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The Rockbridge County High School boys swimming team placed second of five teams at the Valley District meet, while the RC girls finished fifth of six teams last Wednesday at Westover Swimming Pool in Harrisonburg.
In the boys’ standings, the Wildcat s, who had won the district title last year, scored 113 points last Wednesday to only trail district champion Turner Ashby (150.5), a team with more than twice as many swimmers as the Wildcats. Spotswood (84.5) placed third, Harrisonburg (79) finished fourth, and East Rockingham (49) came in fifth. TA won the girls’ title with 153 points, Spotswood (95) placed second, and ER (73) finished third. Rounding out the standings were Harrisonburg (70), RC (42) and Broadway (34).
In addition to those qualified by time, the top six finishers in each individual race and the top three teams in each relay qualified for the Region 3C meet, which was scheduled to take place yesterday at the Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville. For qualifying purposes, due to competing in a different region than the rest of the Valley District teams, Harrisonburg swimmers were removed from the results.
The RC boys, who won five individual races and one relay, advanced to the regional meet by placement in nine individual races and all three relays, while the RC girls advanced in five individual races and one relay.
Leading the RC boys was junior Spencer Pfaff, who won both of his individual races and was a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that won. At the end of the meet, Pfaff was named Valley District boys swimmer of the year. Pfaff claimed the 100-yard butterfly in 55.05 seconds, nearly six seconds ahead of the runner-up, and won the 100-yard backstroke by almost seven seconds, finishing in 57.4 seconds. Both times were personal records for Pfaff.
RC senior Will Gibbs won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.3, nearly six seconds ahead of the runner-up, and finished second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:29.9. Junior teammate Grayson Garcia claimed the 50-yard freestyle in 24.21 seconds and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle in 52.68.
Taking on two fairly new races for him, RC sophomore Keagan Black won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:11.5, nearly 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:08.24.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the RC boys won in 3:33.12, finishing about 12 seconds ahead of runner-up TA (3:45.16). RC team members were Pfaff, Garcia, Gibbs and Black.
The RC boys placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:48.01, just behind TA (1:47.7) and ahead of third-place Spotswood (1:48.87). Team members for the Wildcats were Garcia, Gibbs, senior Chase Lowney and junior Roman Stanley. The Wildcats also advanced in the boys’ 200-yard medley relay, placing third in 1:59.56. Team members were Black, Pfaff, Lowney and senior Quinn Fountain.
Lowney also advanced individually in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing fifth in 28.61 seconds. Stanley missed qualifying by one spot in the 100-yard backstroke, placing seventh in 1:20.37.
For the RC girls, junior Rio Bucy advanced in two individual races, placing second in the 50-yard freestyle in 28.54 seconds and finishing third in the 500-yard freestyle in 6:15.38. Sophomore teammate Lexi Walters also advanced in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing fifth in 7:19.03. Also advancing individually for the RC girls were seniors Greta Guse and Rowan Moles. Guse placed third in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:11.72, and Moles finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:16.6.
The RC girls qualified for the regional meet in the 400-yard freestyle relay, placing third in 4:56.58. Team members were Walters, Guse, Moles and Bucy.
For results from the Region 3C meet and to see which swimmers qualified for the Class 3 state meet, visit www.thenewsgazette. com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story. The Class 3 state meet is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the SwimRVA Collegiate School Aquatics Center in Richmond.
