It was an exciting weekend of championship meets all across the region. Swimmers continue to show why the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia metro area is one of the country's hotbeds for swimming talent, including several standout performances by freshmen swimmers, who have come up big for their teams all season.
Powerhouse programs Churchill, Good Counsel, and Gonzaga got things done once again, winning their respective championship meets. Next week, it will be a different game for the Montgomery County and WMPSSDL teams, as they meet at the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships (Metros). Walter Johnson's boys will match up with Gonzaga on the boys' side of the meet. Never count out Whitman's girls in a championship setting either, as they challenge Churchill and Good Counsel's ladies.
Oakton's boys and girls each won with a complete team effort on Saturday, at the Northern Region championship at Oak Marr RECenter in Vienna. They will be off this weekend before getting back in the pool for the AAA Virginia State Championship meets, held in their backyard at George Mason's Jim McKay Natatorium in Fairfax.
They will meet the best from across the state, including local teams out of the AAA Northwest Region. Before states, Cedar Run District champions, Battlefield High School, and Cardinal District champions, Osbourn Park High School, will compete in their regional championship meet Friday, Feb. 10, at the GMU-Freedom Aquatic Center in Manassas.
Quick Results: WMPSSDL Boys Championship, WMPSSDL Girls Championship, AAA Northern Region Championship, MCPS Division I Championship, MCPS Division III Championship, AAA Cedar Run District Championship, and AA Region II Championship.
Check back for previews for Metros and the AAA Northwest Region Championship later this week.
WMPSSDL: Katie Ledecky stars for Stone Ridge
“She’s on her way.”
That’s how Bob Walker, the head coach of Stone Ridge’s swim team, describes his star freshman, Katie Ledecky.
The freshman broke meet records in both of her individual events, and anchored the victorious Stone Ridge girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay team with a blistering 22.67 split. Holton-Arms was second, anchored by Caroline McTaggart, who split 22.75.
Ledecky’s record-breaking performances in the girls' 200 (1:46.75) and 500 freestyle (4:37.65) events Saturday were made all the more special for the freshman because of the previous owner of those records is Olympian Kate Ziegler (O’Connell), the world-record holder in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
Despite Ledecky’s strong showing, Stone Ridge finished fourth as a team with 240 points. Good Counsel won with 344 points, followed by Holton-Arms with 294 points and Holy Cross with 261 points.
On the boys’ side, Gonzaga ran away with the meet, scoring 540 points and outpacing second-place Good Counsel by 185 despite a strong showing from Falcons junior Jack Conger. Georgetown Prep finished third with 268 points.
For the full Washington Post article, continue reading here.
Ledecky's performances certainty had people talking, but she was far from the only one turning heads or breaking records.
McTaggart announced her presence to the rest of the league in her first WMPSSDL championship, breaking the league records in the girls' 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. She finished in 23.07 in the 50 freestyle and in 49.99 – just .47 behind the area's best, Janet Hu from Oakton High School – in the 100 freestyle.
Reigning All-Met Swimmer of the Year, Sarah Haase, led the three-time champions, Good Counsel ladies.
Haase set a new meet record in the girls' 100 butterfly with a 56.91. She got her second individual win of the night in the girls' 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:03.99.
Haase would also team up with Catherine Mulquin, Katherine Cleary, and Makenzie Miller for a win in the girls' 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:48.71.
For the boys, Conger continues to show why he is the best male swimmer in the region.
Conger broke league records in the boys' 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, both area best times. He shattered U-Va. standout Brady Fox's record in the 100 butterfly, with a new time of 47.43. He later set a new record in the 100 backstroke with a 47.47.
Conger was no less impressive in the relays, where he provided key splits to hold off two very fast Gonzaga relay teams. In the boys' 200 medley relay, Conger split 21.19, as the butterfly leg of the relay, against Gonzaga's Sean Sullivan (22.42). Brady Welch led off the winning Good Counsel relay; Evan Garfield was in breaststroke; and Ryan Edmunds anchored in free. Good Counsel finished 1:36.20 to Gonzaga's 1:36.40.
