Sports

07 26

2021 GRAL swimming: Champs at SwimRVA 9 a.m.

07 27

2021 GRAL swimming: Champs at SwimRVA 9 a.m.

| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional

GRAL regular season gets stormy fi nish

By Dave Lawrence and Rob Witham Mechanicsville Local

MECHANICSVILLE – Wednesday night was supposed to be the final night of the Greater Richmond Aquatic League regular season.

For some teams, the weather had other plans.

And other teams avoided the weather problem entirely by moving their meets up a night.

But all the competitions managed to end. Teams finished up their Champs lists, and now the focus is on preparing for the big event of the season.

Among the early birds was Burkwood, in a virtual meet with Church Run, and Battlefield Green and Bell Creek, in a virtual meet with each other.

Burkwood swamped Church Run 1,964.5-1,544.5 in points, but for the Buccaneers, the most important takeaway was that they qualified 99 swimmers for Champs – a team record.

“As the season goes on it’s harder to drop time,” said Burkwood head coach Karen Seeber. “So we’re just ecstatic that we got how many we you know got to. We were adding at each meet. We’re excited.”

Burkwood was led by three quadruple winners Katie Carroll, Tyler Caten and Morgan Pittman. The Buccaneers also had a host of triple winners: Connor Austin, Alex Broaddus, Alden Croxton, Dylan Croxton, Caroline Early, Andrew Eisele, Grayson Fitch, Ryleigh Houchins, Anna Morrison, Caroline Reynold, Paige Siegman, Charlie Welsh and Ashley Zicafoose.

Bell Creek’s Barracudas defeated Battlefield Green’s Ferocious Frogs 690-536. The Barracudas were led by quad winners Jewel Basilan, Ryan Angelo Basilan, Peyton Beardslee, Olivia Mayton and Brayden Mullenaux; and by triple winners Macy BumgardnerGalarneau, Alyssa Mayton, Kai Smith, Tristan Smith and Kellan Timm.

The Ferocious Frogs were led by a pair of quad winners – Lewis Mason and Kira Wood – and triple winners Riley Funnell, Devin George, Claire Grant, Tabitha Hudgins, Norah Lauterbach, Levi Robinson and Ariel Salas.

“The meet went well,” said Battlefield Green head coach Kellie Brown. “We had one more swimmer qualify for Champs, and going into started.

The Federal Club at Old Church was one of the latter. They managed to restart just before 8 p.m., and they got most of the way through the meet before more lighting in the sky put a halt to the proceedings for the night. The meet, which had begun as a face-to-face meet Wednesday, finished as a virtual meet Thursday. The Federal Club outscored Old Church 975-744, but both teams had plenty of success.

Quad winners Ainsley Agee, Brannan Agee, Amanda Barnard, Charlotte, Bruning and Cati Callihan led The Federal Club. The Eagles also had triple winners William Barnard III, Taylor Olivia Brown, Caroline Bruning, Lily Gordon, Madelyn Gunderson, Molly Hoben, Maggie McClintock, Ayden McKenna, Aidan Nickels, Macey Smith, Ford Sprouse, and Cooper Waldron.

Old Church was led by quad winners Henry Atkinson, Connor Brooks, Julia

Joel Klein for The Local

Atlee Recreation Association triple winner Avery Jenkins wins the 15-18 girls 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:05.69 in a face-to-face meet against Rockville-Dolphin Club Wednesday.

Champs we have 10 individual swimmers, three of which are 8-and-under, which has never happened before, and we have 25 swimmers going total, which has also never happened before. It’s the most we’ve ever had, so we’re super excited.”

While the Tuesday meets went without a hitch, the Wednesday meets ran into weather – or, more accurate, had weather run into them. Thunderstorms coming up from the southwest produced enough sound and light such that many meets were forced to delay their starts, or get out of the pool shortly after they

Dave Lawrence/The Local

Burkwood’s Tyler Caten (foreground), Sam Castle, Russell Odor and Bryce Newton swim in echelon formation in the 15-18 boys 100-meter butterfl y in a Greater Richmond Aquatic League virtual meet with Church Run Tuesday. Caten and Castle fi nished fi rst and second, respectively, in the varsity division. Odor and Newton fi nished fi rst and third, respectively, in the junior varsity division.

see GRAL, pg. 23

Locals headed to Cal Ripken World Series

Staff reports sports@mechlocal.com

One Hanover County team and one with a number of Hanover County players will be heading to the Cal Ripken 12-year-old Majors 70 World Series in Branson, Missouri, in August.

The tournament begins on Aug. 5.

Rockville, which was eliminated in the consolation bracket final in the Virginia state tournament in Williamsburg on July 11, gets a bid to the World Series because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it from competing in the World Series last year.

The team that won this years Majors 70 title, Glen Allen, will bring six Mechanicsville players with it to Branson. They are Max Baedke (Chickahominy), Bryson Freeman (Bell Creek), Ryan King (Oak Knoll), Jackson Link (Chickahominy), Eli Maxie (Bell Creek) and Josh Scholl (Bell Creek).

Glen Allen faced a long road to get to the state championship. The team began with a 3-2 play-in victory over the tournament host Williamsburg on July 7. On July 9, Glen Allen knocked off Winchester 7-0 and Keezletown 11-1. The team face Rockville next on July 10 and sent Rockville off into the consolation bracket with a 2-1 squeaker.

After Rockville was eliminated by Winchester on July 11, Glen Allen rolled to a 6-1 victory over Winchester later that day for the state title.

Rockville’s 12-year-old Majors 60 Cal Ripken team made it to the championship bracket of the Southeast Regional, but fell to a team from Okeeheelee, Florida, 2-0, in the final on July 17.

Rockville began the regional with a 5-0 win over Okeeheelee in pool play on July 14. The next day, Rockville defeated Lynnhaven 11-1 and Rockbridge 9-4. Finally, Rockville defeated Gloucester 15-1 on July 16 to advance to the championship bracket.

In the tournament semifinals, Rockville defeated Arlington to advance to its final with Okeeheelee.

In Little League action, Atlee’s 8-10 All Stars advanced to the state semifinals with a 7-4 win over Virginia Beach on July 12.

Later that evening, their postseason run ended in an 13-9 loss to York County.

Courtesy of Stephen Maxie

The Glen Allen 12-year-old Major 70 Cal Ripken team began the Southeast Regional in West Palm Beach, Florida, Tuesday. The team features a number of players from Mechanicsville. The players are (front row, left to right) Bryson Freeman (Bell Creek), Luke Perini, Max Baedke (Chickahominy), Alex Boyd, Josh Scholl (Bell Creek), Jackson Link (Chickahominy), Toney Smith and Keshav Suresh; (back row): Caleb Connor, Fred Dolan, A.J. Wilson, Eli Maxie (Bell Creek), and Ryan King (Oak Knoll).

GRAL

Continued from pg. 22

Laprade, Liz Laprade and Ty Williams; and by triple winners Graham Frye, Bryden Hurtubise, Emmett Pierce, Claire Randolph, Kelsey Sutton, Mallory Wade and Cordelia Whitlow.

Old Church head coach Courtney Hurtubise feels pretty good about her Otters’ Champs offerings.

“We’ve got quite a few kids that are sitting at the top of their divisions in a few of their events,” she said. “We put together some pretty strong relays.”

After a 74-minute wait, Atlee and Rockville/Dolphin Club raced into the pool Wednesday night in Rockville for their final meet of their GRAL regular season schedule.

Armed with one more shot to qualify for Champs, swimmers of all sizes pushed themselves to the limit. Even if a slot in Monday and Tuesday’s championships wasn’t within reach, it didn’t stop many participants from doing their best.

Captivating the crowd poolside was 4-year-old Amelia Cherry of Rockville/Dolphin Club, who dropped a full 11 seconds from her personal best in the 6-and-under girls 25-yard backstroke to finish in 41.71, then returned later to shave five seconds off her best in the 25 free, finishing at 35.75. You can be sure she’ll be reaching for Champs qualifying times come next summer.

Atlee held a small lead throughout the race, and won the team competition 1,010910. The theme of the night, however, was all about improving times and having fun. An extra motivation? A free ice cream bar if one swam a new personal best time.

For Rockville, there were seven quadruple winners: Avery Carlson, James Ferry, Matthew Matthews, Avery Owens, Anna Vogel, Colston Worthington and Ryan Zubris.

Ferry blazed through the 9-10 boys 50 butterfly, taking three seconds off his personal best to finish in 33.84, the fourth best time throughout GRAL this season. Ferry also won the 9-10 50 free in 32.20, and teamed with Vogel, Worthington and Nathaniel Smith to win the mixed 9-10 200 medley relay going away in 2:52.53.

Several other swimmers earned their chance to compete at SwimRVA next week. Duncan Taylor entered the night’s 9-10 boys 50 back with a seed time of 48.47, needing a 47.65 or better to make Champs. Taylor clocked in at 47.16. Rachel Carlson, already a junior varsity qualifier in the 13-14 girls 100 back, reached varsity status, winning the race in 1:15.40, a new personal best.

Ruby Tompkins, just 0.27 seconds shy of qualifying in the 7-8 girls 25 free, battled with all her heart to touch in 21.15 to punch her ticket to Champs, finishing second in the race overall, while Chayla Parker went from a non-qualifier up to junior varsity status with an impressive time of 41.47 in the girls 13-14 50 breaststroke.

Carson Cheeley took two seconds off his personal best and clinched a senior varsity spot next week in the 15-18 boys 50 breast, finishing in 29.99, while, also of note, August Fickenscher turned in the second fastest time in GRAL this season in the boys 6-and-under boys 25 back, finishing in 26.71.

The Atlee Gators had plenty of stories of creating their opportunities for next week’s event, too.

Sydney Burgess took over five seconds off her best time in the 8-and-under girls 25 breaststroke to qualify for Champs – and win the race – in 30.89. Emmy Trumbore won the girls 11-12 girls 50 breaststroke in 44.07, earning her advanced status for Champs.

