PWSL Week 7- Divisionals

The PWSL held their Division Championship Meet July 29. The text below details the Red Division meet where Bridlewood, Kingsbrooke and Dominion Valley competed for the title, Bridlewood eked out the victory by 52 points! Here’s the rundown of other division champions: White: Ashland; Black: Old Bridge; Orange: Stonewall (by 70 pts!); Blue: Sudley (by 75.5 pts!); Purple: Veterans Park; Green: Wellington; Yellow: Lake Ridge

Full results can be found at the PWSL website

Content and pictures by: Brenten Gilbert

RED DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS – BRIDLEWOOD BWAVES AND KINGSBROOKE SEA LIONS @ DOMINION VALLEY SHARKS

As the final day of the 2017 Summer Season approached, a troubling weather pattern emerged, threatening to disrupt the culmination of all the hard work swimmers had put in over the past ten weeks. Friday afternoon, the rain began and, with an eye on the weather reports, PWSL’s Red Division members decided to delay the meet by an hour, hoping for a clearing long enough to conduct the meet.

The Kingsbrooke Sea Lions and the Bridlewood BWaves filed into the pool under a cloudy sky that only let the sun through long enough for the National Anthem to play, signifying the beginning of the championship contest. Then it was off to the races with the hosting Dominion Valley Sharks looking for their third straight Red Division title, the Sea Lions hoping to avenge last week’s defeat at Bridlewood, and the BWaves – in their 5th different division in as many years – setting their sights on a 4th straight Divisional crown as they continue to move up through the league’s ranks.

Relays set the tone of the meet as the BWaves and the Sharks traded first place finishes throughout the opening eleven contests, with a 6-5 advantage going to Bridlewood. The 11-12 Boys team of Christian Carroll, Brandon Gardner, Peter Gilbert, and Joseph Tillotson, chipped in on the 100m Medley Relay with a time of 1:05.95, shaving a half second off the team record to claim the victory. However, the two teams were deadlocked heading into the individual events, where the Sea Lions factored in as a foil to both teams, nabbing a handful of first place times in efforts to climb back into the contest.

Throughout the day, it was the BWaves and the Sharks who continuously exchanged top place on the leaderboard as the meet wore on, mimicking the weather as sunshine and rain clouds wrestled for control of the skies. A new story was told with each scoring update, a two point advantage for the Sharks then a six-point lead for the BWaves and vice versa, each scoring update spurring the teams on to push a little bit harder.

AJ Ross, celebrating his final meet swimming as a BWave, did his part, rewriting the team record books and setting new standards for 15-18 Boys 50m Free (24.12 seconds), 50m Back (27.50 seconds), and 50m Fly (26.55 seconds). Three other individual team records fell at the hands of Spencer Rowe (15-18 Boys 100m IM – 58.57 seconds), Jacob Thorpe (8&Under Boys 25m Back – 21.63 seconds), and Maecy Wells (10&Under Girls 100m IM – 1:22.02).

At the end of 62 (out of 67) events, the Sharks and the BWaves were tied back up, and the final five freestyle relays would decide the day. The BWaves stepped up and won the first two convincingly as the 9-10 Girls and 11-12 Boys each posted the third fastest times across the entire league. The Sharks answered with a new team record for the 11-12 Girls – also good for third fastest in the league. The BWaves 13-14 Boys charged back with another third best league-wide time of their own to give their team an advantage heading into the final relay. The Kingsbrooke 13-14 Girls helped the cause, claiming the final relay with a league record time of 1:58.58 to finish the meet on an exciting note.

With the final race in the books and clear skies overhead, the Sharks’ reign over the Red Division had ended as the BWaves claimed the championship by a margin of 52 points. The BWaves want to thank Dominion Valley and Kingsbrooke for a wonderful time and a well-contested meet.

Senior AJ Ross finished his BWaves swimming career with three team records on the day.	Senior Spencer Rowe en route to a new team record in the 100m IM.