Boys' swimming preview

The first-ever state runner-up finish for the Clarke County boys’ swimming team in 2022-23 only whetted its appetite to do even better in 2023-24.

Clarke County head coach Carol Marshall said this year’s squad is deeper than last year’s team, and the Eagles are plenty motivated.

“The boys are pushing each other in practice to swim fast,” wrote Marshall in an email. “They would like to be the first swim team with a state title.”

Clarke County certainly has the talent to do it. The Eagles had eight competitors in last year’s Class 2/1 state meet, and six of them are back. Defending Region 2B/1B champion Clarke County also has added three swimmers.

The returners account for 11 of the 12 spots on Clarke County’s three All-State relays from last year, including all four boys who swam on the 200 medley relay team which took second (junior Ryan Hooks, senior Ron Martin, senior Jefferson Fairbanks and junior Jack Westbrook) and every member of the third-place 200 freestyle relay team (Martin, Westbrook, senior Ethan Marchisano and Fairbanks). Hooks, Fairbanks and senior Patrick Whalen are back from last year’s sixth-place 400 free team.

Led by Fairbanks, the Eagles also piled up five All-State individual performances for placing in the top eight at last year’s state meet. The area’s second-fastest swimmer in the 50-yard freestyle (22.57 seconds), Fairbanks placed third in Class 2/1 in that event last year. Clarke County also was led individually by Hooks (sixth in the 100 back and seventh in the 50 free) and Whalen (sixth in the 500 free, seventh in the 200 free). Martin placed 14th in the 100 fly.

Virginia High School won last year’s Class 2/1 state crown with 202 points, 33 more than Clarke County. Based on last year’s results, the Bearcats won’t bring back as many All-State swimmers as the Eagles (four of seven), but Virginia High has one major advantage over Clarke County. Only two people competed in last year’s Class 2/1 diving competition, and Bhraedon Meredith could be back to defend his state title in that event. His victory netted 20 points for Virginia High and the Eagles don’t participate in diving.

In Class 4, James Wood lost 12 seniors, including four All-Area selections from a team that placed seventh in the state and took second in Region 4C. One of them is Paul Warnagiris, the 2022 Winchester Star Boys’ Swimmer of the Year who is now competing for NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb University.

His younger brother Joe, the reigning Winchester Star Swimmer of the Year, is one of several talented swimmers who are back for the Colonels, though. Warnagiris posted the area’s fastest time in the 100 backstroke (51.52) and the No. 2 time in the 200 individual medley (1:56.99) last year, and he earned All-State honors in both events (fourth in the 100 back, seventh in the 200 IM).

James Wood’s other returnees include All-Area Second Team selections Alex Hua (junior; third in the area in the 100 backstroke, 1:01.80, and third in the district); Ethan Britton (senior; third in the district in the 50 free), and Michael Thompson (sophomore, fourth in the district in the 500 free).

Millbrook (eighth in Region 4C) will feature a strong returning nucleus that will be led by Zachary Carter. The senior had the area’s second-fastest times in both the 200 free (1:51.29) and 100 butterfly (55.22) last year, and he was a state qualifier in both events. Senior Wyatt Post (fourth in the 200 free and fifth in the 100 fly at the district meet) and sophomore Nathan Truong (third in the 500 free and sixth in the 200 IM in the district) were also First Team All-Area selections last year along with Carter.

Sherando (seventh in Region 4C) lost its longtime coach Joe Knight, who retired after 18 seasons at the helm in March (see the girls’ season preview for more on Knight’s accomplishments). The Warriors will now be guided by Sarah Keefauver.

Sherando also lost its best swimmer in Toby Winston. As a sophomore Winston earned All-State honors in both the 50 free (sixth) and 100 free (eighth) but is not swimming for Sherando this year. The Warriors took seventh in Region 4D last year.

Handley also has a new coach, with assistant Alisha Hilliard taking over for Tag Grove, who resigned in July after a 21-season stretch in which the Judges boys won two district titles and finished fourth in Group AA/A in 2008 and eighth in 2009. The Judges only had four boys’ swimmers last year but have eight this season.

In making the move from Region 4C to Region 4D, the Class 4 Northwestern District schools will face some powerful competition. Blacksburg was second and Jefferson Forest was third in Class 4 last year. At the Region 4D meet, each team can enter any swimmer with a state qualifying time in an individual event, and as many as three swimmers who haven’t achieved state times in a particular individual event.

The following is a glance at each area team:

Clarke County

Coach: Carol Marshall, 22nd season.

Last year: Region 2B/1B champions; second in Class 2/1 state.

