Championship season is here!
By Reach for the Wall Staff;
Lead photo courtesy Gonzaga, Good Counsel, and WT Woodson Instagram
The torrent of championship meets got kicked off January 13-14, with the National Catholic meet at Loyola University, Baltimore, MD. Fifteen schools from the DMV took on schools from Florida to New York. In the team standings for the Girls, Good Counsel was the top finisher, capturing 4th place, followed by Stone Ridge (7th), O’Connell (10th), St. John’s (11th), Oakcrest (12th), Holy Cross (13th), Saint John Paul the Great (15th), and Ireton 19th. The Boys standing saw Gonzaga take 3rd, DeMatha (4th), Georgetown Prep and The Heights(6th), O’Connell (11th), Ireton (17th), Good Counsel (21st), St. John’s (22nd), Saint Anselm’s (24th) and Saint John Paul the Great (25th).
Individual winners
- Elizabeth Bryan (Oakcrest) 200 IM 2:03.52; 100 Breaststroke 1:03.26 Both times NISCA All American Consideration (AAC)
- Andrew Vanas (Georgetown Prep) 100 Freestyle 45.38 (AAC)
- Finn Bacon (Gonzaga) 100 backstroke 49.94 (AAC)
- Caden Guy (St. John’s) 1m Diving
- 200 Freestyle Relay Gonzaga College High School: 1) McKenzie, Malcolm SR 2) Brooks, Andre JR 3) Holden, Hank SR 4) Bice, Palmer JR 1:24.46 (AAC)
The deep freeze and inches of snow in the DC area pushed the swim portion of the ISL Championship meet from 1/19 to 1/20, but did not deter the host team, Holton-Arms, from capturing the team title. Holton amassed 226 points to outdistance 2nd place St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (154 pts). Nadia Thomas (Holton-Arms) was a 2 event winner, taking the top spot in the 200 IM (2:08.05) and 100 Backstroke (56.09).
Kate Douglas (Potomac) also took two wins, touching 1st in the 50 (23.43- AAC) & 100 Freestyle (51.39 events.
Other event winners:
- 200 Freestyle: Haley Lehman (SSSA) 1:55.34
- 100 Butterfly: Clara Moschella (Visitation) 55.49
- 500 Freestyle: Anastasia Orlic (Maret) 5:04.07
- 100 Breaststroke: Cameron House (Stone Ridge) 1:05.30
- 1M Diving: Michayla Eisenberg (Flint Hill) 419.35 (All American eligible)
This past weekend several Districts/Conferences across the DMV had their championship meets.
January 25th, the IAC (the Boys Private School equivalent of the ISL) held their Championship Meet at the St. Albans Pool in Washington DC. Georgetown Prep took the team title for the 23rd consecutive year, piling up 63 more points than runner-up St. Albans and Landon in a distant 3rd.(712, 649, 561). Georgetown Prep swept the relay events and took 1st place in 6 of the 8 individual events, with freshman Griffin Oehler and sophomore Andrew Vanas winning 2 events each!
Individual winners:
- 200 Freestyle: Evan Ingraham (SSSA) 1:45.83
- 200 IM: Charlie Greenwood (St. Albans) 1:53.65
- 50 Freestyle: Andrew Vanas (Georgetown Prep) 21.29
- 100 Butterfly: Griffin Oehler (Georgetown Prep) 50.00
- 100 Freestyle: Andrew Vanas (Georgetown Prep) 46.32
- 500 Freestyle: Chase Donahue (Georgetown Prep) 5:01.02
- 100 Backstroke: Max McMillan (Georgetown Prep) 53.75
- 100 Breaststroke: Griffin Oehler (Georgetown Prep) 58.41
The WCAC also held their championship meet on 1/25 at St Mary’s College, where Gonzaga and Good Counsel repeated as Boys and Girls Team Champions. At the outset of the Boys competition, the Heights put the WCAC on notice that they were there to stir things up, as they took charge of the opening relay, winning in 1:35.70 to Gonzaga’s 1:36.02 and DeMatha’s 3rd in 1:36.52. In the next race, Matthew Rose (The Heights) found himself in 5th place at the 150 turn and put together a blistering final 50 yards (24.51) to out-touch DeMatha’s Joshua Lopez (1:41.31 to 1:41.33) for the win! Thomas Duncan made it 3 wins in a row for The Heights as he took the top spot in the 200 IM in 1:53.85. Gonzaga marked their first event win in the 50 Freestyle as Malcolm McKenzie touched in front of Owen Watkins (Good Counsel) 21.05 to 21.22.
There was less drama with the Girls races as Good Counsel won the opening relay, followed by Celia Watkins in the 200 Free (1:57.62) with her teammates Lauren Smith (2:00.97) and Maeve Stillman (2:01.60) taking 3rd and 4th respectively. Good Counsel’s Kellie Kincaid handily won the 200 IM in 2:08.42. Bishop Ireton broke the streak when Ella Nick narrowly defeated Megan Depman (Holy Cross) 25.00-25.08.
