Is it easier to win a district title in swimming with depth or individual titles?
Albemarle didn’t have to figure that out Friday. Both the Patriots’ girls and boys squads had a solid mix of both.
“We swam really well,” said Albemarle coach Jake Shrum. “We had a lot of kids qualify for (the Northwest Region meet) that weren’t seeded to go there.”
Albemarle coasted to a sweep of the Commonwealth District title on both the girls and boys side, winning the boys with 172 points to second place North Stafford and Colonial Forge’s 64 points each while the girls notched 148 points to second place Stafford’s 99.5-point performance.
The Albemarle girls won both the 200-medley relay and 400-freestyle relay to pick up huge points on the day. They also got individual titles from Corie Morton (200-free), Hannah Harper (100-butterfly) and Jeanette Yan (100-backstroke). For depth, the Patriots turned to the trio of Mackenzie Jones, Maggie Woods and Ashley Eagleson who went second, third and fifth in the 50-free as well as Madison Noga who took second in the 100-fly and third in the 400-free. Woods and Jones each also had top five finishes in the 100-free. Yan’s third in the 100-fly, Katie Pajewski’s fifth in the 200-free, Harper’s third in the 200-IM and Morton’s fifth in the 100-breaststroke also helped ignite the decisive Albemarle victory.
The Albemarle boys leaned much more on their depth, dominating the relays with wins in the 200-medley, 200-free and 400-free team races. Andrew Williamson was the lone individual champion, with a win in the 100-breaststroke, but a slew of second places helped lead the way. Jacob Lescault was second in the 200-free and 400-free, Matt Lockman was second in the 200-IM and Jack Robbins was second in the 100-fly. Mike Pajewski had a pair of third place finishes in the 200-free and 100-free while Reece Echelberger took fourth in the 200-free and 400-free. Albemarle took third fourth and fifth in the 50-free as Sean McPhillips, Matthew Porter and Alex Brown finished back-to-back-to-back.
Collin Hensien took fourth in the 100-fly and 100-breast while Hogan Harper notched a fifth in the 100-back. Sean Telford’s third in the 100-breast also gave the Patriots a lift.
“If we can swim next weekend (in the Northwest region meet) like we did today then we’ll challenge for the team titles on the girls and boys side,” Shrum said.
While Albemarle dominated the team showdown, Orange County also scored some solid points and put together a fourth place finish on the boys side. Alex Montes de Oca did most of the heavy lifting with wins in the 200-IM and 100-back, but Ryan Hofmann also got in on the action with a victory in the 100-fly.
