Swimming Season Outlook

Posted: December 21, 2013
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — As Clarke County swimming coach Carol Marshall began talking about the girls she lost from last year’s team, she couldn’t help but lament what might have been,

“[Giulia Invernizzi and Marylee Gowdy] really could have taken advantage of the new situation we’re in,” Marshall said.

While all athletes across the state will get a greater chance to compete at the state level because of the Virginia High School League’s new six-classification system, few will benefit more than those who swim for what used to be classified as Group A schools.

That’s because those schools used to have to compete with Group AA schools in a combined Group AA/A state meet. Swimming was the only sport at Clarke County that was forced to compete with Group AA schools at the state level.

The Eagles have had swimmers like Jacob McCorkle and Annie Bosacco garner all-state honors in recent years by placing in the top eight at the Group AA/A meet.

But it’s asking a lot for swimmers to make all-state when they aren’t consistently facing the type of competition they see at states, and it’s asking even more for the team to post strong results at the state level competing against schools with more students to choose from.

Now, high school swimming will go from two state competitions to five. Group 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A will each have their own state meets, and Group 2A (which is what the Eagles are in) and Group 1A will hold a combined state competition.

For every regional swim meet, the top six in each individual event and the top three finishers in each relay event — as well as those who have achieved state-qualifying times — will advance to state competition.

More good news for Clarke County is that the state has now set state-qualifying times more appropriate for schools of its size — previously, the Eagles were forced to achieve the same time standards as Northwestern District schools, who because of the stronger competition they were regularly facing had a better chance of achieving them.

Basically, the Eagles will have the opportunity to be more competitive, because they’re finally competing in a suitable environment for their size.

“We’ve always rallied around the people who we do get to states, but we’d like to be able to rally around the team as a whole,” Marshall said. “I think it’s great for us if we can get more people there and compete against schools that are similar to us. It might help future teams down the road, because this might get more people interested in our program.

“There’s a big difference when you’ve got people competing to be in the top tight as opposed to the top 20 [at states].”

With junior Emily Deem on board, the Eagles might even have a state champion.

In the Group AA/A meet, Deem placed 14th in the 50 freestyle and 21st in the 100 freestyle. But Deem did set two meet records in those events a week earlier at a Region B meet that included George Mason, which has to be considered the premier Group 2A or 1A swimming school in Virginia.

Deem has already qualified for the state meet in both of those events this season, and she will be expected to lead a young Eagles girls’squad. Junior Michaela Harrell (butterfly) who swam on two state-qualifying relays for the Eagles last year, is another key veteran.

Junior Matthew Nesselrodt, a state qualifier in the 50 free last year, will lead the Clarke County boys into the altered postseason landscape.

Conference meets are replacing district meets as the opening level of competition for the postseason now. District teams will still face each other in the regular season. The Northwestern District will not have a meet amongst its teams after the regular season, but the Bull Run District will.

James Wood, Millbrook and Sherando will be grouped in Conference 21 of the Group 4A North Region along with Dominion, Heritage, Loudoun County, Park View and Woodgrove.

Handley will be in Conference 23 of the 4A North with Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa County, Amherst County and Harrisonburg.

Individuals will have to finish among the top six in individual events and the top three in relay events in conference action to advance to the 4A North Region meet (Feb. 15 at George Mason University). They can also advance by achieving regional-qualifying times, which have yet to be determined.

Clarke County will not have a conference meet. Instead, the Eagles will open postseason competition in the 2A-1A East Region meet, which will include Madison County, George Mason, Strasburg, Stonewall Jackson, East Rockingham, Goochland, Maggie Walker, Prince Edward, Bruton and Appomattox.

For 2A-1A East, each participating school can enter two individuals and one relay per event, and each school may also enter additional swimmers who have achieved state-qualifying times for any event.

For the Northwestern District schools, it will be difficult to qualify its swimmers for the regional meet. For example, Dominion, Heritage and Charlottesville all placed in the top five in the Region II girls meet last year (Sherando was ninth to lead the Northwestern) and Dominion and Heritage boasted all the local boys’ teams in Region II.

Still, the feeling is that facing stronger competition should only make the local schools improve.

“It gives us an opportunity to spread our wings, and see different schools at different facilities,” said Sherando coach Joe Knight, who does not think his team has ever swam at the Claude Moore Community Center in Loudoun County, the site of this year’s Conference 21 meet.

As for the local schools, Handley coach Tag Grove believes the Sherando girls and boys are the favorites because of each team’s combination of depth and talent. The Warrior girls have won four straight Northwestern District regular season and meet titles.

The Sherando girls are led by two-time Winchester Star Girls’ Swimmer of the Year and seniorKelsey Dingman, who placed seventh in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 free last year.

