It was business as usual for the <strong>Yorktown</strong> girl’s swim and dive team as it easily won the National District crown this past weekend at Providence Rec Center with a team score of 617.5, nearly the double the amount of points as second-place Mount Vernon. The Patriots are undefeated this season and have never lost the National District championship. The conference was created in 1993.
This year, the lady Patriots had nine first-place finishes and 29 top-eight placers. Leading the way throughout was junior Abigail Ortmayer, who collected top honors in Saturday’s first final (200-yard medley relay) and its last race (400-yard free style relay). In between, Ortmayer picked up district titles in individual races like the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke.
Other notable swimmers were sophomore Kerry Sutherland, who won both the 200- and 500- yard freestyle races, and senior Hilary Stetekluh (1st place 50-yard freestyle; 2nd place 100-yard butterfly). Junior Kaitlin Wolla won the 100-yard butterfly race.
The <strong>Washington-Lee</strong> girl’s team came in third place overall led by senior Sarah DiNardo, who took home a district title in the 200-yard freestyle.
The Yorktown boy’s came in second place in the team competition with a score of 327. The Patriots have now finished first or second in the district every year since 2002.
Leading the charge was junior Andrew Leach (2nd, 100-yard backstroke), senior Jack Wilson (2nd, 100-yard breaststroke), senior Brian Coonce (2nd diving), and freshman Will Tarkenton (4th, 500-yard freestyle).
Washington-Lee came in fourth place in the boy’s team competition thanks in large part to its first-place 400-yard freestyle relay team. The group consisted of junior Jake Huston, junior Freddy Crawford, senior Nicholas Penaranda, and freshman David Palmer. Crawford also won the 100-yard backstroke, while Huston won the 100-yard breaststroke race.
The Northern Region swimming meet takes place this Saturday at Oak Marr Rec center beginning at 5:30 p.m.
<b>National District Wrestling</b>
The National District wrestling tournament was held this past weekend at J.E.B. Stuart High School and all three Arlington public schools were well represented.
Yorktown had two individual champions and two other finalists. Danilo Downing (125 pounds) and Will Lomax (215 pounds) both took home district titles in their respective weight classes, while Hunter Rheume (145 pounds) and Nathan Young (171 pounds) made it all the way to the finals before losing a match, therefore finishing in second place.
Other regional qualifiers included Hasan Hiraoglu (3rd place at 189 pounds), Dean Kime (4th place at 112 pounds), and Nolan Paduda (4th place at 130 pounds). As a team, the Patriots came in fourth place.
As has been the case all season long, Wakefield was led by seniors Carlos Bonilla (140 pounds) and Chris Ioffreda (171 pounds), who both won district titles in their respective weight classes. They helped pace the Warriors’ fifth-place team finish that was aided by strong performances by Henry Vasquez (2nd place at 103 pounds), Henry Mejano (2nd place at 119 pounds), and Victor Leavell (2nd place at 135 pounds).
Michael Watson, who was a finalist in the 140-pound weight class, led the Washington-Lee team. Timothy Jenkins (3rd place at 103 pounds), Manik Sarik (3rd place at 130 pounds), Conor Sharp (3rd place at heavyweight), Nicholas Burns (4th place at 152 pounds), and Justin Serene (4th place at 171 pounds) all also turned in strong performances. The Generals finished in sixth place overall. The Northern Region wrestling tournament will take place on Feb. 14 at Fairfax High School.
<b>Goal of the Year for Yorktown Student?</b>
In March of 2008, the Arlington Travel Soccer Club (ATSC) Under-16 Boys Soccer team won a game 1-0 against the Black Watch Highlanders of New York at the esteemed Jefferson Cup tournament in Richmond, Virginia. The game-winning goal was scored by Arlington resident Marcus Caraca, who is now being put on the national stage as a nominee for US Youth Soccer’s Goal of the Year.
Voting for Goal of the Year commenced on Feb. 2 and runs through Feb. 27. Votes are cast online at http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/workshop/goalandsaveoftheyearvoting.asp where voters can watch video of all nominated goals. Marcus’s goal is the last goal on the compilation video.
Marcus attends Yorktown High School in Arlington and will graduate in 2011. He holds a 3.8 grade point average while taking some Advanced Placement (AP) courses as well as being on the honor roll. He received first place in the regional science fair and is a member of the Hispanic Leadership Conference. Marcus played high school basketball in 2007 and was part of the Virginia Northern District Olympic Development Program (ODP) Pool in soccer.