Key losses: Danny Harwell, Matthew Marsden, Dylan Rosenbohm.

Key returnees: Jefferson Fairbanks, Sr.; Ryan Hooks, Jr.; Ethan Marchisano, Sr.; Ron Martin, Sr.; Jack Westbrook, Jr.; Patrick Whalen, Sr.

Key newcomers: Landon Beamer, Fr.; Ethan Franceschini, Jr.; JT Pigott, Fr.

Marshall’s outlook: “I have high expectations from this group of swimmers. They have the motivation to perform well and are willing to push themselves in practice. Jefferson Fairbanks, Ryan Hooks, Ron Martin and Jack Westbrook have set a tone at practice to lead the swimmers. (Marshall emailed her comments while Whalen was still playing football.) You can have fun at the wall between sets, but there is no fooling around between the walls while swimming. The squad is as strong if not stronger than last year as we have a bit more depth to help cover events.”

James Wood

Coach: Jessica Barr, fifth season.

Last year: Class 4 Northwestern District champions; second in Region 4C; seventh in Class 4 state.

Key losses: Paul Warnagiris, Andrew Thompson, Trent Rakowski, Reagan Kite, Chris Ballentine, Reid Malony.

Key returnees: Joe Warnagiris, Jr.; Ethan Britton, Sr.; Alex Hua, Jr.; Michael Thompson, So.

Key newcomers: Eddie Grimes, Fr.; Zach Harrington, Fr.

Barr’s outlook: “Coming off a very successful season, our boys’ team looks very different this year after losing 12 members. The team still has a considerable amount of talent, especially after the addition of two key freshmen that are both year-round swimmers with [Winchester Swim Team]. Despite lacking the depth that we’ve had in previous years, we should still be fairly competitive in our district. I know they are looking forward to seeing just how well they can do collectively as one of the smallest teams. Ethan Britton has spent more time preparing for this season than in previous years. He has worked to develop some additional strokes and to improve as not only a sprinter, but also at the middle distance events.

“I know the boys really wanted the opportunity to compete for another district championship this year after edging out Kettle Run to take it last year. We still have some opportunities to swim against all of our district opponents from last year to see how we match up. In terms of the new alignment, it will be interesting to see how the new Region 4D schools compare to the ones from Region 4C. The travel down to Christiansburg [for the region meet] is less than ideal, but it should still lead us to qualifying a relay team to states as well as multiple top 5 finishers that will also advance on to states.”

Sherando

Coach: Sarah Keefauver, first season.

Last year: Third in Class 4 Northwestern District; seventh in Region 4C; tied for 19th in Class 4.

Key losses: Evan Mercer, Ian Liang, Toby Winston.

Key returnees: Joe Moe, Sr.; Jackson Hepner, Jr.; Ryan Ames, Sr.

Key newcomers: Christian Morgan, Fr.; Sam Brooks, So.

Keefauver’s outlook: “We expect our seniors and returning swimmers to continue to build on the successes of last season, while understanding that we are in a rebuilding year with new coaches and new expectations. Joe Moe and Ryan Ames will be key leaders to our team and strong competitors.”

Millbrook

Coach: Will Sigler, 10th season.

Last year: Fourth in Class 4 Northwestern District; eighth in Region 4C.

Key losses: Nicholas Barreda, Odin Kulp, Javier Landers, John Doepper.

Key returnees: Zachary Carter, Sr.; Franco Menay, Sr.; Alejandro Landers, Sr.; Nathan Regula, Sr.; Wyatt Post, Sr.; Nathan Truong, So.

Key newcomers: Xavier LaFalce, Fr.

Sigler’s outlook: “We look forward to heading back to states with swimmers in individual events. We also are aiming to have a boys’ relay qualify for states. We have our key returners and a newcomer who will help us with the competitiveness during the season. Zachary Carter qualified for states in individual events and will help anchor some of our relays. I think [moving to Region 4D] will add a new competitiveness to the season with all the new teams we will be swimming against in the region. This new format will give more swimmers the opportunity to swim at a region meet.”

Handley

Coach: Alisha Hilliard, first season.

Last year: Seventh in Class 4 Northwestern District; 15th in Region 4C.

Key loss: Lucas Mammano.

Key returnee: Rutledge Patterson, Jr.

Key newcomer: Will Thomas, So.

Hilliard’s outlook: “We have a lot of new people this season, which is great. At the same time, that means there is a range of experience levels, but everyone has been putting in a lot of effort and working hard to develop their skills. So while we’re rebuilding as a team, we’re also hoping to see some good racing. I expect we’ll have some strong individual performances.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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