Both the George Mason High School boys and girls swim teams continued their undefeated campaigns last Friday, Feb. 13, dominating the field during the Region B Meet. The Mason boys were crowned Region champs for the second time, while the girls squad won their first-ever Region title.
The boys finished 45 points ahead of runner-up Clarke County and the girls earned an astounding 177 points in the blowout. Mason swimmers compiled 44 new personal best times including six lowered team records.
Sophomore Will Doty and freshman Carolyn Schmitt earned honors as the top swimmers in the Region, winning the Region B Swimmer of the Year awards. The Swimmer of the Year award is given to the boy and girl who compile the highest point totals at the Region Meet. Mason head coach Jon-Michael Lemon, along with assistant coach Janice Nette, were given the Region B Coach of the Year award, an honor given to the coaches of the winning team at the meet.
At regionals, the girls 200-yard medley relay team, consisting of freshmen Gen Jordan and Schmitt and juniors Karen Hamill and Kelley Frank, dropped their record mark to 2:02.69; 2.11 below their former clip. Junior Brandy Arredondo broke the team’s individual 200 yard freestyle record, lowering her time to 2:16.81.
Frank re-set her own record in the 100-yard butterfly, dropping the time 2.05 seconds from her own former mark. Schmitt snatched one of Frank’s former records, topping Frank’s 100 yard breaststroke time of 1:16.34 with a blazing 1:15.16.
On the boys side, senior Carlos Clark broke a record formerly held by sophomore Sam Butler in the 200-yard individual medley. Clark lowered the top time from Butler’s 2:16.10 to 2:15.68. Just a week prior to the Region B meet, the Mason swim teams competed in the Single A Invitational where they earned the honors of being named the top Single A teams in Virginia. The chronology was a bit skewed with the State competition coming before the Regional one, but the Mason swimmers were able to shine once again despite the unconventional scheduling.
The Mustangs’ season came to a close with the Regional Meet, though fifteen individuals will be moving on to the A/AA State Meet. While the meet is mainly for AA schools, the Mason standouts who earned slots in certain events throughout the season by making ‘state qualifying’ benchmark times will be able to use the meet to see where they stack up against some of the top swimmers in the state. Mason’s state qualifiers are Sam Butler, Will Doty, Carlos Clark, Sam Parker, Jack Cashin, Dane Warner, Karen Hamill, Kelley Frank, Gen Jordan, Carolyn Schmitt, Brandy Arredondo, Eva Estrada, Claire Constance, Leah Thirkill, and Rachel Hassan, who made the meet as a diver.