Later, Conger and Sullivan would battle again, this time in the boys' 400 freestyle relay. Sullivan had the lead going into the final leg, but a 43.71 second split by Conger allowed Good Counsel to edge Gonzaga by the same .2 second difference as before, finishing 3:10.31 to 3:10.51.
Despite being bested by Conger in the relays, Sullivan was sensational for the winning Gonzaga boys, breaking his brother Patrick Sullivan's meet record in the boys' 50 freestyle, with a new time of 20.68. He was also the winner of the boys' 100 freestyle in 46.54.
Led by Sullivan, Gonzaga's boys packed the top heats all night with notable performances by seniors Madison Hardimon, Tim Barry, Sean Spata, and Patrick Reyes, and junior Paul O'Hara, winner of the boys' 200 IM (1:57.63).
O'Hara, Barry, Reyes, and Hardimon would combine to win the boys' 200 freestyle relay in 1:27.12.
Finishing the record-breaking night, Holy Cross' Ashleigh Ferguson just missed the league record in the girls' 100 backstroke, with a new meet record of 56.66.
Other winners were Matt Colket (Good Counsel) in the boys' 200 freestyle (1:44.21), Bridie Burke (Georgetown Visitation) in the girls' 200 IM (2:07.80), Gavin Springer (Sidwell Friends) in the girls' 500 freestyle (4:37.65), and Don Tucker (O'Connell) in the boys' 100 breaststroke (59.62).
Next week, WMPSSDL teams will meet the best from Montgomery County at the Metros.
Oakton boys and girls sweep Virginia AAA Northern Region swimming championships
On a night where few races were won without achieving an All-American cut time, Oakton‘s boys’ and girls’ teams outlasted the competition to once again stand tall as the AAA Northern Region champions.
Oakton’s boys beat Woodson, 281.5 to 250, at Oakmarr RECenter, despite not winning a single event until the final relay of the night. The girls’ side was more decisive, Oakton’s girls pulling away from a top-loaded West Potomac team to win 245 to 190.
Janet Hu on her way to breaking the girls' 100 freestyle region record. (photo by Wayne Stocks)
They were led by sophomore Janet Hu, who set two new regional records in the 100-yard freestyle (49.52 seconds) and 100 backstroke (53.76 seconds), both in Automatic All-American times, before delivering a come from behind victory in the girls’ 400 freestyle relay.
Where Hu was impressive, no one could outshine the duo of Seliskar brothers from Thomas Jefferson.
Freshman Andrew Seliskar finished with four All-American cuts – three Automatic – and a regional record.
Click to keep reading the full meet synopsis, with complete results.
Area teams finish strong at Region II championship
At the AA Region II swimming championships, the ladies from Western Albemarle (Crozet, Va.) ran away with the meet, piling up 148 points over second-place finisher Potomac Falls.
Dulles District champion Potomac Falls came up short in the boys' meet as well, finishing behind Brentsville District High School, 85 points to 68 points.
Brentsville was powered by relay wins in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, as well as individual wins by Justin Doyle in the 50 and 100 freestyle evnets.
Doyle was outstanding for the Tigers all night. He led off the winning 200 medley relay (1:42.92), and held off Potomac Falls' anchor, William Lin, to help win the 200 freestyle relay for Brentsville in 1:31.60. Doyle was joined by Naoki Sugiura, Sam Maranto, and Ben Cumberland in both relays.
Doyle finished nearly a full second ahead of the field in the 50 freestyle, winning in 21.85. He outpaced the crowd again in the 100 freestyle in 48.47.
Lin was a double winner for the Potomac Falls Panthers with impressive swims in the 200 freestyle (1:47.02) and 500 freestyle. It was a tight race in the 500 freestyle with Dominion‘s Aidan O'Hara who finished less than a second back, 4:49.71 to 4:50.31.
After the tough loss in the 500 freestyle, O'Hara would not be kept out of the top-spot in the 100 backstroke, winning in 56.00 over Briar Woods‘ Brennan Maxwell. Maxwell won easily in the 100 butterfly earlier in the meet with a time of 54.70.
Potomac Falls finished the meet strong with a win in the boys' 400 freestyle relay. The team of Gavin Saunders, Sean Hurrell, Jamison Riley, and Lin accelerated past the rest of the region to win in 3:24.24.
