Wood Girls, Clarke Boys Win In Swimming Dual Meet

Posted: January 16, 2015
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

STRASBURG — As James Wood sophomore Zoe Schopick was pulled away from a group of people Thursday night at the Signal Knob Recreation Center, one of the girls she was talking to remarked, “I’m the president of her fan club.”

Thursday was just the latest example of why Schopick has a number of admirers in the area swim community.

Schopick captured the 200-yard individual medley, barely missed achieving a state cut in winning the 100 fly — her best event — and contributed to the Colonels’ win in the 200 medley relay as the James Wood girls defeated Clarke County 110-60 in a non-district dual meet.

The James Wood girls also had junior Erin Jackson win two events (the 100 freestyle in 1:01.44 and the 100 backstroke in 1:06.28) to highlight the team’s performance.

Led by double individual winners Jacob David (200 IM in 2:26.06 and 500 free in 6:01.25) and Blaise Guerin-Williams (100 free in 57.70 and 100 breaststroke in 1:16.74) Clarke County defeated James Wood in the boys’ competition 105-56. Conor Babington claimed wins in both the 200 free (2:00.36) and 100 back (59.78) for the Colonels.

Competing against Clarke County sprint freestyle star Emily Deem in both individual events, Schopick won the 200 IM by five seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 30.08 seconds, then took the 100 fly by nine seconds with a time of 1:04.02, just 0.13 off the state qualifying time she’s looking for.

Schopick said with a smile that it was “annoying” to come so close to a state cut without getting it.

But because of another close finish, James Wood coach Kaitlyn Knott figures it’s only a matter of time before she gets it. At last year’s Group 4A state meet, Schopick placed ninth in the 100 fly, missing the eight-person state finals by just one spot.

“I think I’m swimming well right now,” Schopick said. “I really want to make it to finals this year.”

Signal Knob is also where Schopick trains with her USA swim team, Valley Swim Team Phoenix, so it was not a surprise to Knott to see her do as well as she did.

“We’re back here in two weeks against Strasburg, so we should be able to get that [state] time there,” Knott said. “She’s used to this pool, so I think that really helps her.”

Joining Schopick on the 200 medley relay team (2:07.29) were Jackson, Brooke Marcy (first in the 100 breast in 1:22.73) and Sara Fergus (first in the 50 free in 28.22). Also adding wins for the James Wood girls were Lydia Sunderlin in the 200 free (2:22.75) and Laura Moss in the 500 free (6:58.14). Jackson, Abby Fergus, Katie Sunderlin and Lydia Sunderlin also teamed to win the 400 free relay (4:23.08).

Knott thought James Wood performed well across the board. The Colonel girls have made their mark in a lot of meets this year, including a victory in the sprint style City-County meet in December.

“I think we’re doing really well,” Schopick said. “We’re really improving.”

Clarke County coach Carol Marshall used Thursday’s meet as a chance to give the muscles of her experienced swimmers a break from their usual routine, which is partly why Deem — who has already qualified for states in the 50 free and 100 free — swam the IM and fly Thursday.

Even if the Eagles weren’t aiming for spectacular performances, Deem said it was good to swim against competition like James Wood. The Eagles have swam against all three Frederick County teams this year.

“It’s nice to have competition to push you,” said Deem, who added that she “loved” her 200 IM performance. “I love swimming against this team.”

Overall, Deem — who was second in the 50 free and third in the 100 free at the Group 2A/1A state meet last year — feels she’s on track to close out her final year of high school strong.

“Over Christmas break I had the flu and bronchitis, so it was tough,” she said. “But now I feel like I’m getting back into it. States is five weeks away, so I feel like my training will have me ready for it. I’m happy with this season so far.”

Deem also anchored the 200 free relay team that won in 1:54.36. Also on that team were Makenzie Reshetar, Piper Mettenburg and Natalie Lyman.

For the Clarke County boys, Thursday’s win improved their record to 2-1 against Frederick County foes after previously beating Millbrook. Considering that most Bull Run District teams have a hard time matching up with the Eagles, Marshall felt swimmers on both her teams responded well to the challenge of James Wood as evidenced by numerous large time drops.

“Sometimes [our swimmers] freak out when they see that meet program and see there are two kids swimming faster than them,” Marshall said. “I just say, ‘Well, find it within you, and drop time.’ And a lot of times they step up to the challenge and they go, ‘I didn’t know I could do that.’”

Clarke County senior Matthew Nesslerodt has pretty much done it all in his career, including two top-six finishes at states last year and three state cuts (the 100 free, 100 back and 200 IM) coming into Thursday. On Thursday he went out and did the 50 free for the first time this year and dominated with a 23.67 for a four-second win and his fourth state cut of the year.

“He didn’t want to swim it this week, but I told him if he didn’t do it this week that he wasn’t going to have a time [to be eligible for the postseason],” Marshall said. “He wasn’t really mentally prepared to swim it today, but he went out and did a great job.”

Nesslerodt also swam on the winning 200 medley relay (1:57.17) with David, Guerin-Williams and Jarrett Wagner and the winning 200 free relay team(1:43.28) with Guerin-Williams, Greg Shippa and Wagner. Clarke County (4:11.31) also won the 400 free relay behind Wagner, Shippa, David and Dylan Nesslerodt.

Swimming the 100 backstroke, Matthew Nesslerodt suffered a rare defeat. But that was hardly a big deal because it came against his friend and Winchester Swim Team teammate Babington, who’s taking a strong aim this year at becoming the second swimmer in area history to win a state title.

Babington showed his versatility and conditioning by swimming the 200 free for the first time all year two minutes after swimming in the 200 medley relay and winning it with the best time in the area this year. Babington then topped Nesslerodt by five seconds in the 100 back.

But the two events that Babington is really gearing up for are the 100 fly (third in the state last year) and 50 free (eighth).

“I thought I swam pretty well tonight with what I’ve been doing as far as training and lifting,” Babington said. “I’ve been working hard, and my goal is to get a state championship. I want to see my teammates do well too. They’ve been working harder than I expected this year, which is awesome. Hopefully we can get to regionals with a relay team.”

James Wood also had Dean Ludwig earn a win, as he took the 100 fly in 1:14.30.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1