If you put most of the top Montgomery County high school field hockey players together on one team you can expect good results.

The U-19 Jackals indoor club squad ran roughshod over the competition at the recently held national indoor qualifier at the Rockville-based Champions Field House to qualify for March’s National Indoor Tournament in Virginia Beach, Va.

Seven of the team’s 11 players were selected on the 2011 All-Gazette field hockey team, whether it was on the first team, second team or honorable mention, including first-teamers Alexandra Jamison (Quince Orchard), Anna Rowthorn-Apel (Walter Johnson), and Piper Spiller (Springbrook).

The rest of the roster consists of Taylor Swift (Walter Johnson), Charlotte Kirwan (Walter Johnson), Caroline Clark (Holy Cross), Hannah Suttle (Holy Cross), Rowan Kubeluis (Thomas S. Wootton), Krishna Jaitly (Whitman), Hannah Flesch (Walter Johnson) and goalkeeper Amy Defnet (Poolesville).

Because they won the 15-team qualifier, the Jackals will compete in the A, or top, division at the national tournament. The last time the Jackals program accomplished that feat was when this same group played at the U-16 level, said Jackals coach Jenna Ries, the athletic director and varsity field hockey coach at the Academy of the Holy Cross.

“The combination of hard work and the talent level of these girls [propelled them to the title],” Ries said. “I knew we had the potential I had a gut feeling that it might end that way but when I sat down to look at the statistics, I was shocked.

“This group is really strong.”

Walt Whitman coach Lindsey Weller and Holy Cross assistant junior varsity coach Kristin Kelly join Ries on the coaching staff.

The Jackals won all seven of their matches by a combined score of 56-9, facing schools from Delaware, Maryland Pennsylvania. They finished the tournament with a 6-2 pasting of Spark in the championship game. Spark consists of numerous Severna Park High School team members, who are coming off a state championship win against Bethesda-Chevy Chase.

“In reality, we can run with anybody in the country,” Ries said. “We’re probably the strongest team in Maryland.”

The U-16 Jackals squad also qualified for the national tournament by placing fourth at the regional qualifier in Richmond, Va., last month. The U.S. Field Hockey U-16 National Indoor Tournament is scheduled to take place in Richmond in early March.

That squad’s county players are Megan Root (Walter Johnson), Alexis Wong (Clarksburg), Jamie Lescht (Winston Churchill), Kallie Drewyer (Stone Ridge), Cassidy O’Hearn (Springbrook), Ashley Wong (Clarksburg) and Elizabeth Shrout (Stone Ridge).

jpeters@gazette.net