Sports
UPCOMING EVENTS
12
22 2021
Prep basketball: The Ville Classic at Mechanicsville 5:30 p.m./7:15 p.m.
12
23 2021
Prep basketball: Battle in Bird Cage at Hanover 6:00 p.m.
| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional
Holiday spirit aplenty at Hawk swim meet By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor RICHMOND — While relatively new among area swim invitationals, the Hanover Hawks Holiday Swim Invitational quickly established itself as a holiday tradition. Except for last year, when the usual winter swim season was postponed until the spring. This year, the meet returned. And neither the holiday nor the competitive spirit was diminished by the unplanned break. Nearly two dozen boys and girls teams from central Virginia and beyond showed up full of competitors determined to give it their best. By the time it was over, Western Albemarle’s boys dominated the field, amassing more than 150 points (457.5) than runner-up Mills Godwin (302). Maggie Walker Governor’s School was third with 189 points, followed by Cosby (180) and Blacksburg (161). James River (149), Atlee (127), Monacan (112), Hanover (97.5) and Midlothian (92) made up the rest of the top 10. The girls competition was closer, at least until the final relay. Monacan edged Cosby by three points, 288 to 285, for the win. The other top 10 teams were Mills Godwin (251) was third. Western Albemarle (240), Jamestown (198.5), Maggie Walker (161), Hanover (130), Blacksburg (121), Glen Allen (90) and Midlothian (81). For Western Albemarle swim coach Dan Bledsoe, the biggest reason for celebration
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Patrick Henry’s Amanda Barnard creates a pane of water as she slices through the lane on the opening leg of the girls 200-yard individual medley in the Hanover Hawks Holiday Swim Invitational at SwimRVA Saturday. Barnard finished second in 2:03.28.
at this traditionally merry meet — which continued with its tradition of a singalong of “Winter Wonderland” — was the fact that the meet was being held. “I just so happy that we’re back doing this,” Bledsoe said. “After last year, it was such a hitor-miss season . . . I was happy that we had a part of the season. But to have some bit of normalcy for these kids — it is a lot of fun. You can see the excitement in all the teams here. George [Massey] does an amazing job putting this on. It’s a good thing seeing the kids energized.”
Western Albemarle’s boys swept all three relays. Thomas Heilman, Jack Smith, Jackson Schundler and Matthew Heilman won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:33.96. Sam Johnson, Richard Wang, Anthony Garono and Thomas Heilman won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:24.89. Thomas Heilman, Johnson, Smith and Matthew Heilman won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:06.41. Individually, Johnson won the 50 freestyle (21.47) and 100 butterfly (50.39). Matthew Heilman won the 100 freestyle
(46.90) and 100 breaststroke. Going into the final two events, only 20 points separated the Monacan girls from Western Albemarle in fourth place. But the Chiefs aired out their lead over the third- and fourth-place teams with a pair of top-4 finishes in the 100 breaststroke — Rachael Brown finished second in 1:04.10 and Piper Price fourth in 1:06.49 — and a fourth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:38.69). Runner-up Cosby, however, made the finish interesting, closing to withing three
points of Monacan with a win in the 400 freestyle relay. The Titans’ team of Allison Dodd, Claire Dafoe, Cynthia Huang and Lexi Stephens dropped 6.86 seconds off their seed time with a 3:30.32 finish. “It did get pretty interesting,” Monacan head swim coach Brian Singleton said. “It comes down to relays, but it kind of always does. But [the Chiefs] pulled through and had some big-time swims.” Monacan had two winning relay teams, opening with a victory for its 200 medley relay
The Mechanicsville Local
team of Cassie Bauer, Rachael Brown, Carleigh Dillman and Raegan Canada (1:46.57). The Chiefs’ 200 freestyle relay team of Carleigh Dillman, Shannah Dillman, Piper Price and Canada also won (1:39.69). New meet records were set for half of the Hawk Invitational’s 22 events. In addition to Western Albemarle’s three boys relay wins — all three meet records — Matthew Heilman individually set a new meet record in the 100 breaststroke (56.22). Monacan’s girls set a new meet record in their win in the 200 medley relay. Cosby’s Claire Dafoe set a pair of meet records: in the girls 200 freestyle (1:50.40) and 500 freestyle (4:50.92). Mills Godwin’s Zoe Dixon set meet records in the girls 200 individual medley (1:58.44) and 100 butterfly (54.18). Ashland resident Christine Datovech set a pair of meet records for Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, first in the girls 50 freestyle (23.58) and second in the 100 backstroke (55.11). Among other county swimmers, Patrick Henry’s Amanda Barnard led the pack with 33 points. She finished second in the girls 200 individual medley and third in the 100 butterfly. She was also part of the Patriots’ 10th-place 200 freestyle relay team (with Caroline Cox, Maddie Medei and Kate Balut) and 11th-place 200 medley relay team (with Balut, Medei, and Carolyn Wright). see SPIRIT, pg. 19
December 22, 2021
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