The Connection

Thirteen West Potomac swimmers (eight girls and five boys) will advance to the Northern Region swim and dive championships Feb. 2-4 after a competitive Patriot District meet Friday and Saturday at Lee District RECenter.

During the Patriot District meet, the Wolverine girls set two Patriot District records, won five of the swimming events, and recorded two 1-2 finishes on their way to a fourth-place team finish. The West Potomac boys finished sixth in the team scoring. The top six individual and relay finishers at the district meet automatically qualify to swim in the Northern Region meet, which will be held at the Oak Marr Recreation center.

In the girls’ meet, senior Reanna Doña led the Wolverines with two individual victories, in the 50Y freestyle (state-qualifying 24.43) and the 100Y backstroke. Her state-qualifying time of 57.95 in the 100Y back set a new Patriot District record, breaking her own record set in 2010. Junior Hellen Moffitt was also an individual winner for West Potomac with her first-place finish in the 100Y freestyle (53.89, state-qualifying). Moffitt finished a close second in the 200Y freestyle with a state-qualifying and season-best time of 1:56.44. The Wolverine girls’ 200Y medley relay team of Doña, Maxine Clifford, Sara Bertram, and Moffitt set another Patriot District record with their winning time of 1:47.02, which also meets the state-qualifying standard. Doña took the lead on the lead-off backstroke leg and the West Potomac girls never looked back, cruising to victory by more than 3 seconds over the second-place girls from W.T. Woodson, who were also under the previous Patriot District record set in 2008.

Sophomore Sara Bertram placed second in both the 200Y individual medley and the 100Y butterfly. In the 200Y IM, Bertram’s state-qualifying time of 2:11.58 was just 0.25 seconds off the winning time of 2:11.33. In the 100Y butterfly, the top four girls were separated by just 0.58 seconds, with Bertram grabbing second place in another state-qualifying time of 58.69. Freshman Maxine Clifford, in her Patriot District championship debut, finished second with state-qualifying times in both the 100Y freestyle (54.01) and 100Y backstroke (59.63). In each race, the only swimmer ahead of her was one of her teammates, giving the West Potomac girls their two 1-2 finishes on the night.

West Potomac’s other first-place finish came in the girls’ 400Y freestyle relay, where the team of Bertram, Clifford, Doña, and Moffitt bested the field by more than 3 seconds with a state-qualifying time of 3:37.51.

The Wolverine girls had one more individual top-six finisher in sophomore Carolyn Murphy, who bettered her previous time by nearly 5 seconds to finish sixth place in the 500Y freestyle (5:36.83) and qualify for this week’s Northern Region meet. Murphy also placed ninth in the 200Y freestyle (2:06.03). The 200Y freestyle relay team of Carolyn Murphy, Melanie Bomberg, Kristine Pinter, and Maddy Bolger also move on to the Regional meet after their fourth-place finish (1:44.81).

For the Wolverine girls, other point-scoring top-16 finishers included sophomore Pinter (10th in the 200Y free – 2:06.21 and 11th in the 100Y fly – 1:05.77), freshman Melanie Bomberg (10th in 50Y free – 26.34), junior Maddy Bolger (thirteenth in the 50Y free – 26.53 and 10th in the 100Y free – 56.84), freshman Torie Bolger (12th in the 500Y free – 5:52.47), and freshman Jayne Orleans, who finished 11th in the 100Y breaststroke (1:12.82).

In the boys’ meet, the Wolverines had one individual top-six finisher (and Northern Region qualifier) in freshman Michael Valceanu, who finished sixth in the 200Y freestyle with a time of 1:53.13. Valceanu was just outside a top-six finish in the 100Y butterfly, finishing seventh with a time of 55.61. Teammate and fellow freshman Will Rausch was the other top-finishing West Potomac swimmer, finishing seventh in the 100Y breaststroke with a time of 1:03.46. Rausch also finished 12th in the 200Y individual medley (2:13.12). Two Wolverine boys’ relay teams move on to the Northern Region meet by virtue of their fifth-place finishes at the District meet. The 200Y medley relay team of Trevor Jenne, Rausch, Valceanu, and Patrick Murphy posted a season-best time of 1:44.47 to advance to Regionals. The Wolverine 400Y freestyle relay team of Jenne, Jack King, Valceanu, and P. Murphy also posted a season-best time (3:29.19), moving on to compete at the Regional meet.

Several other West Potomac boys scored points for the team with top-16 finishes and personal best times. Senior Patrick Murphy was ninth in the 100Y backstroke (59.56) and 14th in the 200Y freestyle. Senior Trevor Jenne finished 10th in the 200Y IM (2:10.66). Sophomore Cyrus Adams-Mardi was 13th in the 100Y backstroke in a time of 1:02.85. The Wolverine boys’ 200Y freestyle relay of Adams-Mardi, Luke Perez, Niko Knoblauch and Jack King placed seventh.

The girls’ preliminary events for the Northern Region meet take place on Thursday, Feb. 2 at Oak Marr, followed by the boys’ preliminary events on Friday, Feb. 3. Top 16 finishers in both boys’ and girls’ individual and relay events will advance to the finals on Saturday, Feb. 4.