Western Albemarle’s boys and girls swim and dive teams swept the Conference 29 titles Friday afternoon, with the girls squad outpacing Turner Ashby 188-132 while the boys held off runner-up Monticello 187-101 at Fork Union.
The Monticello girls finished fourth as a team.
Western’s boys got things started in a big way with a win in the 200-meter medley relay, they also took home the 200-free relay title and then they capped a sweep of the relays with a win in the 400-free. Aaron James gave the Warriors a boost with a win in the 100-back, but from there the Warriors leaned largely on depth, with the 400-free event serving as an excellent example. Western took third, fourth and fifth in that race, with Ryan Boyce’s third place leading the way. Boyce led another pack of Western swimmers in the 200-free, taking second place in front of third, fourth and fifth finishers from his own squad.
Ian O’Donnell took second in the 200-IM and fifth in the 400-free for Western while A.J. Donovan finished third in both the 50-free and 100-fly. James tacked on a runner-up finish in the 100-fly to go with his conference title in the 100-back while Jake Paulson took third in the 100-free and Jack Vaughn finished second in the 100-breast.
On the girls side, Western got a pair of titles from Charlotte Rumsey as she won both the 100-fly and 100-breast while Brazil Rule took home the 200-IM championship. Julia Elder bolstered the performance with runner-up finishes in the 100-free and 50-free races while Brynn Acker took second place in the 400-free and third in the 100-fly. McKenna Riley also won the 100-back to help spur the title-winning effort by the Warriors and Western capped the day with a first place in the 400-free relay.
The Warriors catapulted 33 swimmers to the Region 3A West meet, similar to last year’s performance that ended with a pair of runner-up finishes in Region 3A West.
The Mustangs also had a strong day. Monticello’s Brian Young won the 50-free while the Mustangs’ Kathryn Deane won the girls 50-free, giving Monticello a sweep in the sprint event. Young also snagged a second place in the 100-free. Teddy Armstrong Leeds took third for the Mustangs in the 200-IM and Peter Tegethoff finished fourth in the 100-fly. The Mustangs also snagged third in the 200-free relay and the 400-free relay. Jack Bickers finished fourth in the 100-back.
Monticello’s girls grabbed fourth in 200-medley relay and fourth in the 200-free relay. Julie Scholes took fourth in 200-IM, Amanda Mincer fifth in 100-fly and Ava Burnsed finished fourth in the 100-free.
A slew of Monticello swimmers will also compete in the 3A West meet.