Other Individual Winners:
| Event | Name | School | Time |
| Boys 100 Butterfly | Malcom McKenzie | Gonzaga | 49.96 |
| Girls 100 Butterfly | Lizzie Linck | Holy Cross | 58.15 |
| Boys 100 Freestyle | Palmer Bice | Gonzaga | 46.60 |
| Girls 100 Freestyle | Ella Nick | Ireton | 54.63 |
| Boys 500 Freestyle | Cooper Zakorchemny | Good Counsel | 4:32.46 (AAC) |
| Girls 500 Freestyle | Kelly Kincaid | Good Counsel | 5:04.10 |
| Boys 100 Backstroke | Finn Bacon | Gonzaga | 50.98 |
| Girls 100 Backstroke | Lizzie Linck | Holy Cross | 57.78 |
| Boys 100 Breaststroke | Ryan Franck | The Heights | 58.94 |
| Girls 100 Breaststroke | Payton Masten | Paul VI | 1:10.04 |
Next championship meet for many of the private schools will be held this weekend Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swim & Dive League (WMPSSDL) Championships February 2-3 at the University of Maryland
VHSL District Meets (Results below via Meet Mobile- online results will be input as soon as they are available):
National District
Thomas Jefferson was victorious in both the Boys and Girls competitions, with Edison finishing 2nd in the Boys competition and Justice in the Girls. Leading the way for Thomas Jefferson was Beck Hastings with two individual wins in the 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly. Emma Redman (Justice) was a double winner with the 200 IM and 100 Butterfly, garnering All American Consideration time in the IM and swimming within striking distance of the District record for both events! Her Justice teammates Claire Coughlin ( 200 and 500 Freestyle) and Reagan Kampschror (100 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke) also came through with two wins.
Individual winners:
| Event | Name | School | Time |
| Boys 200 Freestyle | Beck Hastings | Thomas Jefferson | 1:42.18 |
| Girls 200 Freestyle | Claire Coughlin | Justice | 1:55.70 |
| Boys 200 IM | Colin McGee | Annandale | 2:02.96 |
| Girls 200 IM | Emma Redman | Justice | 2:01.64 (AAC) |
| Boys 50 Freestyle | Leonardo Valli | Thomas Jefferson | 21.97 |
| Girls 50 Freestyle | Annika Wentland | Justice | 24.97 |
| Boys 100 Butterfly | Beck Hastings | Thomas Jefferson | 50.21 |
| Girls 100 Butterfly | Emma Redman | Justice | 56.04 |
| Boys 100 Freestyle | Christopher Qian | Thomas Jefferson | 48.52 |
| Girls 100 Freestyle | Reagan Kampschror | Justice | 54.49 |
| Boys 500 Freestyle | Clark Misener | Thomas Jefferson | 5:05.98 |
| Girls 500 Freestyle | Claire Coughlin | Justice | 5:06.92 |
| Boys 100 Backstroke | Noah Popp | Annandale | 53.41 |
| Girls 100 Backstroke | Madeline Roche | Thomas Jefferson | 1:01.76 |
| Boys 100 Breaststroke | Jesse Montano | Edison | 58.03 |
| Girls 100 Breaststroke | Reagan Kampschror | Justice | 1:06.70 |
Patriot District
The Boys meet was decided by less than 30 points (which is close in these championship meets) as West Springfield took home the team title. An even closer margin settled the Girls meet as Woodson took the title, just 7 points ahead of Robinson! Highlights from the individual swim- Josh Howat (Lake Braddock) sprinted to the best time in the DMV (High School meet season) and All American Consideration in both the 50 Free with a 20.60 and in the 100 Free with a 45.31!! JT Schmid (Robinson) also had an outstanding meet, placing 1st in the 100 Butterfly with an All American Consideration time of 48.77, and an Automatic All American (AA) time of 48,78 in the 100 Backstroke! Brady Bauernshub (Woodson) and Sadie Buckley (Fairfax) were also 2 event winners, Bauernshub in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke, with the Breaststroke time an AAC. Buckley winning the 200 and 500 Free, with th500 time meeting the AAC standard as well. In all there were 7 swims that met the AAC/AA standards!
Individual Winners:
| Event | Name | School | Time |
| Boys 200 Freestyle | Jack Fulham | Robinson | 1:43.83 |
| Girls 200 Freestyle | Sadie Buckley | Fairfax | 1:50.98 |
| Boys 200 IM | Brady Bauernshub | Woodson | 1:54.67 |
| Girls 200 IM | Lyla Devlin | Woodson | 2:06.32 |
| Boys 50 Freestyle | Josh Howat | Lake Braddock | 20.60 (AAC) |
| Girls 50 Freestyle | Sophie Scadron | Fairfax | 23.87 |
| Boys 100 Butterfly | JT Schmid | Robinson | 48.77 (AAC) |
| Girls 100 Butterfly | Sophie Scadron | Fairfax | 55.00 |
| Boys 100 Freestyle | Josh Howat | Lake Braddock | 45.31 (AAC) |
| Girls 100 Freestyle | Aleena Stukus | Robinson | 51.81 |
| Boys 500 Freestyle | Parker Schiffman | Robinson | 4:50.46 |
| Girls 500 Freestyle | Sadie Buckley | Fairfax | 4:57.96 (AAC) |
| Boys 100 Backstroke | JT Schmid | Robinson | 48.78 (AA) |
| Girls 100 Backstroke | Lili Trinh | South County | 56.53 |
| Boys 100 Breaststroke | Brady Bauernshub | Woodson | 56.46 (AAC) |
| Girls 100 Breaststroke | Lilla Wilbur | Robinson | 1:03.25 (AAC) |
Next up for the VHSL schools are Regionals held 2/9-2/10