<b>Yorktown Swim and Dive Starts Fast</b>
The Yorktown swim and dive team is off to a successful start for the season with the girls 2-0 and the boys tied after the first two meets with several swimmers already posting times that qualify them for the Regionals.
The Patriots started their season on Dec. 3 with a meet against the Stuart Raiders. The boys won 119-67 and the girls won 106-80. In the Hayfield meet on Dec. 10, the girls won with a score of 137-48.
The boys won their meet against Stuart with seven first-place finishes in the 12 events. Jimmy Linek was a double winner with victories in the 200 IM and 100 back and Max Fish was a double winner with wins in the 500 Free and 100 Breast. Connor Healy won the 50 free event. The boys’ relay teams also contributed to the win with first-place finishes in the 200 medley relay (Linek, Fish, Connor Healy and Chris Clements) and the 200 free relay (Scott Benoit, Chris Dunn, Linek and Healy). There were many strong swims in the Hayfield meet as well with first-place finishes by several team members: Jason Henley (200 Free), Alex Place (Diving), David Emson (500 Free), Healy (100 Back) and the 400 Relay (Henley, Emson, Clements and Newton).
The girls were dominant in the win against Stuart with nine out of 12 first-place wins. Double winners included Emma Leheny (200 IM and 100 fly) and Stephanie Romano (200 free and 500 free). Other individual event winners were Elena Bavolac (diving), Devon Harkins (100 free), and Angela Slevin (100 back). The girls also won all three relays: 200 Medley (Angela Slevin, Stephanie Romano, Kerry Sutherland, Grace Greenwood), 200 Free Relay (Kerry Sutherland, Claire Slevin, Grace Greenwood, Leheny) and the 400 Free Relay (Angela Slevin, Greenwood, Romano, Leheny). Two swimmers also achieved regional cut times in the Stuart meet: Slevin (100 back) and Romano (500 free).
The girls repeated their dominant performance in the win against Hayfield on Dec. 10 with 11 wins in the 12 events. Double wins were posted by Romano (500 free and 100 back) and Ellie Belilos (50 free and 100 fly). Other first-place finishes in the individual events came from Molly Merkel (200 Free), Elena Bavolac (Diving) and Slevin (100 Free). The Yorktown girls also won all their relay events: 200 medley (Slevin, Lydia Carpenter, Abby Young, Ann Carpenter); 200 free relay (Belilos, Molly Merkel, Greenwood, Carla Vazquez-Ramos); and 400 Free Relay (Greenwood, Claire Slevin, Merkel, Vazquez-Ramos). The 200 medley relay team of Slevin, Lydia Carpenter, Ann Carpenter and Young also achieved a regional cut time.
The Patriots return to the pool on Friday, Dec. 17 with a meet against Wakefield and on Saturday, Dec. 18 with a meet against Edison. The meets begin with diving at 6:30 p.m.
<b>Winter Basketball Camp</b>
Momentum will be hosting a winter break basketball camp at HB Woodlawn from Dec. 27-30. The camp will be directed by Chummy Gill, former Yorktown coach, and Darren Tarver, former George Mason basketball standout and member of the 2006 Final Four team. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 6-15. For more information, visit www.momentum-3.com or e-mail info@momentum-3.com.
<b>Yorktown Fall Awards</b>
Yorktown High School presented its fall athletic awards at its Nov. 22 fall sports banquet. For boys cross country, Ryan Hart and Tom Milton earned Most Valuable awards and Ryan Carroll was named Most Improved. For girls cross country, Alice Zytek (Most Valuable), Allison Pinson (Most Improved) and Kelsey Coia (Coaches Award) were recognized. For golf, Hart (Most Outstanding), Emily Larson (Most Improved) and Camden Marut (Coaches Award) received recognition.
For competition cheer, Rachel Lee (Most Valuable), Katelyn Bond (Most Improved) and Ellie Ellison (Coaches Award) were recognized. For football, Austin Browne (Most Valuable), Gunther Poth (Coaches Award) and John Todd (Coaches Award) were honored. For field hockey, Christine Downey was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player, Rachel Brooke earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors and Maeve Thomassie received the Coaches Award. For volleyball, Ashley Rock was named Most Valuable, Casey Deans earned Most Improved honors and Eva Muszynski won the Coaches Award.
Honored for sportsmanship and excellence were: John MacLaughlin, Caitlyn Denkler, Julia Barnes, Wade Oakley, Hannah Madison, Taylor Brown and David Bernhardt.