Stories

JSL wraps up Champs

By Betsy Haugh / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor

At the beginning of each summer, a different set of swimmers take the pool for each of the sixteen teams in the Jefferson Swim League, but one thing that remains constant year after year is Fairview’s dominance of the JSL Championships. The Seahorses won their 21st straight championship as day two of the event concluded Saturday evening.

“It’s great because we know it’s a team effort,” said Fairview head coach J.J. Bean. All the swimmers all work together, all the coaches really, really put in a lot of effort and work together to make something like this happen, so it’s a big deal for us because so many people are part of it.”

Fairview jumped out to an early lead Friday night when the older swimmers took to the pool, and built a big enough advantage to fend off the competition after their strongest age groups (the 13-14 and 15-18 year olds) had completed their races.

“We have kind of a philosophy that, you know, [when] they’re swimming when they’re young, we just try to teach them to learn the strokes, but not have them spend a lot of time in the water so that they have to learn how to swim well, and then as they get older they spend more and more time in [the water],” Bean said. “Swimming, like many sports, is the more time you spend with it, the better you get.”

Matt Lockman, 16, led the way for the Seahorse boys en route to picking up the award for fastest individual male with a time of 21.66 in the 50-yard freestyle, as well as being a member of the fastest male freestyle relay award-winning team and tying Fluvanna Aquatic Sports Team’s (FAST) Zach Switzer for the Boys 15-18 individual high point award.

“We work hard all year, and the last few weeks we just prepare for Champs and make sure everything’s ready,” Lockman said. “We just try hard and do our best.”

While Fairview was seemingly locked in to first place going into the second day of Championships, the fight for second place was more competitive than ever. Strong Saturday performances from the younger swimmers of FAST, Forest Lakes Swim Team, and the Crozet Gators propelled the three teams to second, third, and fourth place finishes respectively; FAST and Crozet were separated by a mere 50 points at the event’s conclusion.

FAST, who sat in second place at the completion of day one, defended its standing Saturday and finished as the division one championships runnerup thanks to the success of their younger swimmers.

“We really think of ourselves as a young team; we’ve only been around for six years,” said FAST coach Diana Bowen. “Our eight and under girls have produced, year after year, very high results, whether it be high point, relay, or relay records, we are always in the top two in that age group.”

Saturday, those girls shattered a record in the 100 medley relay, as  Brin Kuzemka, Abby Harlow, Abigail Brown, and Alexa Hudock notched a time of 1:13.90.

“I think to watch the eight and under girls — to break that record that was so old and that we’ve gone after year after year and not been able to get was a huge moment for us. To see someone at the age of seven or eight be able to accomplish something like that is really special,” Bowen said.

While the eight and unders led FAST, it was 12-year-old Maggie Woods who propelled Forest Lakes to their third place finish and helped them capture the division two championships title. Woods broke two records on the day, winning all three of her events. As a member of Forest Lakes’ girls 11-12 200-yard medley relay, Woods, along with Megan Jones, Ashley Eagleson, and Madison Warlick, broke a record set in 1999 by an ACAC squad; Forest Lakes knocked nearly two seconds off the previous record time of 2:06.58, recording a time of 2:04.69.

“That was really exciting ‘cause last year we did the free relay, and we thought we broke it, but we didn’t, so that was kind of disappointing, but it was cool to break a relay [record] this year,” Woods said.

Individually, Woods set a new record in the Girls 11-12 50-yard backstroke with a time of 29.23. She also won the girls 11-12 100-yard IM and 100-yard freestyle.

“I’ve been practicing – I’ve gone to double practices,” Woods said. “I just listened to my coaches and what they told me to do.”

Woods went on to win the individual high-point award for the 11-12 year old girls.

The runner-up for that award was FeFe Nardone, who helped boost Lake Monticello’s squad to a third place finish in Division 3 with a second place in the butterfuly, a second in the backstroke, and swam two legs of runnerup relay squads.

City picked up a win in the Boys 11-12 200 Yard freestyle Relay thanks to Daniel Perez, Jake Wild, Connor Williams, and Noah Sheffield. Individually, Huang earned the Swordfish 16 points with a victory in the Girls 11-12 50-yard butterfly.

More records fall in day two

On Saturday, in addition to Woods and the FAST girls, Fairview’s Lucas Smith continued the trend of record breaking performances established on the first day of the Championships. Smith shattered a record more than 30 years old, besting current Greene Hills head coach Chris Taylor’s 1979 time of 15.29 in the 8 & Under 25-yard butterfly by 0.43 seconds, recording a time of 14.86. Later in the day, Smith broke Mickey White’s 1998 record time of 18.12 in the 8 & Under 25-yard breaststroke with a time of 17.91.

Also in the boys eight and under division, Fairview’s Henry Van Wincoop set a new record in the 50 free with a time of 32.21; Van Wincoop broke Max Templin’s 2006 record of 32.27.

Moving up an age group, Austin Tate of Greene Hills set a record mark in the Boys 11-12 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.25.

Community awards

Volunteers are a critical component of the JSL, and this year Jeff North was recognized for over 15 years of volunteer service to the league, many of which occurred after his children had already graduated the program. JSL officials presented North the Bob Garland Award which honors an invaluable volunteer.

The JSL also announced at the awards ceremony it would be making a $5,000 donation to the Benjamin Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation for the second-straight year. The Foundation, started in 2010 and named in memory of former-JSL swimmer Ben Hair, provides swim lessons to children who otherwise may not be able to afford such instruction, while placing a special emphasis on water safety. Also at the ceremony, Gordon Hair, Ben’s father and a key member of the Foundation, announced that over $70,000 has been raised for the fund thanks to the generosity of those involved in the Jefferson Swim League as well as members of the Charlottesville community.

