Last Saturday it was merely the same story, just a different chapter for the George Mason High School swim team. The boys dominated the competition at the Region B meet held at Strasburg High, taking their second straight regional title, while the girls came a mere .26 seconds away from capturing their own championship.
With the top two finishers in each event moving on to the state tournament next weekend, the boys completed every event with a Mustang placing either first or second, a testament to the incredible depth of the squad.
As they have done all season, the boys’ 200-yard medley relay team, comprised of seniors Jeff Williams, Kyle Nette, Andrew Breen and sophomore Sam Parker, kicked off the meet with a victory.
Parker took first in the 200-yard individual medley and second in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Williams finished first in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard backstroke.
Nette additionally took first in the 100-yard butterfly, while freshman Will Doty finished second in the same event, as well as the 100-yard backstroke. Doty, Williams, Nette and junior Carlos Clark completed the meet with a victory in the last event, the 400-yard freestyle.
Clark will be heading to states in two events, the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, finishing first and second, respectively. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Breen, Clark, Nette and freshman Sam Butler finished just a mere .57 seconds behind Clarke County, but will move on to the state meet at George Mason University nonetheless.
Rounding out the individual winners on the boys’ side was Butler in the 50-yard freestyle, who finished with Breen .7 seconds behind. Mason finished with 167 total points for their efforts in the events, 30 points ahead of the nearest competitor.
The Lady Mustangs were tied with Clarke going into the 400 yard freestyle relay, and a strong start by the Eagles saw Mason behind early going into the final leg. However, freshman Kelley Frank swam an incredible 100 yards, making up the difference, only to be out-touched by Cammie Genda of Clarke, who took the victory in the event and with it, the Region B title.
Frank, who finished fourth in the state meet last year, rides into the Feb. 8 match with a plethora of victories under her swim cap, as she finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 500-yard freestyle, winning by 13 and 55 seconds, respectively.
In addition, Frank served as the anchor leg for the 200-yard medley relay team of seniors Jourdan Frankovich, Krisie Southern and sophomore Karen Hamill. Aside from Frank, Frankovich was the only other female individual winner, besting the nearest competitor in the 200-yard freestyle by 14 seconds.
Southern and Hamill each finished second in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke, respectively. Southern, Gorhandas, Frankovich and Hamill joined to make up the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team.
Although they finished 10 points behind Clarke, Mason saw their female swimmers place first or second in all but three events as well. In two of those three events, a Mustang took third.
The team will take the quick journey to Manassas to swim at George Mason University’s pool next Friday and Saturday. In a meet comprised primarily of AA high schools, the Mustangs are looking to surprise and make a name for themselves.
Marshall High Swim Update
In its last meet before the Liberty District competition, the George C. Marshall High School swim and dive team was defeated by Thomas Jefferson High. However, the girls scored a season high 101 points, and entered the district meet with high hopes.
Against Jefferson, senior Cassie Self placed first in the dive competition, while freshman Leah Noordhuizen took first in both the 500-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke.
Juniors Lexie Jones and Amanda Crider took second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard IM, while junior Lauren Hahm and freshman Amanda Campbell placed second and third in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.
The lone bright spot on the boys side came from Hynwoo Koo, who placed third in the 100-yard freestyle.
In the district meet this past week, Self broke the Marshall school record point total of 399.80 in the dive competition. With the Statesmen's season now over, Self will now look forward to entering college, where she will dive for Clemson next fall.