Dingman — a team captain along with Brenna Sharp (freestyle, backstroke) and Kathleen Lauer (distance, backstroke) — was district champ in the 50 and 100 free last year, and needed just one meet to qualify for states in both events this year. Knight said Dingman will do more than just the sprints this year — she’s already recorded a personal-best time in the 100 butterfly and will likely do a variety of events.

The Warrior boys are paced by senior Mark Restrepo (third in the area in the 200 free last year) — who will co-captain with Andrew Mathew (backstroke) — and senior James Williams (second in the 400 free, third in the 100 back). Both Restrepo and Williams won events in Monday’s dual against Millbrook (Restrepo took the 200 free, Williams the 100 free).

Handley — the defending district champion on the boys’ side — will not return sophomore Carter Watts (district champ in the 100 backstroke), who elected not to swim this year. The Judges will feature junior Alex Day (third in the area in the 400 free last year, wins in the 50 free and the 100 free in the district opener against James Wood).

The Handley girls are unlikely to have the services of Haley Morefield — the defending district champion in the 100 back — this year because of a shoulder operation. Handley does return senior Liz Grove (200 individual medley district champ, 12th in the 200 IM and 13th in the 100 back in Group AA/A), who will look to swim in several different events, and district 400 free champion Aleksa Putnam.

Like Handley, Millbrook will also likely be without two underclassmen who were district champions last year. Mark Graham — a senior and The Star Boys’ Swimmer of the Year last season after placing eighth in Group AA/A in the 50 free — elected not to swim this year, and 100 butterfly champion Taylor Linder, a sophomore, may not swim this year because of a back injury.

The Pioneer boys still have junior Alex Morrow, the district champion in the 400 free who placed 17th in Group AA/A in the 500 free, and junior Hunter Doherty, who placed 22nd in Group AA/A in the 200 free. Millbrook’s girls have added nine freshmen, and Lindsay Fairbanks (200 free), Abbey Esslinger (200 IM) and Emily Bowman (100 butterfly) each won individual events in Monday’s dual meet with Sherando.

James Wood will be guided by a new coach in Kaitlyn Knott, a 2008 graduate of Cumberland Valley High School (Pa.), who swam in high school and played water polo in high school and at Penn State.

Knott inherits a strong group on the girls’ side, one that defeated Handley in its district opener. That group includes junior Sara Fergus — who did not swim last year but was a district champ in the 400 free and 100 butterfly as a freshman, going on to place in the top 20 at both events at the state meet. Her younger sister Abby, a freshman, won the 50 free and 400 free against Handley. Last year’s top scorer, sophomore Erin Jackson (the 200 free and 100 butterfly winner against Handley) is also back.

James Wood’s boys have two of the top swimmers in the area in senior Brian Baker (district champ in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, top 25 in both events at the state meet) and junior Conor Babington (district champ in the 100 butterfly and 200 free, top 18 in both events at the state meet).

The following is a glance at each area team:

Sherando

Coach: Joe Knight, 9th year.

Last year: Boys: 3rd in Northwestern District meet, 19th in Region II meet; Girls: Northwestern District meet and regular season champions, 9th in Region II meet.

Key losses: Boys: Jason Lee; Girls: Christina Lee, Taylor Waterman, Amber Lapsley, Kasey Johnson.

Top returners: Boys: Mark Restrepo, Sr., James Williams, Sr., Tommy McVey, Sr., Andrew Mathew, Sr., Adam Dubrueler, Sr., Jeremy Linaburg, So., Ethan Medrano, So.; Girls: Kelsey Dingman, Sr., Laura Ferguson, Jr., Brenna Sharp, Sr., Brianna English, Jr., Kathleen Lauer, Jr., Ashley Olenski, Jr., Haley Olenski, So.; Genesis Utz, Jr., Kelsie Utz, So., Meron Sira, Sr., Victoria Reese, So.

Top newcomers: Boys: Daniel Milburn, Fr., David Restrepo, Fr., Hunter Mayo, Fr.; Girls: Abigail Sears, Fr., Sarah Lauer, Fr.

Knight’s outlook: “Our girls should be competitive. There’s a lot of unknowns facing us right now, but we’re going to up against schools that should be strong in Heritage and Loudoun County. I’ll know more after we face Loudoun County Jan. 4.

“The boys are showing a lot of enthusiasm this year. We had a great meet with Millbrook (Sherando won), and that’s the best I’ve seen our boys swim in quite awhile.”

Millbrook

Coach: Will Sigler, 2nd year.

Last year: Boys: 2nd in Northwestern District meet, 8th in Region II meet; Girls: 3rd in Northwestern District meet, 16th in Region II meet.