Western Albemarle had plenty to cheer about on the girls' side of the meet. They grabbed five individual and two relay wins to distance themselves from Loudoun and Prince William county teams, but that did not stop local teams from shining in the regional meet.
Potomac Falls kicked off the girls' meet with a big win in the girls' 200 medley relay. The team of Karen Hood, Ariana Staffen, Carson Newton, and Kiri Harvey beat a compact field for first with Tuscarora, Western Albemarle, Dominion, and Heritage to win in 1:55.35.
Kaleigh Rosenburgh shined for Heritage, winning the 200 IM (2:08.28) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.37), breaking her own school record in the breaststroke event.
Dominion's Jalyn Marks pulled away from Briar Woods' Lizzie Mittanin the 500 freestyle to win 5:16.09 to 5:20.95.
Jalyn Marks racing to a win in the girls' 500 freestyle (photo by Gemma Rosenburgh)
Other winners were Western Albemarle's swimmers, Remedy Rule in the girls' 200 free (1:52.33) and 100 free (52.02), Alex Rayle in boys' 200 IM (2:01.36), Katherine Sheppard in the girls' diving with 401.14 points, Natalie Cronk in the girls' 100 fly (57.95), and Katie Lesemann in the girls' 100 backstroke (1:01.44).
Also winners, Kelsey Dingman from Sherando High School in the girls' 50 free (25.40) and Fluvanna's Bryce Campanelli in the boys' diving (461.10 points).
Teams will compete next at the A/AA Virginia State Championship, February 9-11, 2012, at the Christiansburg Aquatics Center.
Magruder's girls, Damascus' boys stand tall
The Damascus' boys stole the Division III crown, in a closely contested divisional championship meet, held on Saturday, at the Martin Luther King Swim Center. Damascus finished with 391.5 points, just ahead of Springbrook, who finished with 383.5.
On the girls' side, it was all Damascus and Magruder, who each racked up over 400 points. Magruder pulled away to win with 487 points over the Hornets' 440 points. Complete meet results available here.
Although not a factor in the team competition, Gaithersburg seniors Ellen Anderson – committed to Northwestern University – and Tyler Pham stood out individually in the divisional championship meet.
Anderson was in a class of her own in the mid-distance freestyle events. She won the 200 freestyle in 1:55.46, nearly 17 seconds ahead of second-place. Later, she would just miss breaking five minutes in the 500 freestyle, finishing in 5:00.23.
Her teammate Pham was equally matchless, outpacing the competition in the 200 IM by a wide margin. He finished in 1:58.50. In the 100 backstroke, Pham would have a much closer race. The Trojan senior won the event in 53.30, but was quickly followed by Damascus' Samuel Trible in 55.44 and Kennedy's Duncan Johnson in 55.90. Trible also won the boys' 100 butterfly in 55.25.
Other event winners were Zachary Eisig in the 200 freestyle (1:51.88), Lauren Gil in the girls' 200 IM (2:18.59) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.67), Gregory Ridgway (23.58) and Abigail Triau (26.25) in the 50 freestyle, Nicole Polen in the girls' 100 butterfly (1:04.30), Kohler Sukachevin in the boys' 100 freestyle (51.91), Katie Sweeney in the girls' 100 freestyle (57.68) and 100 backstroke (1:05.73), James Hisnanick in the 500 freestyle (4:58.68), and Scott Powell in the boys' 100 breaststroke (1:04.14).
Battlefield defends Cedar Run titles
The Battlefield High School girls and boys successfully defended their Cedar Run District titles Friday night at the GMU-Freedom Aquatic Center in Manassas. Though they took first in only one individual event and one relay, the Battlefield boys were powered by a deep roster, winning by just one point, 397 to 396, over runner-up Patriot High School. The Battlefield girls were dominant, outscoring runner-up Freedom High School 455 to 357 while winning six individual events and two relays. Patriot was third.
Click to keep reading the full meet synopsis, with complete results.
MCPS Division I: Walter Johnson boys, Churchill girls win titles
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 edge Churchill by 10 points.
Click to keep reading the full meet synopsis, with complete results.