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Rockbridge County High School sophomore Keagan Black qualified by time for the Class 3 state meet in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly at the Wildcats’ final home swim meet on Saturday night at the Rockbridge Aquatics Center in Lexington. The RC boys and girls both lost to Valley District rival Turner Ashby, while Parry McCluer’s lone swimmer, junior Olive King, won both of her races.
Black won the 100-yard butterfly in 54.29 seconds, while senior teammate Will Gibbs placed second in 58.14, and RC junior Grayson Garcia finished third in 1:01.07. Black, who had achieved a state-qualifying time in the 100-yard backstroke in early December, also won the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday, finishing in 1:07.99.
Due to snow and a boiler breaking at the Lexington pool earlier in the week, the Wildcats had only had one day of practice as a team last week, Friday, but Black was able to practice at the Washington and Lee University pool.
Despite limited practice for most of the Wildcats, they were able to set a lot of personal records (PRs). “They did awesome,” said RC head coach Erica Bisaillon. “Today was more about getting times in different events so that we can have more opportunities at districts and regions,” added Bisaillon.
The Wildcats’ meet that was scheduled for last Wednesday at Waynesboro was canceled due to inclement weather, and they weren’t sure until the end of the week if they’d get to have one final home meet, which was added to the schedule earlier this month. The pool’s boiler was fixed last Wednesday, which was in time to get the water up to the right temperature to hold practice on Friday and get ready for the meet.
“I’m glad it ended up working out,” said Bisaillon. “There was a lot of touch and go, here and there, about whether it was going to happen or not.”
In the team duals, the TA boys defeated the Wildcats, who were missing two swimmers, 100-60. The TA girls, who overcame RC for the Valley District title last year, defeated the Wildcats 97-27 on Saturday.
In representing PM, King competed against both RC and TA. TA beat PM 98-12, while RC defeated PM 40-12.
King won the girls’ 50-yard freestyle in 26.36 seconds and claimed the girls’ 500-yard freestyle in 5:49.48, more than 30 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, RC junior Rio Bucy, who placed second in 6:21.32. RC sophomore Lexi Walters finished third in the 500-yard freestyle in 7:31.31.
As a special treat, King joined three Wildcats to race in the first relay of her career, the girls’ 400-yard freestyle. The result didn’t count since there were swimmers for two different schools, but her coach spoke on the importance of joining that relay to team up with Wildcats that she had been practicing with for the past few seasons. “The girls have been asking for it,” said Bisaillon. “Olive is just as much a part of our team as she is her own team.”
Including Black’s two wins, the RC boys won four individual races and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Gibbs won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.19, while junior teammate Spencer Pfaff placed second in 1:59.07, followed by Garcia in third in 2:14.85. Pfaff claimed the 100-yard freestyle in 49.95 seconds, beating runner up Jack Martin of TA (54.78) by nearly five seconds.
The RC boys won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:42.04, edging TA (1:42.39) by 0.35 seconds. TA won the boys’ 200yard medley relay in 1:50.97, while the Wildcats placed second in 2:00.93. TA also claimed the boys’ 400-yard freestyle in 3:57.63, with the Wildcats placing third in 4:30.36.
Other than in the 500-yard freestyle, the top performance from the small RC girls’ team came in the 200-yard medley. The Wildcats placed second in 2:27.51, behind TA’s winning time of 2:14.53.
RC girls earning third-place finishes individually were Bucy (50-yard freestyle, 28.78 seconds), Walters (100-yard freestyle, 1:16.24) and senior Greta Guse (100-yard backstroke, 1:13.73).
Before the meet, the Wildcats honored their six seniors and junior Rukhshonabonu “Ru” Abdumalikova, a foreign exchange student from Uzbekistan. The seniors are Gibbs, Guse, Rowan Moles, Quinn Fountain, Ezra Kelland and Chase Lowney.
Bisaillon, who is in her second year as the Wildcats’ head coach, said she’s proud of all the seniors, “but it’s very heartbreaking to see them go. I know they’re going to go on to do such amazing things.”
Before coaching the high school team, Bisaillon worked with some of current Wildcats youth swimmers when she was coaching the Rockbridge Storm youth club. She noted that she had been coaching Gibbs and Guse for about a decade, since they were 8 years old.
In addition to watching the development of those swimmers, Bisaillon was pleased with the progress of her other seniors, including Fountain and Kelland, who both set PRs in the 100yard breaststroke on Saturday.
Bisaillon also praised Moles, whose family moved to Rockbridge County before her junior year, so she’s only in her second year of swimming for the Wildcats. The RC coach said Moles is “one of the most dedicated people that I know when it comes to showing up and putting in the work. Even if she isn’t the fastest person on the team, she’s one of the people who works the hardest.”
Today, Wednesday, the Wildcats will compete at the Alleghany YMCA at 6 p.m. They’ll then prepare for the Valley District meet, which is scheduled for next Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m., at Westover Swimming Pool in Harrisonburg.
