Fork Union has a top-notch swim team including Egyptian product Ali Khalafalla. But the Blue Devils knew they’d need every ounce they could squeeze out of Khalafalla and his teammates to hold off St. Christopher’s to secure a VISAA Division I state title Saturday in Manassas.
In the 400-free relay, the day’s final event, Fork Union got just what they needed, winning the event with Khalafalla, Ian Milburn, Karim Elsayed and Spencer Cavotti winning with an All-American Consideration time of 3:10.51 by 2.4 seconds over St. Christopher’s. The 40 points FUMA earned with the win vaulted them past the Saints for a 267-266 victory and the state title.
A year after Woodberry’s Zach Switzer torched the VISAA meet, Khalafalla took centerstage, winning Most Outstanding Male Swimmer honors after a record setting day. Khalafalla set new state marks in the 50-free final with a 20.39, besting his own mark set in the prelims. He then broke his own record from 2013 in the 100-free with a blazing 44.81 that won the event by nearly three seconds. Throw in swimming legs of title-winning squads in the 200-free and 400-free and Khalafalla had in scoring the maximum amount of points he possibly could’ve Saturday.
He didn’t get it done alone though, with several other Blue Devils turning in monster outings. Milburn put together a solid performance as part of the title-clinching 400-free relay and the third place 200-medley squad while placing third individually in the 100-back and ninth in the 200-IM. Elsayed finished third in the 100-fly and fifth in the 100-breast in addition to his two relay performances on the 200-medley and 400-free. Spencer Cavotti, the other member of that 400-free team, took sixth in the 50-free and third in the 100-breast.
Zach Romeo swam on the first place 200-free team, the 200-medley squad and took 10th in the 50-free and third in the 100-free. The Blue Devils also got points out of Rasheed Jones and Bethea Brindley in diving. Jones took eighth and Brindley snagged 10th.
Woodberry Forest put together a strong fourth place performance in Division I, scoring 215 points on the day with Nick Switzer’s double runner-up performance in the 200-IM and 200-breast leading the way.
Switzer also teamed with Chas Sigloh, Eli Levy and Will Tennile to pick up a fourth place in the 200-medley. Levy placed fifth in the 200-free while Tennille picked up points with a 15th place in the 50-free. Sigloh put together a strong performance with a seventh place in the 100-fly and sixth in the 100-back.
Other point scorers included Austen Billingsley finishing 13th in the 100-breast, Parker Given’s ninth and Keen Griffin’s 12th in the 500 free and Kevin Zhang’s 15th in the 100-breast. Andrew Hope finished sixth in diving for the Tigers while Quintin Schwartz took 11th. Woodberry won the sportsmanship award for the meet.
Covenant’s boys earned the runner-up spot in Division 2 with a 51-point performance in the meet, finishing behind Hampton Roads Academy’s 232 points that actually placed third overall.
The Eagles’ Ben Holstege, a junior, put together a huge third place finish in the 100-free that powered much of Covenant’s output. Holstege’s finish got help from a 12th place finish in the 200-medley relay by the Eagles, with Holstege, junior Ben Paschina, sophomore Sam Holstege and freshman Noah Sheffield, all underclassmen, combining for the solid performance. Paschina also snagged an eighth place in the 200-IM.
On the girls side, Covenant’s Mackenzie Lawson took 10th in the 100-breast as one of the only local girls competitors in the event.
STAB’s boys finished 16th overall with 35 points, with Bryan Hynes’ two top-eight finishes leading the way. Hynes finished fifth in the 100-fly and seventh in the 500-free. Matt McHugh chipped in with a 14th place in the 200-IM.
