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| MEET RECAPS |
| January 9, 2009 - Kecoughtan Invitational |
 Is it safe? - Shortly after the finals session begun, the question many were waiting to have answered was finally addressed. The answer was yes, it is safe. We are of course taikng about the meet record for the girls 200 medley relay. It was set two seasons ago & then lost & reset last season. This year, there would be no breaking of said record, but that didn't mean the race was without drama. But, before we even got to that point, the boys' 200 medley relay of Connor Culleiton, Alex Hamrick, Bobby "Hurt-foot" Kelly, & Johhny Germanis got the fun started with a 16th-place finish in said event. The girls medley relay of Sana Alloo, Natalie Leake, Taylor Avery, & Abby McCranie took the pool next & finished with a 2nd-place finish & new season's best time. They were also able to lower their State meet cut time. All in all, they missed winning the event by .17 of a second & edged the 3rd-place team by .02 of a second. |
| 200 & 400 free relays - Despite the success of the medley relays, what was probably most impressive was the performances of all the free relays. The boys 200 free relay finished 13th at prelims with a combination of Connor, Johnny, Jonathan Clark, & Michael Helme. The team came back to finals with Mitch Cole & Andy Balberde joining Johnny & Connor for a 11th place finish & a season's best time. The girls 200 relay of Natalie, Taylor, Abby, Jenn Hagan (prelims), & Yoona Kim (finals) held their 2nd-place prelim seed by finishing 2nd at finals with a season best time - just missing their state cut by .17 of a second. The girls 400 free relay of Jenn, Yoona, Sana, & Jessica Sussman moved up one sport from prelims to finals & finished 13th due to best times by all four girls. The girls 'B' 200 relay of Jessica, Yoona, Erin Hessler, & MacKenzie Cripe finished 17th at prelims making then the 1st alternate for the finals session. And, despite a little slip-up, the boys 400 free relay of Michael, Mitch, Jonathan, & Nick Cole swam a set of incredible splits at prelims to set them up for a 14th-place seed going into finals. But sadly, an early take-off prevented them from swimming finals & as we said on Saturday, better at Kecoughtan than at Districts. |
| Individual events - Natalie & Johnny cranked out top-8 finishes in both of their respective events. Natalie won the 100 breaststroke in the closest win of the entire meet (.01 of a second) & finished 4th in the 50 free. Johnny finished 6th in the 50 free & 7th in the 100 fly. He narrowly missed the state cut in the 50 during prelims (.08 of a second) & while leading off the 200 free relay at finals (.09 of a second). Taylor finished 3rd in the 100 fly by posting a lifetime best time & 9th in the 50 free. Sana finished 15th in the 200 free & 13th in the 100 back, while Abby finished in 14th in the 50 free & 15th in the 100 free (both best times). |
| State cuts - Natalie Leake (100 breast) & 200 medley relay (girls - Sana Alloo, Natalie Leake, Taylor Avery, & Abby McCranie) |
| Region cuts - Taylor Avery (50 free & 100 fly), Natalie Leake (50 free), Johnny Germanis (50 free), 200 free relay (girls - Taylor Avery, Abby McCranie, Yoona Kim, & Natalie Leake) |
| December 11, 2009 - Centreville @ Chantilly |
| Girls Knock Off Chantilly - After a extremely hard fought meet, the girls team came out on top by scrapping for just about every point they could get their hands on. Going into the meet, the goal was to avoid the dreaded 8th place because for 8th, you get nothing but a pat on the back. In 10 of the 11 events, the girls were able to achieve that goal. The 12th event was a little odd. Technically, we were awarded an 8th, but it wasn't given based on effort or lack there of, but a technicality beyond our control. On the even more positive side, the girls were able to gather seven 1st-place finishes. Natalie Leake won both the 200 IM & 100 breast, while Taylor Avery (100 fly), Susie Lesniewski (100 free), & Sana Alloo (100 back) tacked on a few more 1st-place finishes. The other two victories were posted by the 200 medley relay (Sana, Natalie, Taylor, & Susie) & 200 free relay (Susie, Taylor, Yoona Kim, & Natalie). |
| Divers Clean-up Again - The divers cleaned-up again, outscoring Chantilly 21-7, but it wasn't enough to come out on top once everything was added up. Dylan Anderson (diving) notched the first victory of the night, with Chance Roman (diving) following right behind with a 2nd-place finish (he also snuck over & swam in one of the 200 free relays). Johnny Germanis continued his stellar season with not only a win in the 100 free & 2nd in the 200 IM, but two more region cuts in both of his events. Connor Culleiton (50 free) added a 2nd-place place finish while contributing with Johnny, Bobby Kelly, & Michael Helme for two more 2nd-place finishes in the 200 medley & free relays. |
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| December 5, 2009 - Centreville @ Herndon |
| Despite the ridiculous weather & adventure we had getting to the pool, the night turned out to be a great success. The girls were able to notch their first win of the season & both teams combined for six region cuts & one state cut. Read more about the cuts on the news & notes page. |
| Girls Swat the Hornets - Trailing by 7 points after the 50 free, the girls picked up the pace over the last 8 events to prevail. The rally began during the 500 free when Sana Alloo, Katie Schwindt & MacKenzie Cripe took 1st, 3rd, & 4th to pull the girls ahead 111-110. After that point, the girls began to pull away. The gap began to widen with a win in the 200 free relay (Susie Lesniewski, Taylor Avery, Jenn Hagan, & Natalie Leake). Strong swims in the 100 back by Sana, Abby McCranie, & Rachel Avery & then in the 100 breast by Natalie, Shannon O'Donnell, & Jessica Sussman put the girls up by 7 going into the last event of the night, the 400 free relay. In order to insure the victory, the girls would need at least 6 more points. Fortunately, they were up to the task as the team of Abby, Yoona Kim, Sana, & Jessica took 1st (10 pts) & the team of Erin Hessler, Jenn, Shannon, & Katie took 3rd (3 pts). |
| Boys Get the Stinger - The boys gave it their best against a traditionally strong Herndon boys' squad. Hands down, the highlight of the night was Johnny Germanis doubling up with two 1st place finishes (and region cuts) in both the 50 free & 100 fly. Chance Roman followed his 1st place finish from the night before with a 2nd place finish this time around. While there were a number of great swims on the boys side of the meet, one of the best was Jonathan Clark in the 200 IM. In case you missed it, Jonathan finished with a flurry in the final 50 & nearly snuck in for 2nd place. He finished 3rd by .08 of a second. |
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| December 4, 2009 - Westfield @ Centreville |
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| Congratulations to the Wildcat divers! The boys' & girls' quartets outscored the Bulldogs 22-4 & 18-8, respectively. Chance Roman, Calder Street, & Michael Colasuomo swept the top three spots taking 1st through 3rd, while Talon Jenks fllowed closely with a 5th place finish. On the girls' side, Mary Pat Colandro, Rebekah Balint, Kendall Carlson, & Lauren Johnston took 2nd through 5th place. |
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