It was an exuberant atmosphere Friday night at Claude Moore RECenter for the 2012 Liberty District Championship meet. Swimmers from all teams were in high spirits and ready to race.
In the end, Langley girls and Madison boys' again claimed the district title, Madison for the third year in a row.
Madison boys' team ran away with the meet after returning nearly every swimmer for Saturday night's finals.
(photo by Bryan Flaherty/The Washington Post)
“Our boys swam out of their minds tonight. I could not be prouder,” said Madison coach Andrew Foos. “It was a total team effort. I cannot wait to see them in action next week [at AAA Northern Regions].”
Langley's girls' team won in similar fashion, using their depth to pull away from the rest of the district. Led by junior Abi Speers, Langley made the most of the many ‘A' and ‘B' finals appearances they earned on Friday night.
(photo by Bryan Flaherty)
Speers dazzled all night, winning the 50 free in 24.38 seconds over Thomas Jefferson freshman Carrie Heilbrun (25.14) and South Lakes sophomore Sasha Avilov (25.15), but no race was more thrilling than 400 freestyle, where Speers delivered the performance of the night as the anchor leg for the Saxons.
Madison's girls were out fast, pacing the race through the first three hundred yards on their way to building a large lead over the rest of the district field. But Langley was holding a trump card in Speers who made up a nearly two body length deficit to turn even with Madison's Sierra Scoggin on the final turn. Speers would pull away in the final length to win 3:40.26 to 3:44.89.
Abi Speers surges ahead off the final turn in the girls' 100 freestyle at the 2012 Liberty District Championship meet (photo by Bryan Flaherty)
It was a much closer race in the 100 freestyle, where Speers was able to get on the wall just ahead of Stone Bridge's Andi Mack, 52.73 to 52.98. Mack was the winner of the 200 freestyle earlier in the meet in 1:54.58 ahead of fellow freshmen Cassidy Humphrey (Madison) who finished in 1:55.83.
“After losing the senior class we did last year, I think even I underestimated how good this group is,” said Langley coach Ryan Jackson. “These girls are having so much fun this year. They love to race.”
While the rest of the district could not keep pace with either the Warhawk boys or the Saxon girls, there were plenty of impressive individual swims from every team.
Cyrus Hashemi was sensational for Marshall, winning both his individual events in All American Consideration times. In the 200 freestyle, Hashemi led the race from start to finish, with Langley's Ryan Natal riding his heels. Natal put forth a valiant third lap to try and pull even, but Hashemi proved to be too strong for the Langley senior.
Hashemi finished in 1:40.94, breaking Charlie Putnam's Liberty District record by over 1.5 seconds. Natal finished in 1:43.02. It would be more of the same for Hashemi who also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.97.
He finished the meet by delivering the knockout punch in the boys' 400 freestyle relay, after teammates Jack Freck (junior), Logan Hirka (senior), and Andrew Nyce (senior) had built up a body length lead, finishing in 3:13.75.
Jefferson finished second in 3:17.19 over Madison in 3:18.37. After falling behind early, senior Stephen Seliskar erased the deficit to slip past Madison's anchor, Howe Wang.
Stephen and his younger brother Andrew Seliskar logged three individual first between them for the Colonials, as well as supplying all the firepower needed to win the 200 freestyle relay.
A. Seliskar started the meet off for the brothers by registering an AAC time in the 200 individual medley (1:52.41). It was a race for second between Nyce and Wang, who finished in 1:57.64 and 1:58.85.
Andrew would later get beaten out in the 100 butterfly by Natal, who posted an ACC time of 50.65. Ben Southern was third with a 52.84 for McLean.
Older brother Stephen concluded his Liberty District career by winning both his individual events. He posted a 21.71 in the 50 freestyle, beating Madison junior Evan Owens (22.24). In the boys' 100 backstroke, he reached an AAC time of 50.65, just off an Automatic All American designation.
On the girls' side, Sierra Scoggin impressed for South Lakes, upsetting top-seeded Sidney Owens. Scoggin was out to an early lead in the butterfly and backstroke, and was able to hold on for the win in 2:11.11, despite a furiously charging Owens, who placed second in 2:11.62. Scoggin would later win the girls' 100 backstroke in 58.59.
Emily Sennett led from the first stroke, winning the 100 butterfly in 57.40 for South Lakes.
McLean's Southern was the winner in the boys' 500 freestyle in 4:43.78 over Howe Wang (4:46.81). Wang set the tempo through the first 350 yards, before Southern put on burst of speed to break put distance between himself and Wang.
The girls' 500 freestyle was equally dramatic. Laura Kellan (Madison) went out fast early, forcing the Langley duo of Mary Elliot and Amy Owens to give chase. Kellan held a three body length lead at the half way point, which she would hold for the remainder of the race, winning in 5:08.83. Elliot finished in 5:16.36; A. Owens in 5:18.53.
Both 100 breaststroke events were fiercely contested. For the boys, Nyce pulled out a win over E. Owens, 1:00.16 to 1:00.50, after the rest of the field faded to compete for third.
MJ Ulrich won the girls' race for McLean in 1:06.71. She broke away from Jefferson' Sarah Liu (1:08.64), Langley's Gretchen Roesel (1:08.75), Madison's Sami Fletcher (1:08.78), and Fairfax's Matty Ferguson (1:09.02).
On Friday morning, freshman Brian Neil won the diving event for Fairfax with a score of 324.10. His teammate junior Alex Parker took second with a 296.75, just ahead of South Lakes Jake Andrich with a 295.50.
Katherine Van Winkle earned top marks in girls' diving, scoring 416.90 points, to win big over second-place finisher Emily Saitta (Jefferson) who scored 381.90. Alyssa Worsham was third with 337.35.
“We love swimming in this district. Everyone knows everyone. A lot of the swimmers swim together year-round and over the summer. It is just such a great atmosphere to compete in,” added coach Jackson.
The congenial atmosphere was evident as the coaches joked with each other on deck and congratulated each other after each great swim. Next week will be a different scene, as the often overlooked Liberty District will go up against the Northern Regions best at the AAA Northern Region Championship meet, at Oak Marr RECenter. They await results from the other three districts also taking place tonight.
Read more about the 2012 High School Championship meet season here.