Best high school mascot in Virginia: Top 10 candidates

From Drifters to Caissons to Truckers, meet the best high school mascots in Virginia

If your Flucos are flying, your Seahorses are fighting and your Bookers are mighty, you're probably in Virginia.

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the past couple of months we've been going from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then giving readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our Virginia poll posted Nov. 28 on highschool.si.com and will stay open through Dec. 5:

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Virginia?

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Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Virginia?

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Here are the top 10 high school mascots in Virginia:

Annandale Atoms

When Annandale opened in 1954 during the Cold War, students were inspired by President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech when they adopted the Atoms mascot, according to WUSA 9. The opening came nine years after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Broadway Gobblers

Broadway’s mascot isn’t just any Gobbler, it’s Strut the Fighting Gobbler, who's a turkey not to be trifled with (evidence above).

Christchurch Fighting Seahorses

Christchurch was built in a remote, waterfront location in 1921, so it’s the perfect spot for Seahorses. Students in 1938 chose the name Seahorses, and it eventually evolved into the Fighting Seahorses.

Churchland Truckers

According to the 2020 census, the U.S. employed 3.36 million truck drivers. That’s a pretty solid-sized fan base for a high school team. According to a past student handbook, the name Truckers originated "from the large, wealthy truck farms that surrounded the village in the 1920s and 1930s."

Colonial Beach Drifters

Unlike some drifters, who continually move from place to place without any fixed home or job, these Drifters have been firmly rooted to the small town of Colonial Beach on the Potomac since the 1980s. The school's logo is a clipper ship, and its physical mascot is Pete the Pirate (see above).

Fishburne Military Caissons

The Caissons are named for the “usually 2-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition attachable to a horse-drawn limber,” according to Merriam-Webster. Fishburne Military can probably rest easy that the nickname is all theirs at this point.

Fluvanna County Flying Flucos

The Flying Flucos' nickname originated in the 1940s, when a newspaper article referred to the football team as "The Flying Men of Flu.Co." (an attempt to abbreviate Fluvanna County). The students liked it, and it stuck. The school's physical mascot has varied over the years, with a caped "Flucoman" being one recent incarnation.

Norfolk Collegiate Mighty Oaks

Norfolk Collegiate's mascot began as a donkey when the school was founded in 1948 as Carolton Oaks, but they've been the Mighty Oaks for years now. According to 13newsnow.com: "The oak tree was chosen to represent Carolton Oaks not only because of their physical presence around the residence that was first used as Carolton Oaks, but also for the representation of knowledge as a tree."

Tabernacle of Prayer Christian Revelators

A revelator is one who reveals the will of God, and faith-based Tabernacle of Prayer Christian is the one school in the country that goes by the Revelators.

Washington Mighty Bookers

Washington High School in Norfolk was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, an African-American educator, author, orator and adviser to presidents of the United States. These Mighty Bookers often refer to themselves simply as “the Bookers,” since “Mighty” is implied when we’re talking about Booker T. Washington.

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports