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Sports
07 07
2021 GRAL swimming: Milestone at Federal Club 6:00 p.m.
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07 07
2021 GRAL swimming: Goochland YMCA at Old Church 6:00 p.m.
| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional
GRAL teams emphasize fun and training
By Rob Witham for Th e Local
MECHANICSILLE – Whether the meet is actual or virtual, whether the swimmer is a novice or most experienced, at Greater Richmond Aquatic League events Wednesday night, a choir of coaches around the area echoed the same theme: Have Fun.
In two meets which showcased four Hanover teams, Ashcreek defeated Ashland in a virtual meet 1036-952, while, in person, Hanover Country Club fell to Atlee 1109-663. But the more important story is how area youth are enjoying the opportunity to experience both more of a sense of normalcy than in last year’s abbreviated campaign, and simple childhood fun.
“That’s always the thing for my swimmers is to try their best and go out there and just have fun, which is what I always preach to them,” noted Ashcreek head coach Kaelin Jernigan.
In this, the fourth week of the six-week regular season, competitors are setting their sights on reaching cut times to qualify for Champs, the GRAL’s annual championship event scheduled for July 26 and 27. Atlee head coach Lacey Kramer noted as much when reviewing her team’s performance against Hanover.
“We had some incredible time drops, so that was really cool to see, and it was really nice to see everyone get up, race, and leave everything in the pool,”
Dave Lawrence The Local
AshCreek teammates Sadie Ericson (foreground), Kaylee Jones (under water) and Grace Cherry compete in the 11-12 girls 50-meter breaststroke in a Greater Richmond Aquatic League virtual meet with Ashland Wednesday.
Kramer said.
Atlee earned 12 quadruple race winners while Ashland had 10 in their meet with Ashcreek. There were three for Hanover and one for the Crocodiles.
Highlights include Ashcreek’s Drew Ericson, winning the 8-and-under 25-meter breaststroke, shaving over a second off his best time winning in 30.10, just .14 away from a varsity cut time. Ericson’s 23.97 in the 25-meter freestyle was second to Ashland’s Gavin Yonce, who finished in 18.78, having already earned a senior varsity cut time.
see GRAL, pg. 27
Continued from pg. 26
The two 8-year olds also finished one-two in the 25-meter butterfly, Yonce just missing the senior varsity qualifying level of 24.35, winning in 24.53. Ericson won the novice division in 32.34.
Family tandems also make a difference. For Ashland, the Datovechs combined for seven victories, Christine taking four, including the 15-18 100 butterfly in 1:09.66, the 50 freestyle, equalling her best time at 27.62 and joining older brother Paul, Davis Luck and Mark Dinger to take the 200 medley relay in 2:00.29.
Paul, in his final GRAL season, shaved .28 off his best time in the 100 butterfly, winning in 1:05.06, and a victory in the 100 back with a time of 1:03.46.
The Crocodiles got three wins apiece from Brock and Pierce Rempe. Pierce won the boys 11-12 50 breaststroke in 41.25, and the 100 individual medley in 1:24.00, taking over three and one half seconds off his personal best. Brock was victorious in the boys 15-18 100 IM in 1:02.29, as well as the 50 free in 25.57.
Over at Atlee, Austin Ogden bested his seed time in the boys 8- and-under 100 IM, breaking the two-minute barrier to win in 1:56.22, while also qualifying for the varsity division in the 25 breast, winning with a time of 26.81.
Ava Jones earned junior varsity level with a 43.72 winning time in the girls 9-10 50 backstroke, and just held off teammate Sofia Henderson to win the 50 free in 38.78, a half second better than Henderson’s 39.28. Henderson joined Rory Shelton, Aaron Barden and anchor Mauren Verity to take the 9-10 200 medley relay finishing in 3:14.31.
Meredith Boggess and Camden Byrd each won four times for Atlee, combining forces with Jason Brown and Elijah McIntire to win the 15-18 200 medley relay in 1:51.90, Boggess taking the girls 100 back and 50 breast, with Byrd a winner in the 50 free.
Times that caught Coach Kramer’s eye included McIntire’s winning time in the 15-18 boys 100 butterfly, qualifying for senior varsity level by shedding nearly five seconds of his personal best for a time of 58.22. Reagan Brittle took over four seconds off her best time in winning the girls 11-12 50 butterfly in 40.62.
For Hanover, it was a good night for Jerrin Flinchbaugh. The 8-year old captured the boys 25 free, taking over three seconds off his best time to qualify at the senior varsity level at 17.19, and the 25 butterfly in a new personal best of 24.37 to earn varsity qualification.
Campbell Derrico took top honors in the 13-14 girls 100 butterfly with a time of 1:07.50 to make the senior varsity level, later joining Chance Greene, William Droppleman, and Finn Winegardner to win the 13-14 200 medley relay in 2:09.34.
For all four teams, lots of swimmers produced new personal best times as their quest to qualify for Champs continues. With two meets to go, attention will turn to achieving that quest, and Jernigan says proper teaching is key, especially for those who did not participate in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“We had to really work on technique a lot more this year, to get them back into the swing of things,” Jernigan said. “How to do the technical things rather than going fast. We want them to do it correctly and do that first before they go quickly.”
But through everything, the common thread is always fun, as noted by Kramer, in trying to give the children some of their life experience back.
“We’ve been doing theme nights every meet to get everyone more engaged with everything,” Kramer said. “At practice, it is crunch time, but I also make sure the kids are having fun.”
Rob Witham can be reached at sports@mechlocal.com
Dave Lawrence/ The Local
