Churchill defended its Division I title with a convincing victory over Wootton and the rest of the field at Saturday's divisional meet.
- Division I
After more than a week out of the pool, the Whitman girls once again showed why they could be the top challenger to Good Counsel’s hopes of reclaiming the Metros title, crushing the competition at the Montgomery County Division I meet Saturday at the Montgomery Aquatic Center.
Led by double winner Dani Schulkin (100 fly, 100 back) and a record-setting performance by their 200 medley relay team of Schulkin, Victoria Kuhn, Reia Tong and Lauren Poore, the Vikings ran away from last year’s Metros champions Churchill to win the meet with a team score of 480.50. The Bulldogs finished second (372) followed by Walter Johnson (341.50), Wootton (313), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (246) and Richard Montgomery (183).
On the boys’ side, the Bulldogs defended their crown with a team score of 423.50. Wootton had a strong showing in finishing second (396) and was followed by Walter Johnson (333.50), Whitman (310), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (258.50) and Richard Montgomery (242.50).
The defending Metros champion in the 100 fly, Schulkin (56.58) narrowly edged Walter Johnson’s Elizabeth Pepper (56.62) in her best event and later was a surprise first-place finisher in the 100 backstroke (59.75) with the only sub-one minute time in the event. Schulkin’s time in the fly was one hundredth of a second off the automatic All America cut.
The Vikings, who defeated Churchill in an early season dual meet, took six more events including all three relays. Whitman set the tone for the day the first girls’ event as Kuhn, Tong, Schulkin and Poore reset their own Montgomery County Public School record in the 200 medley relay with an automatic All America time of 1:48.29 — besting second place Wootton by seven seconds.
“Today, the only thing that could stop our girls’ team was snow and the county shoveled enough of it to get the meet started,” Whitman Coach Geoff Schaefer said.
Whitman continued its hot start in the 200 IM as freshman Charlotte Meyer took first (2:10.37) followed by teammate Audrey Gould (2:13.14) while Lauren Levy finished fourth (2:15.80) on a day when the Vikings’ depth was too much to overcome. They again took three of the first four spots in the 50 free as Kuhn finished first (24.33) and Tong (25.11) and Katie Mahaffie (25.51) rounded out the top four. Churchill’s Natalya Ares (24.47) broke up the sweep with a second-place finish.
Tong continued her strong showing with a first place finish in the 100 free (54.14) and was the anchor on the Vikings’ winning 400 free relay team (3:36.99) that also included Kuhn, Meyer and Schulkin. Poore, who took second in the 100 free (54.18), swam the first leg for the first place 200 free relay team along with Gould and Katie and Jenna Mahaffie.
“This was one of the goals that was set for the year,” Schaefer said. “Winning the division was the first step. Next week, it will continue. I view this meet as the warm up for county championships.”
Churchill’s Eugenia Chen (1:08.05) edged Gould (1:08.14) in the 100 breast to break up the Vikings’ run while teammate Maria Watkins dominated the field in the 500 free. The only other non-Whitman winner was Pepper, who claimed first in the 200 free (1:51.98) by nearly six seconds over Poore.
Reia Tong and the Whitman girls dominated the Division I meet and now have their sights set on counties. (Bob Bloom)
Senior Chris Verboncoeur led the way for the Bulldog boys, with victories in the 50 free (22.41) and 100 fly (52.94). He teamed with Brenton Reinhardt, Collin Stanhope and Colin Asbury to take first in the 200 free relay (1:40.76) and edge Wootton’s foursome of Thomas Finn, Raymond Zhou, Matt Gibson and Michael Fu. Despite only winning those three events, like the Whitman girls, Churchill used its tremendous depth to clean up points with four second place finishes and four third place finishes.
“The meet certainly was closer than I envisioned but we pulled through with a victory,” Churchill Coach Rodney Van Tassell said. “Chris was exceptional in winning two individual events as well as assisting in a first and second place relay finish.
“We are looking forward to improving at counties next week.”
Whitman’s Serge Gould was a double winner, taking the 200 IM (1:54.73) and 100 breast (1:00.91). Other individual event winners included Finn in the 200 free (1:47.32), Gibson in the 100 back (55.54), BCC’s Michael Center in the 100 free (48.19) and Richard Montgomery junior Clemens Kaiser in the 500 free (4:43.38).
Walter Johnson’s Kevin Spak, Andrew Tollefson, Christopher Root and Greg Karel edged Churchill in the 200 free relay (1:30.53) and Wootton (Finn, Gibson, Fu and Eric Woodard) finished on a high note with first place in the 400 free relay (3:18.67).
In the one meter diving, Wootton’s Jordan Lesser (269.400) narrowly beat out Churchill’s Timothy Faerber (268.750), and on the girls’ side, Annie Kastler of Walter Johnson (300.050) took home first place.
- Division II
Complete meet results
Sherwood continued its run of dominance this season with an impressive victory in the girls’ portion of Saturday’s Division II meet at the Martin Luther King Swim Center, but it was Blair‘s boys who spoiled the Warriors’ hopes for a sweep with a win in a closely contested meet.