Complete results

The eight and under group kicked off the second day of the Championships with the 100-yard medley relay. Crozet’s boys team of Matthew Heilman, Tom House, Stephen Ewing, and Michael Holzwarth earned first place, while FAST’s Brin Kuzemka, Abby Harlow, Abigail Brown, and Alexa Hudock won in a record-breaking perfomance.

Fry’s Spring’s Lamont Bullard captured first in the boys eight and under 25-yard freestyle, while FAST’s Brin Kuzemka continued her successful day winning for the girls.

Fairview’s Lucas Smith set a record en route to winning the Boys 8 & Under 25-yard butterfly; Crozet’s Maya Chatterson earned her team the full 16 points by winning the girls’ event.

In the eight and under 25-yard backstroke, Fairview’s Oliver Van Wincoop captured victory for the boys, while FAST’s Brin Kuzemka again picked up a win in the girls’ race.

Setting another record, Lucas Smith of Fairview won the Boys 8 & Under 25-yard breaststroke. FAST’s Abby Harlow grabbed first place when the girls hit the water in the same event.

Fairview’s Henry Van Wincoop broke a record en route to winning the final individual event of the day for the 8 & Under Boys, the 50-yard freestyle.  Brin Kuzemka picked up her fourth win of the day in the Girls 8 & Under 50-yard freestyle.

The Boar’s Head boys relay team of Ford Scott, Xander Vaughn, Preston Hutter, and Pierre Reeves rounded out the boys’ third session picking up a win in the 100-yard freestyle Relay. Morgan Breza, Sophie Haise, Gaby Sifri, and CeCe Cannell of ACAC ended the morning session finishing first in the girls running of the same relay.

The 9-10 year olds hit the pool in the final session of the weekend, with FAST continuing their excellence and as Gabby Tosi, the winner of the 9-10 year old girls Individual High Point Award, won the 100-yard individual medley. Up an age group, Austin Tate of Greene Hills won the 11-12 year-old event, and Forest Lakes’ Maggie Woods finished first on the girls’ side of the spectrum.

In the Girls 9-10 200 Yard medley relay, Emily Eagleson, Kate Yow, Maren Weathersby, and Lauren MacDonald, earned another victory for Forest Lakes before giving way to the 11-12 year-old boys, allowing Caleb Arritt, Austin Tate, Wyatt Morin, and Jesse Reed the opportunity to clinch a win for Greene Hills. In the girls’ race of the same age group, Maggie Woods, Megan Jones, Ashley Eagleson, and Madison Warlick produced a record-breaking performance en route to winning the event.

In the Girls 9-10 and Boys 11-12 50-yard freestyles, the Crozet Gators earned two more wins as Colleen Farabaugh and AJ Donovan were the first swimmers to touch the wall in their respective events. Ashley Eagleson, a multi-event winner on the day, broke through for Forest Lakes, winning in the Girls 11-12 division.

Farmington got in the winner’s circle in the fourth session thanks to Mary Buetow’s win in the Girls 9-10 50-yard butterfly. Up and age group, Matt McHugh earned Fairview a win, while City’s Ashley Huang found victory for the girls.

Maren Weathersby earned Forest Lakes 16 more points with her win in the Girls 9-10 50-yard backstroke before Austin Tate secured another first-place finish for Greene Hills when the 11-12 year-old boys hit the pool. Forest Lakes’ Maggie Woods broker her second record of the day in the Girls 11-12 race.

In the Girls 9-10 50-yard breaststroke, Gabby Tosi earned her second win of the day for FAST. Austin Tate again captured first for Greene Hills in the 11-12 50-yard breaststroke; Katie Cannell of ACAC picked up a win on the girls’ side of the spectrum.

Three’s company for Gabby Tosi; the FAST swimmer won the Girls 9-10 100-yard freestyle in the final 9-10 individual event of the day. Teddy Leeds Armstrong of Glenmore won the boys 11-12 event, and Maggie Woods picked up her fourth victory when the girls dove off the blocks.

Three 200 Yard freestyle Relays ended the JSL Championship Saturday afternoon. Glenmore’s 9-10 year-old girls picked up a win, as Natalie Accad, Melissa McGlothlin, Catherine Doherty, and Meghan Walin won their relay. For the 11-12 year-old boys, Daniel Perez, Jake Wild, Connor Williams, and Noah Sheffield earned a win for the City Swordfish; Forest Lakes’ Grace Farmar, Megan Jones, Madison Warlick, and Hannah Eiden ended the day with a win in the Girls 11-12 Relay.

Fairview captured its 21st straight JSL Championship with a total of 1,806.75 points. FAST earned second place with 1,698.50 points, followed closely by Forest Lakes (1,649.75 points) and the Crozet Gators (1,644.50). Boar’s Head grabbed the last spot in the top five with 1,527.25 points.

In sixth place with 1,462.50 points was Farmington Country Club, followed by the Greene Hills Gators (1,448 points). Finishing just one point behind Greene Hills, ACAC earned eighth place with 1,447 points. Fry’s Spring and Hollymead rounded out the top ten with 1,384.25 points and 1,341.25 points respectively.

The City Swordfish finished in eleventh with 1,186.75 points, followed by Glenmore Country Club (1,049.50 points), Lake Monticello (937.75 points), Key West (839.75 points), the Louisa Gators (660.50 points), and Elks (471.50 points).

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