James Wood boys take seventh in Class 4 swimming

RICHMOND — The members of James Wood’s boys’ 400-yard medley relay had just improved on their finals seed to take sixth in Class 4 — the best finish among Region 4C schools — but there were no smiles as they settled back into the spot where the Colonels had stored their belongings.

There were hugs, however, on Saturday at the Class 4 state swim meet at SwimRVA. It was hard for a team with several key seniors to think about the fact that they wouldn’t be competing together again for James Wood, but they made sure each other knew just how much they were appreciated.

Seniors Trent Rakowski, Andrew Thompson and Paul Warnagiris and Paul’s sophomore brother Joe recorded a time of 3 minutes and 18.01 seconds in the finals after finishing the prelims in seventh in 3:17.99.

“Being the only non-senior on [the 400 free] relay ... I’m just so happy for [the seniors],” said sophomore Joe Warnagiris, who had to pause to collect himself. “They mean a lot. I’ve been swimming with them last year and this year. I’ve grown up with Andrew, and Paul obviously my whole life.”

The Colonels had two relays earn All-State honors by placing in the top eight after none did so last year. Joe Warnagiris had two All-State performances (fourth in the 100 back, seventh in the 200 individual medley) and Paul Warnagiris had one (eighth in the 200 IM) to lead James Wood to program-best seventh as a team, an improvement of six spots from last year.

Western Albemarle placed first out of 28 scoring schools with 369 points and Blacksburg was second with 276. The Colonels scored 111 points. With sophomore Toby Winston earning two All-State medals, Sherando tied for 19th with 24 points. Millbrook did not score. Handley did not have any participants.

The Warnagiris brothers and Thompson teamed with junior Ethan Britton to place fourth in the 200 medley in a season-best time of 1:38.24 (James Wood entered the meet as the No. 5 seed) to start off a successful day for the Colonels’ relays. The 200 free relay team of senior Reagan Kite, sophomore Alex Hua, Rakowski and Britton also scored points for the Colonels, placing 13th in 1:32.85.

There was some sadness, but clearly, also a lot to feel good about.

“Our relays did amazing today,” said Paul Warnagiris, who will swim for NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb University next year. “All of us put in the same amount of work every single practice since November to do this, and it finally paid off. I’m just so happy.”

James Wood coach Jessica Barr said the tears that she saw from the boys at the end of the meet were fitting.

“That showed me and showed them that they’ve given their hearts out all day today,” Barr said. “All season long, they’ve really stepped up. Each person kind of filled their role, not just on relays all season, but in their individual events. They really pushed each other. It’s a special group of kids for me, because this is the first group I’ve had for all four years. I couldn’t be more pleased with their performance, especially the relays.”

Joe Warnagiris led the way individually. In recording a time of 51.61 in the 100 back, the school record-holder improved on his sixth-place finish from last year’s state meet. (Joe recorded a 51.55 in prelims, just off his seed time of 51.52). And after failing to qualify for the 9th through 16th “B” final last year in the 200 IM (Joe took 17th), Joe improved on his seed time by almost seven seconds and recorded a 1:56.99 in taking seventh this year. He had a 1:57.03 in the prelims.

Joe was happy with the IM, and he said his turns and underwater swimming have made a difference in the backstroke this year. Joe’s top time is 1.74 seconds better than last year in the backstroke. Paul wasn’t able to match his two All-State performances from last year, but he still performed solidly in taking eighth in the 200 IM in 1:58.53 and 10th in the 100 breast in 1:01.21 after recording a 1:00.64 in the prelims.

“It was really cool for me to see both brothers in the final of the 200 IM,” Barr said. “I know they’ve pushed each other all their lives. It was kind of just one final hurrah, especially with it being Paul’s senior year.”

Paul couldn’t say enough about his teammates. Also for James Wood, Thompson scored by placing 15th in the 100 fly (55.21, 54.91 in the prelims).

“We’re all emotional right now,” Paul said. “I’m so proud of my brother Joe, Andrew, Trent, Reagan, Alex and Ethan, they busted their butt every single day to get here, and it’s amazing they could swim at finals and perform on the big stage.”

Winston qualified for last year’s state meet in the 50 free and took 11th. He earned his first All-State medals on Saturday by placing sixth in the 50 free in 21.55 and eighth in the 100 free in 47.93 after recording a 47.60 in the prelims.

At last year’s Region 4C meet Winston swam 22.64 in the 50 free and 50.14 in the 100 free. Winston’s top time in those events coming into Saturday this season were 22.34 and 48.41, respectively, so he not only has improved significantly in the last year, but also dropped significant time this season at the state meet.

“I did a lot better than I thought I would today,” Winston said. “One thing I’ve done differently this season is focusing on the specifics more. Instead of just general swimming I started working on my underwaters, my dives, stuff like that.”

Sherando coach Joe Knight feels Winston is starting to realize his potential.

“He had an outstanding meet,” Knight said.

Millbrook’s lone state qualifier was junior Zack Carter. In his first state meet, he placed 22nd in 1:51.29 in the 200 free and 25th in the 100 fly in 55.93.

“This was a good experience for him,” Pioneers coach Will Sigler said. “We definitely look forward to having him back next year.”

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