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Albemarle boys and Western girls take first at City-County

There’s no doubt that last year’s Albemarle boys swim team was a force to be reckoned with as they finished eighth in the Group AAA championship. But even though the Patriots lost a fistful of participants including Andrew Starr — now a swimmer for Purdue — Albemarle looked just as intimidating as they did last year as they cruised to their third straight City-County Challenge title by a staggering 206 points on Wednesday night at the University of Virginia Aquatic and Fitness Center.

“We don’t have that one really, really fast swimmer on our team, but we’ve got lots of depth,” said Patriots swimmer Matt Lockman. “That’s what’s getting us through a lot of meets. There’s not just one person doing all the work. Everyone’s good and there isn’t anyone lacking (talent) on this team.”

Lockman was one of many Patriots to have a big night. Not only did he win the 50-meter free style, but he also won the 100 free and was a participant in one of the tightest races of the night, the 200 free relay.

Along with teammates Matt Solomon, Patrick Tubridy and Chase Robbins, Lockman helped guide Albemarle to another top finish, edging the Covenant quartet of Alex McGinnis, Eric Dixon, Eli Holstege and Ryan Winkler by one one-hundredth of a second.

Lockman, Robbins, Solomon and Sean Cudahy also took first in the 400 free relay. Ryan McGhee and Stephan Topping went one-two for the Patriots in the 100 backstroke while Matt Soloman and Chase Robbins did the same in the 200 free.

Western placed second behind a handful of strong performances such as their first place finish in the 200-meter medley relay by the team of Jim Shelley, Alex Rayle, Mitchell Hunter and Brian Donovan. Shelley also took home to the top spot for the Warriors in the 100 butterfly and second place in the 200 IM.

Charlottesville placed third in the team standings. Bryan Hancock, Alex Thrift, Michael Veale and Austin Nelson led the Black Knights to a second place finish in the 400 free relay.

The diving event was held at Crow pool. Colin Rowe and Ryler Brown placed first and second respectively for Monticello. Charlottesville’s Akeem Howard came in third.

Other winners for the boys on the night included Holstege, who took first in the 100 breasttroke for the Eagles, and the Mustangs’ Ryan Mitchell, the winner of the 500 free.

Western Girls fend off Charlottesville

They seemed to alternate top finishes in events all night long. Western Albemarle would win a race, then Charlottesville would follow up with a victory of their own. But in the end the Warriors were able to slip past the Black Knights by 35 points to win the girls portion of the City-County challenge.

Western showed its strength in the relays as it took first place in both the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay while taking second in the 200 free relay.

The girls race couldn’t have started off with a better race. The 200 medley relay was one of the best of the night as Katherine Nicholson, Allie Nicholson, Seana Acker and Anna Corley were one one-hundredth of a second quicker for the Warriors than Albemarle’s Katie Roddy, Nikki Ross, Christine Pajewski and Holly Harper.

Katherine Nicholson had a solid night for the Warriors as a participant in both first place relay teams while also taking the first in the 50 free.

“Swimming in this meet makes everything so much more intense than a lot of our other meets,” Nicholson said. “I know so many of the people here and it’s nice to see them in a different setting. It’s nice to see everyone, race everyone. It’s just awesome. I like this meet.”

Emma McKinley took first for Western in the the 200 and 500 free. She also helped her team take first in the 400 free relay along with Nicholson, Acker and Natalie Cronk.

Brodde Lamb help to pace the Black Knights’ second place finish. She took first for the Black Knights in the 100 fly and the 200 IM. Her teammate, Dania Jazouli took  first in the 100 breaststroke and second in the 500 free. Another key performance for Charlottesville came from Lamb, Jazouli, Annie Foky and Emily Keely in the 200 free relay in which they not only took first place, but also broke a school record by finishing the race in 1:44.37.

Albemarle placed third as a team. Harper had a big night, winning the 100 free by more than four seconds. Harper also won the 100 backstroke while Roddy placed third. Kelly Miller took third place for the Patriots in the 500 free.

At Crow pool’s diving competition, Western’s Alexandra Poletti was the top finisher for the girls diving event. Albemarle’s Casey Kyracopoulus took second and Charlottesville’s Suzanna Galbraith came in third.

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