Oakton sophomore Janet Hu won two individual events in record-breaking fashion to lead the Cougars to their first Virginia AAA girls’ swimming and diving championship on Saturday at George Mason University’s McKay Natatorium.
The Cougars finished with 183 points, pulling away from Osbourn Park and West Potomac, which finished with 166 and 162 points, respectively.
Cox of Virginia Beach won the boys’ title, ending a decade of dominance by Northern Region schools. The Falcons won two of three relays in record time to finish with 246 points. Oakton was second with 168 and Jefferson was third with 146.
“We didn’t have a great prelims [on Friday night],” Oakton Coach Parker Ramsdell said. “Cox was just too strong for our boys this year, they have a phenomenal team. But our girls knew what they had to do tonight. We came out and just started picking up points.”
Hu, an All-Met last year as a freshman, provided many of those points. Her long, powerful stroke and near perfect underwater kicks made her untouchable in every race she competed in. In both of her individual events, she eclipsed both the state meet and the pool records.
In the 100 butterfly, Hu won with a time of 53.20 seconds, shattering the state record of 54.78 that was set in 2008. She swam a 53.45 in the 100 backstroke, beating the state record by more than a second.
Hu saved the best for last, anchoring the Cougars’ 400 freestyle relay. Just as she did two weeks ago at the Northern Region championships, she delivered a blistering split to lead Oakton to victory in come-from-behind fashion.
OAKTON, VA - FEBRUARY 4: Oakton's Janet Hu (top) leads Langley's Abi Speers in the girls 100-yard freestyle. Hu would set a record with a time of 49.52 in the race. (Photo by Preston Keres/For The Washington Post)
The other big finishers in the girls' meet was the Battlefield relay of Nina Tremols, Natalie Martin, Holly Criscuolo, and Sofia Revilak, who broke the state record in the girls' 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.57. Freshman Revilak split a 23.08 to seal the win for the Bobcats. She won the girls' 100 freestyle in a time of 51.44.
West Potomac's girls' 200 freestyle relay narrowly missed the state record, finishing in a time of 1:36.58. Junior Hellen Moffitt anchored in a time of 23.50, along with Reanna Dona, Sara Bertram, and Maxine Clifford.
Seniors dominated on the boys’ side. Marshall All-Met Cyrus Hashemigot things going early, using his long, loping stroke to break the state record in the 200 freestyle by .05 with a time of 1:39.83. Later he won the 100 freestyle in 45.39, again setting a new state mark.
OAKTON, VA - FEBRUARY 4: Marshall's Cyrus Hashemi swims to a victory in the boys 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.09. (Photo by Preston Keres/For The Washington Post)
Earlier on Saturday, Robinson senior Cory Bowersox broke his own state record in diving, racking up 551 points to beat Washington-Lee senior Carl Buergler, last year’s state champion by over 50 points.
Jefferson senior Stephen Seliskar broke one of the meet’s oldest and fastest records in the boys’ 100 backstroke with a time of 50.08. Austrian Olympian Markus Rogan set the previous record of 50.20 in 2000 while swimming for Mount Vernon.
Stephen’s younger brother, freshman Andrew Seliskar, made a statement of his own, breaking the state record in the 200 individual medley by nearly two seconds, going 1:49.83. Junior Brandon Fiala (Westfield) also went under the previous record, finishing second in 1:51.57. Andrew Seliskar was also the winner in the boys' 100 butterfly in a time of 49.64.
Cox sophomore Austin Temple broke the state record in the boys' 100 breaststroke (57.04), beating out Woodson's Bo Ilgenfritz (57.37) and Westfield's Fiala (57.42).
In one of the most exciting races of the night, Chantilly High School prevented Cox from sweeping the boys' relays by winning the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:09.72 to Cox's 3:09.97. Cox had the lead going into the final exchange, but Chris Grimmett-Norris gutted out a tough 100 yards to out-touch Cox' Nate Dacruz. Grimmett-Norris split 45.57, garnering cheers from the Northern Region teams. He was joined by Evan Baker, Will Schulte, and Brian Rothschild in the win.
Other winners were Audrey Kula (Osbourn Park) in the girls' 200 freestyle (1:52.31), closely contested by Stone Bridge's Andi Mack (1:52.45), Abi Speers (Langley) in the girls' 50 freestyle (23.62), Katherine Van Winkle (Marshall) in girls' diving (418.90 points), and Jenna Van Camp (Herndon) in the girls' 100 breaststroke (1:02.95), as well as Amanda Carner (Menchville High), who was a double winner in the girls' 200 individual medley (2:02.01) and 500 freestyle (4:54.93). Wesley Francis, Cox's anchor of the winning 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays, won the boys' 50 freestyle in 21.11. Christian Vivadelli (Maggie Walker) won the boys' 500 freestyle in 4:32.68, ahead of Osbourn's Henry Campbell and Greg Stoffa.