Oakton's cheering section for the 2008 Concorde District swimming championships. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post)
What: Oakton vs. Robinson
Where: Cub Run RECenter
When: 6:30 p.m., Friday
Last season, Oakton celebrated during the Northern Region championships after beating powerhouse Robinson for the boys’ title. A week later, however, Robinson got the last laugh, winning a seventh consecutive boys’ state championship, and taking home the girls’ title, too.
Friday at 6:30 p.m., the two rivals will meet at Cub Run in a meet that has both teams excited for what they said is the most important meet of the dual season.
Despite the usual things that temper expectations going into early dual meets – both schools still are learning where swimmers best fit in the meet sheet and some key swimmers are absent – there is no doubt that both programs want to win tonight.
“It’s important because it’s a rivalry and obviously it helps boost morale,” Robinson Coach Clayton Joyner said. “It helps jump-start the rest of the year to finish strong in the dual season. Everyone wants to go undefeated.”
Added Oakton Coach Hunter Owen: “This rivalry is huge. This is our biggest meet as far as dual season goes. Everyone cares, the kids get really fired up. … This is Robinson. Just like on Robinson’s side I’m sure they say, ‘Hey this is Oakton.’ This is one the kids care about and dig deep for and that’s what I told them to do.”
Oakton will be missing All-Met junior Kaitlin Pawlowicz, who is at junior nationals in Ohio, but Owen, the Cougars first-year coach, said the team still held high goals going into the meet.
On Thursday night, the team met for a pasta dinner and Owen said he spoke to the team about its season goals and, though he’s never experienced this rivalry meet firsthand, also about how to approach such a big rivalry meet.
Owen said he emphasized that this is one of four times Oakton will see Robinson, with district, regionals and states the important meetings down the road. Led by All-Met senior Bradley Phillips, the Cougars are among the biggest threat to knock Robinson off its seven-year title run.
“One thing you have to know is this team is real tight, super tight,” Owen said. “I pretty much just have to show up because these kids have it going on they get it together they pull it together. They know the right things to say.”
Robinson is also under the direction of a first-year coach in Joyner, and he said that the Rams are preparing for the dual meet with the idea of protecting the successful history of its program. With tremendous depth, Robinson hopes to counter what Joyner called “the big guns” of Oakton’s program.
Some swimmers Joyner said he would look to tonight include senior Hannah Walden, junior Tori Baker, sophomore Rachel Canty, junior Kyle Bumiller and senior Cameron Boster.
“We know Oakton has big guns but the point system is not based on big guns,” Joyner said. “With our depth and more importantly with backing up the tradition of Robinson swimming everyone is fired up and that’s what makes us special. It’s not like the Yankees where we think we’re a conglomerate where you can recruit. We have a bunch of kids that from day one…they just work their butts off, they work to get to that same point and keep the legend going on.”
Tags: AAA Northern Region, Concorde District, Kaitlin Pawlowicz, Northern Region, Oakton High School, Virginia High School Swimming
Gooooo OAKTON!!! This has always been a great meet and the one I look forward to..
Question, what is the policy with swimmers missing high school meets for club meets. Isnt this the third meet that one of the faster girls has missed? Why bother being on a team then.I mean I may have missed a meet for one December meet but my high school team was important to me and it was a lot of fun and made me want to swim in college.
Hey, if swimmers as good Phillips and some of the other guys can miss a club meet and put high school first, that should be setting the example for everyone.
Team is #1
Oakton men victorious!!!
Robinson girls beat Oakton 181-134 //Robinson Boys lose 123-192
Too bad the girls lost I wonder if it would have changed if all their swimmers had been there
Teamparent, you assume the Robinson girls were not missing swimmers. In any event, dual meets don’t mean squat in high school swimming. The championship meets are what count.
Breanne Smyth
Team fan, get real. It is not in a swmmer’s best interests to skip junior nationals to attend a high school dual meet in December.
Saying a dual meet does not mean squat in high school swimming is ridiculous..just ask the kids on the losing team. I guess you were not at the meet Friday (because I was and I saw some pretty fired up kids) or did not read the article you commented on.Its pretty obvious dual meets do mean something and are important in high school swimming,especially when their is a rivalry involved..no different then any other high school sport.
Teamfan brought up a good point though, and that is a team member is their to serve the team, not the other way around..You should not just be allowed to participate when it is convenient for you and your schedule allows it.
Teamparent, based on your rationale, all high school swimmers would be required to train only with their high school teams– which, the last time I checked, would limit them to about 3-4 hours per week. One of the D.C. area school jurisdictions (perhaps Loudoun County) considered imposing that rule about 10 years ago and dropped it. The rule would have one of two effects– it either would turn high school swimming in our area into a complete joke, or it would limit the opportunities of our swimmers to swim in D-1 college programs.
