Powered by their depth and divers, Churchill girls won the Montgomery County Division I Championship, beating out Wootton and Whitman, with 443 points to 416 and 392 points, on Saturday morning, at Germantown Indoor.
Walter Johnson won the closely contested boys' meet, after winning both freestyle relays and dominant performances by their stars Garrett Powell and Barry Mangold. They finished with a score of 428 to Churchill's 418 [complete scores and results available].
“We've been wanting this all season,” said Walter Johnson coach Jamie Grimes, about the win. “Our boys were energized and ready to go.”
Mangold started them off with an impressive swim in the 200 freestyle in 1:45.56 ahead of B-CC's Jamie Stevenson in 1:46.38. Blair’s Brian Tsau moved up from heat two to grab third in 1:47.59.
Mangold earned his second win of the day over Churchill's Austin Cole, winner of the 50 freestyle (21.66), in the 100 freestyle. He swam from the front the entire way to win in 47.19. Cole was second in 47.87.
His teammate, Garrett Powell (University of Georgia*) raced no one but himself, winning the 500 freestyle (4:32.19) and 100 backstroke (52.25) with open water between him and second place in both races.
Churchill was led by senior Natalya Ares (University of Richmond*), who led a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle for the Bulldogs to get the ball rolling in the individual events. Ares finished in 1:54.56, ahead of freshman teammate Elaina Gu (1:55.38). Gu also placed second in the 500 freestyle, picking up key points for the Bulldogs.
In her second win of the day, Ares cruised to an easy win in the 100 butterfly in a time of 57.94.
Kali Becker (freshman) won girls diving with a final score of 288.95. Churchill would go 1-3-4 in diving to give them a big cushion against Wootton and Whitman.
In the loss, Whitman stars Charlotte Meyer and Reia Tong dazzled.
Meyer swam strong in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle, winning both events in commanding fashion. She finished in 2:04.59 in the medley and 5:03.50 in the 500 freestyle.
Tong impressed in the sprint freestyle events. She was able to out swim the fast heat winning in 24.37, despite a slow start in the 50 free. In the girls 100 free, it was close for the first lap before Tong broke away from the field right off the turn, finishing in 52.22.
They combined for a spectacular win in the 400 freestyle relay, in one of the most exciting races of the day. Tong delivered an early lead for the Vikings, but Whitman was able to whittle the lead away, giving Ares a slight lead going into the final leg.
It looked like the Bulldog senior would pull away from Meyer, anchoring for the Vikings, but Meyer surged in the second lap to out-touch Ares, 3:34.03 to 3:34.39. Meyer and Tong were joined by Victoria Kuhn and Audrey Gould for the win.
“We're really looking forward to next week at Metros,” said Tong. “The competition at that meet is really fast, and we're excited to race all those great teams.”
Tim Faerber (University of Michigan*) finished his MCPS career on top, winning boys diving with an impressive 313.75 point score.
Other winners were Wootton sophomore Kristina Li who remained undefeated in the 100 backstroke, winning in 58.06, and teammate Harrison Gu, who won the 100 breaststroke in 59.92. Gu also won the 200 IM in 1:56.03. Patrick Scordato placed first in the 100 butterfly in 52.44. Gould won girls 100 breaststroke in 1:07.65.
* Swimmers have signed their National Letters of Intent to swim next season for the respective university's program.