Despite not winning a single event, the Blazer boys had just enough depth to edge out Sherwood, 399.5-387. Northwest (359) rounded out a very tight top three and was followed by Poolesville (288), Blake (276) and Quince Orchard (255.5).
Eric Conrad was a double winner for Sherwood, taking first in the 200 IM (1:57.04) and 100 fly (52.25) and senior Michael Anderson swept the 200 (1:48.18) and 500 free (4:57.87) as the Warriors won six events including the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Jeffrey Lin took second behind Conrad in the 200 IM and third in the 100 fly and Eric Ruggieri finished second in the 100 breast (1:01.19) behind Sherwood’s Matt Lee (1:00.27). The Blazers finished second in all three relays to round out a balanced performance.
Blake junior Spencer Sterling won the 100 back (55.95) and 50 free (22.94) and Quince Orchard’s Kevin Hauri took first in the 100 free (49.19).
On the girls’ side, Sherwood (449) won comfortably behind Emily Ryczek‘s victories in the 50 (24.63) and 100 free (53.72). Northwest (342) finished a distant second followed closely by Poolesville (340). Blair (329), Quince Orchard (278) and Blake (226) rounded out the meet.
Poolesville senior Cara Chuang, one of the top backstrokers in the area, won the 100 fly (58.59) and 200 free (1:57.19) and swam the first leg for victorious teams in the 200 medley (1:52.62) and 400 free (3:47.32) relays. Diana Hanson, Mary Gillespie and Cameron Mackail joined Chuang on in the medley relay and Cynthia Jih teamed with Chuang, Mackail and Hanson in the 400 free.
Other individual winners included Quince Orchard’s Kelsey Liu in the 200 IM (2:10.86) and 100 breast (1:08.38) and Sherwood’s Katie Relihan in the 500 free (5:23.85) and Megan Conrad in the 100 back (1:01.49).
Poolesville dominated the diving portion of the meet with Alex Contreras posting a 204.550 for the girls and senior Sam Weber (170.650) edging teammate Zachary Greenwald (163.400) for the boys.
- Division III
In Division III, Damascus and Magruder were the top two teams on both sides with the Swarmin’ Hornets winning the boys’ competition and the Colonels (482) beating out Damascus (445) in the girls.
Magruder dominated the relays, winning five of the six events including all three on the girls side. Lauren Gil, who helped the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams to first place finishes, was a double winner, taking the 200 IM (2:19.40) and the 100 breast (1:13.16).
Other double winners included Gaithersburg‘s Ellen Anderson who swept the 200 (1:55.00) and 500 free (5:06.51), and her teammate, Tyler Pham, who won the 100 fly (55.75) and 100 back (55.75). The Trojan girls finished second and the boys finished third.
- Division IV
In Division IV, Clarksburg narrowly edged out Springbrook (359.5) and Einstein (323) on the boys’ side and the Einstein girls rolled past the field with 448 points for a convincing victory at the Olney Swim Center.
Northwood‘s Chelsea Vanderweele was a double winner, taking the 200 (2:04.43) and 100 free (57.75) and Seneca Valley‘s Jamieson Knopf also swept his two individual events, coming out on top in the 200 free (1:49.77) and 100 fly (55.32).
Other individual girls’ winners included Kelly Carroll of Paint Branch in the 200 IM (2:28.50), Northwood’s Liana Ventimiglia in the 50 free (27.06), Springbrook’s Georgia Howard in the 100 fly (1:11.37), Einstein’s Carol Anderson in the 500 free (5:56.07) and teammate Stephanie Pratt in the 100 back (1:09.21) and Linda Le of Clarksburg in the 100 breast (1:15.53). Einstein took both the medley and 400 free relays to wrap up their victory while Northwood won the 200 free relay.
Clarksburg’s Seung Lee (50 free, 24.24), Joshua Kiehl (500 free, 5:02.66) and Andrew Qian (100 breast, 1:05.69) all won individual events on the boys’ side while Northwood’s Austin Moore and Warren Jackson took first in the 200 IM and 100 back respectively. Gregory Ridgway of Springbrook finished first in the 100 free (52.81).
In diving, Kyle Butts of Paint Branch (285.200) and Cassidy Pickles of Clarksburg (173.650) were victorious.
Tags: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Blair, Blake, Churchill, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Magruder, Maryland High School Swimming, Metros, Montgomery County High School Swimming, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery, Serge Gould, Sherwood, Walter Johnson, Whitman, Wootton
Where are the results?
just fyi, in the 200 medley, it’s not a “200 individual medley relay”. it’s just a medley relay lol
Regarding the Div. II notes, C. Chuang is a very talented backstroker. However, the Northern Region of VA AAA has very talented backstrokers, esp. Eva Greene.
Quick fix – Spencer Sterling is from Blake not Blair
Congrats Sherwood, especially Eric, Mike, Matt, Katie & Megan — Hallowell Represent!
I was reading about this Churchill H.S. girl breaking the 100Back Public School National Record in 52.89 before I realized she goes to San Antonio Churchill in Texas! Well, one day.