those titles.
Overall, his teams won 780 games over 33 years of coaching. Orndorff stepped down following the 2018 season, with O’Connell winning a state crown that year.
After some 40 years as a girls head basketball coach of four different high school teams in Northern Virginia, Pat Deegan has stepped down from his most recent position of eight years at Fairfax High School. He also coached O’Connell, Madison and Westfield, and hasn’t ruled out coaching again.
Deegan’s team won 756 games and four state championships.
Between the two coaches, with each being in various halls of fame, that’s some 1,536 victories on the varsity level, and notable for sure.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net