James Madison High School was founded in 1959, and has since amassed more than 30 state championships across 10 different sports, with many more having made runs in the region and state championships. Madison has had unprecedented success throughout its history, but even more so in the last ten years. Madison’s Athletic Director John Kenny recalled some of the best teams and athletes to come through the school.

According to Kenny, there are three things that help separate Madison from other schools in the area: athletes, parents and coaches.

“The kids work incredibly hard, both at Madison and in the offseason,” Kenny says.

Many teams at Madison have offseason programs to prepare for the next year, whether it be agility training, position specific workouts, or utilizing Madison’s weight room. The desire to win at Madison is infectious and many teams have players capable of not only motivating themselves, but others around them.

Where coaches are concerned, there are many who have long pledged their loyalty and time to Madison.

“If you look at our coaches, I think it really has a lot to do with the tenure that they’ve been at Madison,” Kenny said.

The coaching staff at Madison is experienced and skilled at putting together playoff and championship caliber teams every year; much of this is thanks to the extensive period they serve. Head Coach Mark Gjormand, the head baseball coach, has been at Madison for 28 seasons, while Kirsten Stone has been coaching girl’s basketball for fourteen years.

The third element Kenny stated was parents’ enthusiasm. The student-athlete body is vast and each athlete’s parents have invested through time and money for their child. Many student-athletes put in time outside of the season and practice times through weight training, and honing their skills for when the next season comes around and parents are adamant about making sure their children are training with the best so they can be the best.

Through these three characteristics, Madison has become a powerhouse of sports in Northern Virginia. In recent years success has been seen in the boy’s lacrosse team, who have won two state championships in the last five years. The baseball team has also won two state championships in three years, while Girl’s basketball has won four state championships in a row. Numerous other Madison teams hold district and regional championship titles.

Additionally there have been a couple of student athletes who went above and beyond that were able to play collegiately and at the pro level.James Triantos was drafted by the Cubs in 2021. And Bryce Eldridge was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2023 this past June. Additionally some girls who had memorable careers at Madison were Anna Keating for girl’s swim, she now swims at UVA. As well as Julia Elise for girl’s soccer who was all met in 2018.

“I would say roughly 30 to 40 kids for the last four or five years have gone on to play collegiate sports,” Kenny said.