The Langley boys and girls will look to knock off defending Liberty District champion Madison on Friday. (Photo by Mark Overend)
After a three-week hiatus, high school swimming returns to the Northern Region this weekend and features two matchups that should prove to be worth the wait.
On Friday, the defending Liberty District champion Madison Warhawks will renew a longstanding rivalry with the Langley Saxons – a team whose girls finished second and whose boys placed third at the Liberty District championships a year ago. Come championship season, look for these two teams to once again contend for the Northern Region title.
“[Madison] is our toughest competition in the Liberty District and they always are,” Langley head coach Ryan Jackson said. “But you never know what is going to happen at Madison meets; they are always interesting affairs.”
Jackson’s counterpart, Madison coach Andrew Foos, enters Friday with similar expectations.
“We both tend to bring out the best in each other,” Foos said. “They have some really great top-end swimmers so I expect to see a number of season-best times [Friday] night.”
However, if Langley hopes to make a statement against Madison this weekend, strong performances will be needed from the Saxons’ top swimmers. Chuck Katis – a Harvard-bound senior and three-time All-American selection as a junior – will headline the boys’ lineup while his twin sister and Virginia Tech commit, Jayme Katis, will lead the way for the Saxon girls.
A group of Madison standouts led by senior David Fallavollita and sophomore Laura Kellan will try to keep the Warhawks atop the Liberty District for another year.
The other meet to keep an eye on this weekend is a Concorde District matchup between perennial powerhouse Robinson and a talented Chantilly team.
After an early-season stumble against Oakton, the last year’s AAA state champion Robinson girls will look to put away Chantilly. Meanwhile, the Robinson boys hope to improve on a 2-2 dual-meet record and get back to the form that won them a state title in 2009.
For Rams coach Philip Caslavka, the key to finding championship season success is to compile the most effective relay combinations.
“I am really looking forward to seeing if our men and women can get the state cuts in the 200 and 400 relays,” Caslavka said. “We are lucky to have enough swimmers competing at a high enough level to mix-up the relays and increase our chances for a district championship and beyond.”
Charger head coach Mara Palen places a similar premium on relays at Chantilly.
“We have a 400 Free Relay on our boys’ team that was less than a second from the state cut at the [Herndon] meet,” Palen said. “We are all excited for this race, and are hoping to make the cut this week.”
Expect senior Ricky Munch to lead the way for the Robinson boys while his sister, Katie Munch, and sophomore Kathleen Dodson spearhead the effort on the girls’ side. Chantilly will do its best to counter on the strength of junior Brian Rothschild, who has already notched two state cuts this season (200 IM, 100 Free) and, for the Charger girls, regional qualifiers Logan Coulson-Moore and Maggie Shaw.
Massive field set for ninth annual Winterfest
As Maryland high school swimmers ease back into the pool, one area club will not be relaxing. This weekend, Severna Park Swimming will welcome 47 teams and more than 1,660 swimmers from six states to the University of Maryland Campus Recreation Center Natatorium for the ninth annual Winterfest.
SPY has hosted the event every year, which began with nearly 1,200 swimmers the first time around and will showcase its largest field of competitors to date this weekend. Only YMCA swim teams are eligible to participate and teams from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania will be on the deck for two full days of competition.
Among the local high schoolers who could be in for big performances, SPY’s Jack Bremer (Severn), Dylan Davis (Annapolis), Matt McKenney (Severna Park) and Katie Parker (Severna Park) are worth keeping an eye on.
Davis, a senior, returns to the pool where he took first place in the 100 back (53.90) and second in the 500 free (5:00.62) at last year’s Maryland 4A/3A state meet. He’ll swim the 400 medley relay, 200 and 100 back, 100 fly, 100 and 50 free, 400 free relay and 200 medley relay this weekend.
Bremer and McKenney are juniors and both will compete in numerous events. Bremer will test himself in the 200 and 100 back, 100 fly and 100 breast while McKenney focuses on the freestyle events. Parker is a freshman on the Falcons three-time defending state championship squad and will swim five relays along with the 200 and 50 free, 200 and 100 breast and 100 back.
“This meet just continues to get faster every year,” said SPY Coach and Maureen Kogut. “We made the qualifying times faster this year because we don’t want it to get too big, but more and more swimmers want to come ever year.
