A family of athletes: How the Diehls took over Fauquier County
WARRENTON, Va. — In professional football, there was the Manning family, in baseball it was the Griffeys and for basketball they currently have the Ball brothers. High school sports in Warrenton have the Diehl family. J.T. Diehl was the most recent athlete in his family to receive much deserved recognition.
As he was preparing for his freshman year in college, J.T. was announced as Fauquier High School鈥檚 Athlete of the Year for his efforts on the field during his senior season. He is the third Diehl to win the award. His older brother, Garrett, won it back in 2011 and his older sister, Caroline, won it in 2018. Scott and Debbie Diehl are the parents of these three kids, along with two others, to round out this athletically impressive family and they ought to be proud of their children who seem to excel in sports.
J.T. was in National Honor Society and was the Student Council President in his senior year, so it could be said that he succeeds both on and off the field.
J.T. is currently attending Hampden-Sydney College (Division III) where he is on the football roster, making him the fifth sibling in the Diehl family to play college sports.
When asked why he chose Hampden-Sydney Diehl, he accredited it to their academic programs and the opportunity to play football. He did not see any playing time during his freshman season, but after a change from quarterback, which he played in high school, to running back, he could be fighting for playing time as so many collegiate running backs do.
Working hard to earn playing time is something J.T. is certainly not afraid of.
鈥淚 want to try to work my butt off to make the best impression in the first few practices, I understand most freshman don鈥檛 get to start,鈥� he before his college career started. 鈥淚 want to prove I鈥檓 at that starting level.鈥�
Unfortunately, he was not able to do so in his freshman season, but by the sound of it, J.T. is not easily discouraged and will work hard in the classroom as well as on the field to make the most out of his time at Hampden-Sydney.
J.T. is the youngest of the five Diehl children, which means he was the last in this branch of his family to play for the Fauquier Falcons. Although the run is over, the period of time in which the Diehls dominated Warrenton athletics is certainly a spectacle. To have five children, all of them go on to play college sports, and three of those five win Athlete of the Year in their county? Impressive.
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