James Wood's Warnagiris wins two state swimming titles

The top of the Virginia High School League state medal podium can no longer be considered uncharted waters for Frederick County swimming.

No Frederick County boy or girl in history had won a VHSL state swimming title heading into Friday’s Class 4 meet at SwimRVA in Richmond. James Wood junior Joe Warnagiris ended that drought and doubled his pleasure by winning two state titles, capturing the 200-yard individual medley and following that up with a victory in the 100 breaststroke later in the meet.

Coming into Friday, Warnagiris was the No. 2 seed for the 200 IM and the No. 6 seed for the 100 breaststroke. When the day was over, he had posted the fastest times of his life, both of which meet All-America Consideration (AAC) swimming standards. People who achieve the 100 fastest times in the country are considered All-Americans.

Warnagiris — who placed seventh in the 200 IM at last year’s state meet and swam the backstroke (he took fourth) as opposed to the breaststroke — was well aware that Frederick County was still in search of its first state swimming title. James Wood coach Jessica Barr said halfway through the season, Warnagiris told her he thought he could win twice at the state meet.

“I was full of energy,” said Warnagiris when asked about his emotions after winning the 200 IM. “I was just so happy. All my teammates were there for me when I got out [of the pool]. They all congratulated me. I could tell they were all happy, and everyone was just having a good time, enjoying living in the moment.

“I was feeling a little bit nervous [going into the meet], but I knew I had a chance to perform pretty well. I think the nerves came from excitement. I was excited to swim well.”

Warnagiris also helped the 200 medley relay earn All-State honors by placing fifth and swam on the 400 free relay team that won the “B” final to take ninth. James Wood tied for eighth as a team, just one spot lower than last year’s team that had a decorated group of seniors.

The Colonels scored 104 points. Millbrook was 29th out of 30 scoring teams with 4 points. Blacksburg won the title with 284 points, nine more than runner-up Jefferson Forest (275).

Monacan won the girls’ meet with 424 points and Jamestown was second with 326 out of 30 scoring teams. Millbrook (14th with 47 points), Sherando (17th with 34 points) and Handley (30th with 1 point) were the local scoring teams.

Warnagiris’ training and research helped propel him to his state titles.

In the 200 IM, Monacan junior Cooper Dilllman came in as the top seed at 1:52.81, with Warnagiris at 1:54.31. In the prelims, the duo took first and second, respectively, in 1:54.22 and 1:55.44. But Warnagiris’ top time for the Winchester Swim Team was a 1:52.53 he had recorded in November, so he was more than capable of going faster.

Warnagiris discovered that Dillman’s best stroke is the butterfly, which covers the first 50 meters of the IM. In the finals, Warnagiris focused on starting fast, and he covered the butterfly in 23.93, just 0.25 behind Dillman.

Warnagiris then took the lead for good with his backstroke leg. Halfway through the race, he was a full second ahead at 51.19 to Dillman’s 52.19. Warnagiris expanded his lead to 2.15 seconds with his breaststroke performance and that was more than enough to offset Dillman’s 0.71 advantage in the freestyle. When it was all over, Warnagiris touched the wall in 1:50.55 — a personal-best by nearly two seconds — and Dillman took second, 1.44 seconds behind in 1:51.99.

“I was expecting a little bit of a drop [in time], because we’ve been training really hard,” Warnagiris said.

Warnagiris had longer odds of winning the breaststroke coming into the meet. King George’s Malachi Caballero had a seed time of 58.24, 1.9 seconds faster than Warnagiris.

But Warnagiris recorded a time of 57.17 at the VA Rays Nutcracker Classic in Stafford at a meet held Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. He eclipsed that with the fastest time of anyone in the prelims with a 56.93, 0.63 ahead of Jefferson Forest’s Maxwell Schonfelder.

“I was expecting more of a 58 in prelims,” Warnagiris said. “A 56 was pretty surprising to me.”

In the finals, Warnagiris picked it up a notch with a 56.43 that beat Schonfelder by more than a second (57.46). Warnagiris was familiar with Schonfelder and Caballero from previous races, and he knew based on those experiences that he needed to start out fast.

“I was already in a good mindset from winning the 200 IM,” Warnagiris said. “I knew if I had done it once, I could do it again. I knew [two state titles] was possible [coming into the meet], but for it to actually happen is really amazing.”

Barr said it was great to see how happy Warnagiris’ James Wood and WST teammates from other schools were for his feats. “That definitely made it that much more memorable for him,” Barr said.

Warnagiris said he’s thankful for his teammates and coaches with James Wood and WST for helping him achieve his goals, particularly Colonels senior Ethan Britton and Jefferson (W.Va.) senior Nick Lugo.

As the results show, James Wood’s success this year wasn’t only because of Warnagiris.

In the 200 medley relay, Warnagiris teamed with junior Alex Hua, freshman Eddie Grimes and Britton to place fifth in a season-best 1:40.34. The same four swimmers combined to take ninth in the 400 free relay in 3:21.85, topping the season-best of 3:24.31 set in the prelims.

Warnagiris didn’t expect this year’s relays to be close to the success as last year’s relays. The 200 medley relay placed fourth last year (Warnagiris and Britton also swam on that relay), and the 400 free relay placed sixth (Warnagiris is the only returnee).

“With Eddie and Alex and Ethan, we were all able to surprise ourselves and do better than we thought we could at states,” Warnagiris said.

Grimes excelled individually as well. He earned All-State honors by placing seventh in the 100 backstroke in a season-best 55.64, and he took 11th in the 200 free in a season-best 1:49.11.

“For him to take seventh as a freshman is a really big accomplishment,” Barr said.

Barr was impressed with the relays.

“We played around a little bit with the medley relay, having the boys try the different strokes and see what was the best option,” Barr said. “To have another top-eight finish for the medley relay was a great way to kick off the meet.”

Two girls combined for three All-State performances in the girls’ meet.

Millbrook junior Kiera Webster had the highest finish, placing sixth in the 100 fly in a season-best 59.93. She also took 14th in the 50 free in a season-best 25.63.

Sherando senior Madelynn Twigg had the other two All-State performances, placing eighth in both the 100 free (54.00, season-best 53.66 in prelims) and 100 back (1:00.59, season-best 59.25 in prelims).

Other scoring performances:

Millbrook boys: Sophomore Nathan Truong, 13th in 2:04.74, season-best 2:03.62 in prelims.

Millbrook girls: Sophomore Riley Pillo, 9th in a season-best 1:00.62, 13th in the 200 IM in 2:18.28 (2:17.32 in prelims); 400 free relay (Pillo, sophomore Ansley Pendelton, sophomore Lauren Dennard, Webster), 9th in 4:00.21 (season-best 3:59.06 in prelims).

Sherando girls: 200 medley relay (Twigg, senior Addy Wallin, junior Reese Luong, sophomore Ellie Luong), 11th in 2:01.67.

Handley girls: Freshman Shane Kim, 16th in 200 free in 2:08.79, swam 2:05.78 in prelims.

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