Key losses: Boys: Mark Graham, Chris Wiens; Girls: Katie Kozlowski.

Top returners: Boys: Hunter Doherty, Sr., Alex Morrow, Jr., Chris Patton, Jr., Girls: Kaitlyn Oates, Sr., Abby McClellan, Jr., Taylor Cave, Sr., Ashlyn Tehoke, Sr.; Taylor Linder, So.

Top newcomers: Boys: None mentioned; Girls: Abbey Esslinger, Fr., Lindsay Fairbanks, Fr., Emily Lowman, Fr.

Sigler’s outlook: “The freshmen girls are definitely a class of pretty strong swimmers. Lindsey and Abbey should be competitive in every meet, and they should help our veterans like Kaitlyn Oates and Abby McClellan.

“Chris Patton, Hunter Doherty and Alex Morrow are all well-rounded swimmers. We’re going to be searching for a fourth person to help them on relays, but we think we’ve got three or four candidates who can step up and be successful.”

Handley

Coach: Tag Grove, 12th year.

Last year: Boys: Northwestern District meet and regular season champions, 9th in Region II meet; Girls: 2nd in Northwestern District meet; Tied for 13th in Region II meet.

Key losses: Boys: Taylor Watts, Carter Watts, Alex Johnson, Nathan Savoie, Clay Sublett; Girls: Medha Gopal.

Top returners: Boys: Alex Day, Jr., William Yuan, So., Troy Bergin, Sr., Brennen Smith, Sr., Cole Stevens, Jr., Chase Stevens, So., Ethan Franck, Sr.; Girls: Liz Grove, Sr., Aleksa Putnam, Sr., Eileen Wilkerson, Sr., Jackie Martin, Jr., Alexis Zygmunt, Jr., Haley Morefield, Jr.

Top newcomers: Boys: Scott Mikulec, Jr.; Girls: Catherine O’Keefe, Fr., Kara Johnson, Fr., Emily Snow, Jr. , Kennedy Eagle, Fr.

Grove’s outlook: “We only have 12 swimmers on each side (Eagle will leave in January to serve as a page in the Virginia House of Delegates to leave the girls with 11), and there aren’t a lot of them with experience. Most of them are strictly high school swimmers and don’t do summer league or Winchester Swim Team. This year the focus is going to be more on individual improvement, getting the times down and improving stroke technique.

“But overall, it’s one of the hardest working teams we’ve had. Practices have been going well, and I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far. We’’ve added Jenna Jacoby (a former Colgate swimmer and the daughter of former Washington Redskin and Handley assistant football coach Joe Jacoby) as an assistant coach, and the kids have really responded to her.”

James Wood

Coach: Kaitlyn Knott, 1st year.

Last year: Boys: 4th in Northwestern District meet, 11th in Region II meet. Girls: 4th in Northwestern District meet.

Key losses: Boys: Connor Green, Girls: None mentioned.

Top returners: Boys: Brian Baker, Sr., Conor Babington, Jr., Luke Farinholt, Sr.; Andrew Wood, Sr., Girls: Erin Jackson, So., McKenzie McNemar, Sr.

Top newcomers:Boys: None mentioned: Girls: Sara Fergus, Jr., Abby Fergus, Fr., Zoe Schopick, Fr.

Knott’s outlook: “I really like the potential of the girls’ team, and I have big expectations as far as what they can do the rest of the year.

“Conor Babington and Brian Baker are so hard-working and competitive, and I think they’re going to push each other far.”

Clarke County

Coach: Carol Marshall, 12th year.

Last year: Boys: 4th in Bull Run District meet, tied for 8th in Region B meet; Girls: 2nd in Bull Run District meet, 2nd in the Region B meet.

Key losses: Boys: Evan McKay, Dane Duncan; Girls: Giulia Invernizzi, Marylee Gowdy, Anna Peterson.

Top returners: Boys: Matthew Nesselrodt, Jr., Andrew Walraven, Sr., Greg Kruza, Blaise Guerin-Williams, So., Girls: Emily Deem, Jr., Kelly Wallace, Jr., Michaela Harrell, Jr., Alex Harden, Sr.,

Top newcomers:Boys: Dylan Nesselrodt, Fr., Logan Thorenson, Fr.; Girls: Natlalie Lyman, Fr., Rachel Gay, Fr., Eve Lettau, Jr.

Marshall’s outlook: “On the girls’ side, we’ve got some freshmen who could help us, and Rachel Lyman should be a good replacement for Anna Peterson in the breaststroke, Kelly Wallace should do well in distance. In another year, we should really be solid.

“The boys will probably be in better shape than the girls. We’re going to build our meets around Matthew Nesselrodt, Andrew Walraven and Greg Kruza, and hopefully someone can step up for the relays.”

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