“We’re looking forward to another great meet this weekend.”
St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes sweeps Wilson
Heading into the final leg of the girls’ 400 free relay Thursday night at Wilson, St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes faced an uphill climb. For the second time this season, the Saints needed to win the event to take the meet but their top foursome was falling further and further behind the pace.
But senior captain Rachel Movius is the relay’s anchor for a reason, and she showed why with a personal best time to bring her team back and help the Saints capture a narrow 86-82 victory overall. Senior Caroline Blair, sophomore Marian Shaw and freshman Alison Lindsay made up the rest of the 400 free relay team.
Blair took first in the 500 free, Movius finished first in the 100 breast and the Saints also won the 200 free relay with a team made up of Lindsay, sophomore Lizzie Beane, senior Gabby Richichi and freshman Natalie Revers.
On the boys’ side, the Saints took a comfortable 116-54 win. Senior Cabell Perrot won the 200 free and 100 fly, senior Conor MacNair took first in the 200 IM and 100 breast, senior Ryan Gillooly finished first in the 50 free, freshman Ian Shackley won the 500 free and junior Ferrel Atkins took first in the 100 back. The Saints also swept all three relays.
(Matt Brooks contributed to this report.)
Tags: AAA Northern Region, Concorde District, Liberty District, Northern Region, Oakton High School, Virginia High School Swimming
Look for Langley to win big time.
“Come championship season, look for these two teams to once again contend for the Northern Region title.”
Ha Ha Ha. When was the last time Madison contended for the Region title?
What about Westfield boys beating Oakton and Robinson?
Fairfax Boys finished 2nd in the Liberty last year, not Langley
Yes, the Fairfax boys did finish second ahead of Langley, but overall, Langley took second at the Liberty championships (combined scores: Madison 840, Langley 738.50, TJ 648.50, Fairfax 610).
http://reachforthewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Liberty-District-Team-Scores.pdf
Please get your info straight, there is no over all or combined championship in Virginia HS swimming. There is a boys district champion and a girls district champion. I’m not sure who gave the Washington Post the power to create new championships in high school sports. Can we please get people who have some knowledge of swimming to be in charge of this site?
swimcoach, your point is, of course, correct. Unfortunately, there is no sports writer at the Washington Post or, for that matter at any other newspaper, who knows the first thing about swimming.
Haha..your kidding me right? Here is a site associated with one of the best newspapers in the country and you are complaining because the reporter combined men’s and women’s scores?
It is a HIGH SCHOOL swim meet for crying out loud. Get a grip, now they know and I would bet that the score was combined because that is what they do in summer league.
Honestly, between the whining that “talented” kids are not in the paper everyday having their 16 year old’s achievements genuflected to and the nitpicking over what is printed… I wouldnt blame the post for packing it in.
A couple of you should start blogging or offer your knowledge and writing skills to RFTW
I have to agree with swimfan. If there is so much interest in high school swimming where are all those results. Only two Virginia Northern Region high schools are providing their results to RTW and that is down from the four high schools last year. A lot of people seem to be reading and complaining about the coverage but few people are providing the raw materials for the reporters to work from. I think this should be a community effort and I personally find this website very informative. Before RTW we did not have anything. Most of the schools do not even keep up their own school websites, post results or scores. There does not appear to be any interest in promoting the sport of high school swimming in the northern region other than what RTW has put together. The Connection Newspapers will publish articles send to them by parents but they don’t necessarily report on the sport. RTW provides a valuable service that could be greatly enhanced if the parents and coaches in the area would provide the support.
I am not complaining about a lack of results… my comment is that what is reported needs to be reported accurately….. the high wouldn’t submit a “combined” score for a “combined” championship, the Post did this. And when a reader pointed that fairfax placed 2nd, the Post went out of there way to point the combined score… that they concocted….. the high schools don’t report a combined score…… do you see a combined cross country score from districts? do you see combined track scores??
hey, swimcoach…cool your jets and shut your mouth. the people at RFTW are doing there best and your being a complete jerk so shut it. hey people at RFTW…I LOVE YOUR WORK!!!!
Don’t worry swimcoach, when this site folds in a few months you will not have any more errors to whine about.