Matthew Stockbridge’s impressive win in the 11-12 boys 50 breast with a time of 43.96, not only clinched a Champs qualification, it took him past advanced to junior varsity status.

Atlee had one quadruple winner in Meredith Boggess, who provided a highlight of the evening, besting her own Atlee record in the 15-18 girls 50 breast with a winning time of 32.63, taking 0.05 seconds off her performance in Champs 2019. Boggess also took the 15-18 50 free in 26.95, then joined Ames Hargreaves, Conner Hart and Camden Byrd to win the 15-18 200 mixed medley relay in 1:53.05.

Late Terzaghi goal earns tie for Richmond

By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor

RICHMOND – Stormy weather did its best to wreak havoc on the Richmond Kicker’s match with Fort Lauderdale FC at City Stadium Saturday night.

At first, storms moving through the area delayed kickoff for 46 minutes. They struck again early in the second half, forcing a delay of more than an hour and a half.

To make the second wait more pleasant, Fort Lauderdale went up 1-0 on a goal by Mitchell Curry six minutes into the match.

But the Kickers made all the waiting pay off when Richmond striker Emiliano Terzaghi scored an equalizer in the 86th minute to help the Kickers earn a 1-1 tie.

“I’m super happy with the guys,” said Kickers’ chief sporting officer and head coach Darren Sawatzky. “Obviously they wanted three points (in the standings) and they played that team out of the park tonight. It just didn’t go in for us.”

The Kickers (4-4-4) had their chances in the first half, but shots were either off target or stopped by the Fort Lauderdale defense.

Richmond’s defense got caught out of position early

Dave Lawrence/The Local

Richmond Kickers’ striker Emiliano Terzaghi (left) wins a ball from Fort Lauderdale FC’s Noah Allen in the Kickers’ 1-1 tie with the visitors Saturday. Terzaghi scored in the 86th minute to tie the game, which was plagued by several storm delays.

on; that slip-up led to the Fort Lauderdale goal. It started with a Fort Lauderdale throw-in.

“[Esteban] Calvo stepped with the guy that received the ball on the throw, which pulled him out of position,” Sawatzky said. “We were a little bit late in the midfield reacting to it, so the ball got played quickly and vertically, so then Jalen [Crisler] had to step. So both Calvo and Jalen were caught higher than they should have been. The ball went over the top. Ivan [Magalhães] had to shift across. We just did not recover quick enough. We’ll work on that.”

Richmond outshot Fort Lauderdale 14-5. The Kickers had more corner kicks, 8 to 1. Still, they struggled to get the ball past Fort Lauderdale goalkeeper Drake Callender.

“In soccer, the hardest thing to do is score goals. I know we dominated possession today, which is a huge step forward for us,” Sawatzky said. “We won the duels, won the possession, and I guarantee we created a heck of a lot more chances.”

The two teams were six minutes into the second half before the longer of the weather delays. They would not return to the pitch until 10:04. Richmond came out with the advantage in intensity, and it eventually paid off when Oalex Anderson sent a long ball into the Fort Lauderdale box and Terzaghi reversed it for the tying goal.

“We came back after the delay with a lot of energy, a lot of passion – and we should be doing that more consistently,” Terzaghi said. “That’s how we should be playing every time we put on the shirt.”

The challenge for both teams, especially during the second-half delay, was keeping an edge while wondering whether play would resume that night.

“It was very weird. We went from not knowing if we were going to continue playing to ‘Hey, we’re out! Let’s go! Get yourself ready! We’ve got to produce something on the field,’ ” Terzaghi said. “It was a game that was very weird, very challenging, but as a team we had to put everything aside and put our minds to whatever it was we were tying to compete with.”

Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.

Kickers sign former Mechanicsville’s Gallegos to contract

By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor

RICHMOND – The Richmond Kickers announced last week that it signed Damian Gallegos of Mechanicsville to a USL Academy contract.

The contract allows Gallegos, who has competed the last six years with Richmond United, to play for the Kickers without compromising his college eligibility. He has committed to play soccer for VCU and will begin in the fall.

“It’s very exciting,” Gallegos said. “I’m just really thankful for Coach Darren [Sawatzky] allowing me to come in to his team and showing myself with his players.”

Signing Gallegos is part of a long-term effort to build community connections.

“One of the things that I want to create while I’m here in Richmond – hopefully for a long time – is we want to get the community together soccer-wise,” said Sawatzky, chief sporting officer and head coach of the Kickers. “One of the things I’ve been doing is I go out to watch the Richmond United Academy training. I watch games. Over the past year, Damian has been a bright point.”

One of the performances that caught Sawatzky’s attention is the fact that he scored five goals in four games in the Elite Clubs National League playoffs earlier this summer.

Gallegos expects the opportunity will prove valuable for his development at VCU and beyond.

“This is a great experience for me. I’m going to learn a lot from them that I can carry on into the VCU season and hopefully showcase myself at VCU as well. And then from there, I could possibly come back to the Kickers, if it works out like that, or abroad, or the MLS – depending on what I put into it.”

The graduate of Mechanicsville High School is the son of Alejandro and Marissa Gallegos.

“They’re excited. They’re very proud,” Gallegos said.