Inductees announced for Annandale High School Athletic Hall of Fame

Cromwell [UCLA]

The Annandale High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee has announced its first group of 12 inductees. It includes an Olympian, professional athletes, All-Americans, state championship teams, coaches, and administrators.

The AHS Athletic Boosters Club is sponsoring the induction ceremony, to take place Sept. 8 at the Moose Club of Arlington.

Those selected for the Hall of Fame include:

• Amanda Cromwell (Class of 1988) played soccer and basketball at AHS. Her soccer team won a state championship and four district titles.

As captain of the University of Virginia Cavaliers, Cromwell led the team to the Final Four in 1992. She was a member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, which earned third place in the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She is currently the head coach of the UCLA women’s soccer team.

• Robin Jennings (Class of 1990) played baseball for the Atoms then went on to a career in the Major Leagues, playing outfield for the Chicago Cubs 1996-2001.  He was signed on to other teams for short periods and retired in 2007.

• Sonny Utz (Class of 1960) played on the Atoms football team. As a fullback on the Virginia Tech team, Utz scored 10 touchdowns in 1963 and was named to the all-conference team that year. He played professionally for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. He died in 1991.

• Katherine Buck, a basketball and softball coach and teacher, was at Annandale High School for more than 40 years, beginning when the school opened in 1954. She died in June 2017.

• Bob Hardage was AHS athletic director and was head coach of the Atoms football team for 24 years. His teams won at least three state championships, and when he retired in 1989, he was the seventh-winningest coach in Virginia history.

• Rachel Peters, a field hockey coach and athletic director, joined the Annandale staff in 1954, the year the school opened.

• Jim Finch was a history teacher and coach and served as principal from 1966 to 1986.

• Katherine Russell, a 1957 graduate, was a star player on the Atoms basketball and softball teams.

• Edward Henry Jr. coached high school football for 25 years and led the Annandale Atoms to the state championship in 1965. He was a college football coach for 12 years, author of the book Developing a Successful High School Pro Set Football Offense, was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 1997, and was depicted in the film “Remember the Titans” (2000). He died in 2015.

• The 1959 football team, the first AHS undefeated team.

• The 1965 football team, the first AHS team to win a state championship.

• The 1986 girls soccer team, the first AHS girls team to win a state championship.