I also find your comment that team members should “serve” their high school teams to be odd. Given that club swimmers train with their club teams year round, I suspect most of them have stronger bonds with the swimmers and coaches in their clubs. Yet, you seem to view the club teams as deserving of no loyalty or commitment from their swimmers.
Also, I can’t help but note that, in my experience, the complaints about high school swimmers missing dual meets in order to participate in Dolan finals or a national meet invariably come from the parents of swimmers who cannot swim at that level.
Club coach…Exactly as you say..”it is not in the swimmers best interests to skip juniors” I believe the operative word is “swimmer”, not team. If going to a lot club meets is your priority, that’s great and maybe you should just skip high school all together, that would be perfectly acceptable and understandable. Or pick just one mid season meet like juniors or dolen or the one in md.this weekend or nationals, which is exactly what many high level swimmers in the area seemed to do. Life is full of choices and decisions and sometimes you have to make them .
A dual meet may not be important to a uss club coach but it is important to the swimmers on the team, most of whom will not swim in college this is their time ,their sport and their team and I can tell you the meets do mater.
Whoa…Club coach dont go putting words in my mouth.I said nothing about training ..
My only point is if you make a commitment to be on a team, live by it.Be it club or high school or whatever. High school season is short and if you miss a meet to go to one big us meet fine but if you cant manage to go 10 weeks without missing more then one school team meet to attend us meets, maybe you should rethink your commitment.
Yes, their is loyalty to your club team and that is great and if you feel your loyalties will be split by representing your school for 10 weeks then don’t do it.
High school sports are team sports..period.
Oh, and the last comment about the inferior swimmers that dont qualify for Dolan..that has no bearing because a lot of the swimmers that swam at dolan showed up for their high school meet the next weekend.
Amy,
I am curious as to different schools policies about missing meets like how many can you miss and for what reqsons. Does it mater for what meet and does it mater what level you are.Like would it make a difference if say you qualified for the Cassel meet but barely or would you have to be a swimer that finished in the top 8 at a high level meet.
And who decides, the coach or the school? What do the high school coaches think about it, is one meet OK but 2 or 3 too many? and what do the swimmers both club and non club think
Observer –
I can tell you that in Montgomery County Public Schools, you are allowed to miss one meet throughout the season – if you miss more than that, you are ineligible to compete in the “postseason” – County’s and Metros unless you have a waiver from your athletic director – which is not an easy accomplishment. Many of our MCPS swimmers are club swimmers – they make a choice which US meet they will attend in December and they don’t miss any more high school meets, even if they are sick. Most of our club coaches allow them to miss the Saturday of the January PVS Open if it conflicts with their high school meet.
I think you would find most club swimmers love competing for their high school – to be a part of something is important for teenagers. Few swimmers are able to be members of clubs or sports teams due to the demanding training schedule. Unless the local schools are willing to support swimming the same way they provide football fields and training rooms to their football and basketball players, which we know they won’t, then people need to understand these kids do the best they can. Unlike football, basketball, soccer etc. for the elite swimmers, it is not their high school coach who will help then find a college – so the high schools should not expect the club swimmers to forego their national meet or Dolan.
TeamParent – This is where the SCHOOLS have placed the priorities – you (and they) are certainly willing to capitalize on the time and effort the elite swimmers put into training in order to win dual high school meets. Don’t begrudge these kids the opportunity to compete on a national stage for one weekend.
Well stated, SwimMom. I think the 6:18 a.m. e-mail makes it clear that Teamparent was upset because a swimmer went to Junior Nationals and her team lost the dual meet.
SwimMom,
Excellent comments. I peruse the RFTW daily because of some swimming I did earlier in my time, and have occasionally commented. In this case, again there are people that seem to be making comments without being fully informed. Fairfax County Public Schools, in their wisdom, scheduled back to back meets this first weekend in December, for reasons that are still not clear, (or at least not clearly published). Oakton will be swimming the same 2 schools in January. The Tom Dolan Meet is the fastest December meet on the east coast, (as a whole. In years past, USA Swimming used to put a summary of eastern zone December meets on their website, but the TDI meet was always so much faster than the rest, the practice was discontinued). Noting also that the swimmer in question is in her junior year, and times that will be reviewed for college are being swum now, in anticipation of college vists, etc. in the fall of the senior year, so selection of events and meets is crucial). No one but the swimmer being discussed, her coaches and her parents know why she selected the meets and schedule that came to pass. I suspect that it was not done off handedly, but with much consideration and planning – again not for me to say. These young people have a tremendous amount of pressure on them for their school work, their practice time and their swimming performance, and the elite swimmers have that much more, as they are continually expected to perform at that level and improve, plus please everyone. Again, I suspect the person in question puts as much pressure or more on themselves than the dolts that submit comments like teamparent.
I agree with Deb. The comment at 6:18 showed a lack of class.