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RC’s Pfaff , Black, PM’s King Swim To Titles
The Rockbridge County High School boys swimming team placed third at the Region 3C meet on Tuesday of last week at the Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville, while the RC girls finished fifth. Three RC boys and three RC girls qualified individually for the Class 3 state meet, while the boys qualified two relay teams and the girls qualified one relay team.
In the Region 1C and 2C meet, Parry McCluer High School sophomore swimmer Olive King won the girls’ 100-yard freestyle and placed third in the 200-yard freestyle relay on Thursday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. She’ll compete in both events at the Class 1 and 2 state meet.
In addition to qualifying by time, individuals qualified by placing in the top five, and relay teams qualified by placing in the top four.
For the RC girls, senior Ali Pfaff was named Region 3C girls’ swimmer of the year. Pfaff, who signed her letter of intent last fall to swim for Division I Duke University, won regional championships in two events – the 100-yard freestyle in 50.34 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke in 54.54 seconds.
Pfaff was also a member of the girls’ 200-yard medley relay team, which qualified for the state meet by placing third in 1:59.64. Other team members were seniors Abby Hickman and Sofia Vargas and junior Greta Guse.
The RC boys, who had narrowly beaten Spotswood for the Valley District title on Jan. 28, tallied 67 points at the Region 3C meet. Spotswood placed fourth with 60 points, followed by Waynesboro (59) in fifth.
Following up on their runner- up finish at the Valley District meet, the RC girls placed fifth with 54 points at the Region 3C meet. Monticello won the girls’ title, while Valley District champion TA (93.5) placed second. Finishing a place ahead of RC was Spotswood (72).
For the RC boys, freshman Keagan Black won the 100yard backstroke in 54.8 seconds, breaking his own school record by about a second, placing fourth to advance in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.39 seconds.
Sophomore Spencer Pfaff placed second to advance in two races, the 50-yard freestyle (22.41 seconds) and the 100-yard freestyle (49.79).
Junior Will Gibbs advanced by placing second in the 500yard freestyle (5:08.54) and finishing third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.62).
The RC boys advanced in two relays, placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:33.28 and finishing third in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:45.38. Team members in the freestyle relay were Black, Gibbs, Pfaff and senior Well Pearson. In the medley relay, team members were Black, Gibbs, Pfaff and senior Benjamin Barney.
In addition to Ali Pfaff, Vargas and Guse advanced individually for the RC girls. Vargas placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (6:11.52) and finished fifth in the 200yard freestyle (2:17.24), while Guse placed fifth in the 100yard backstroke (1:08.3).
The Class 3 state meet will take place on Friday at the SwimRVA Collegiate School Aquatics Center in Richmond. Last year, led by two individual state titles from Ali Pfaff, the RC girls placed sixth. With Gibbs and 2022 RC graduate Lincoln Garcia competing, the RC boys finished 21st.
King Sets PR
For PM, King won the 100-yard freestyle in 58.57 seconds, a personal record by nearly two seconds, on Thursday in Christiansburg. She had already qualified by time in the event.
In the 200-yard freestyle, she finished third in 2:09 to qualify for the state meet.
Last year, competing in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races, King narrowly missed qualifying in both events.
The Class 1 and 2 state meet will take place on Saturday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.
