.jpg)
The Rockbridge County High School boys swimming team won its first meet of the season last Wednesday at Westover Pool in Harrisonburg, while the RC girls tied for third place. Both teams faced tough competition at the Southwest Virginia High School Invitational on Saturday in Christiansburg, where the RC boys had two individuals achieve state-qualifying times.
Also getting off to a strong start was Parry McCluer High School’s lone swimmer, junior Olive King, who qualified by time for the state meet in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races.
Last Wednesday, the RC boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay team qualified for the Class 3 state meet by finishing in a winning time of 1:36.52, more than 13 seconds ahead of runner-up Harrisonburg. Team members were Keagan Black, Spencer Pfaff, Grayson Garcia and Will Gibbs.
In the team standings, the RC boys won with 240 points, while Waynesboro placed second of three teams with 186 points, and Harrisonburg (165) finished third with 165. Harrisonburg (293) won the girls’ meet, Waynesboro (140) placed second of five teams, while RC and host Broadway (134) tied for third place. With just one swimmer, PM finished fifth with 32 points.
The RC boys won two relays and five individual races.
In the boys’ 200-yard medley relay, the Wildcats took first place by about 3.4 seconds over Waynesboro, finishing in 1:57.59. Team members were Pfaff, Black, Gibbs and Garcia.
Winning two individual races each for the Wildcats were Black, Gibbs and Pfaff.
Black won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:22.65 and claimed the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.93. Gibbs took first in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.53 and captured the 100-yard freestyle in 53.87 seconds. Pfaff won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.92 and claimed the 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.15.
Also stepping up for the RC boys were Roman Stanley, placing second in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:25.68, and Garcia, finishing second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.72 and coming in third in the 200-yard frestyle in 2:23.51.
The RC girls won the 200-yard freestyle relay and two individual races.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the RC girls finished in 2:14.94 to beat Broadway by more than three seconds. Teaming up for the Wildcats were Lexi Walters, Greta Guse, Rowan Moles and Rio Bucy.
Bucy won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:46.14 and placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in 29.91, while Guse claimed the 200-yard freestyle in 2:36.84 and finished second in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:18.36.
Also stepping up for the RC girls was Walters, placing second in the 500-yard freestyle in 7:28.82.
For PM, King won both of her races. She claimed the 50-yard freestyle in a state-qualifying time of 26.84 and took first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:22.54.
RC Boys Seventh Of 23
Three local swimmers achieved state-qualifying times at the Southwest Virginia High School Invitational on Saturday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The RC boys placed seventh of 23 teams, King scored enough points for PM to place 17th of 29 girls’ teams, and the RC girls tied for 26th.
For the RC boys, Pfaff won both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle and achieved state-qualifying times in both races, while Black placed second in the 100-yard backstroke in a state-qualifying time. King achieved her statequalifying time in the girls’ 100-yard freestyle, in which she placed fourth in 57.99. She also competed in the 50-yard freestyle, placing fifth in 26.68, slightly faster than last Wednesday’s time.
Pfaff won the boys’ 50-yard freestyle in 47.86 seconds and claimed the 50-yard freestyle in 21.98. In his runner-up performance in the 100yard backstroke, Black finished in 55.73.
The RC boys scored 130 points to place seventh, just ahead of Virginia High School (eighth, 122 points), Valley District rival Turner Ashby (ninth, 112) and Christiansburg (10th, 108). Science Hill (320) won the meet, while Patrick Henry (259) placed second, and William Byrd (182) finished third. Rounding out the top six were Carroll County (148), Franklin County (141) and Hidden Valley (136).
In the girls’ meet, the Wildcats scored five points to tie Alleghany for 26th place. King scored 29 points to put PM in 17th place. Cave Spring (340) won the meet, Science Hill (306) placed second, and Hidden Valley (222) finished third. Completing the top five were Radford (221) and Christiansburg (176).
Reflecting on her swimmers’ first week, second- year RC head coach Erica Bisaillon said, “Overall, we have a lot of swimmers who set personal bests, and it’s a testament to how hard they’ve been working in practice. None of the swimmers tapered (a performance strategy in which we cut back on yardage, practice intensity, etc. to conserve energy for a big race), and even still they swam extremely fast.”
“We’ve been emphasizing focus on the little things, such as maximizing underwaters and blasting off the blocks at the start of the race, and it’s making a world of difference,” added Bisaillon. “If this is how they’re performing already this early in the season, I can’t wait to see where we’ll be at the end!”
Bisaillon noted that both RC teams were missing swimmers taking the SATs, at all-district band tryouts and other commitments.
“I have high hopes for their success when we reach championship season,” she said.
The Wildcats and King will hold their first home meet of the season when they face RC’s Valley District rivals East Rockingham and Spotswood on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Rockbridge Aquatics Center in Lexington.
