Boys Meet
The Jefferson Forest boys won the 4A state championship by over 40 points despite not having a single individual event winner, and only one relay win, in a great display of depth.
Hanover kicked off the evening by taking the 200 medley relay in 1:38.27. Dominion senior Matthew Popovich then won the 200 free in 1:39.79. He later won the 100 free in 46.31. Loudon Valley sophomore Sean Conway also doubled, taking the 200 IM in 1:48.70 and the 500 free in 4:32.42. William Byrd junior Khalil Fonder also came away with two victories, touching first in the 100 fly (48.41) and the 100 back (49.52). The final two individual victories went to King George junior Jacob Miler in the 50 free (21.20) and Heritage senior Michael Burris in the 100 breast (55.93).
The Jamestown High School boys took the 200 free relay in a combined 1:29.34 before the Jefferson Forest got its sole event victory to wrap up the meet, with their squad of Ben Davidson, Brian Grimmett, Brendan Murray, Josh Hankey taking the 400 free relay in 3:15.42.
Girls Meet
While the Jefferson Forest boys relied on depth, the Jamestown girls needed two relay wins and four individual victories to secure a 29 point margin of victory over second place Rock Ridge.
Jamestown kicked off the meet with a 1:46.04 victory in the 200 medley relay, and then took the 200 free relay later in the meet in 1:36.82.
Two Jamestown girls took two victories each to support the team’s winning effort. Junior Abby Larson swept the sprint freestyles with a 23.47 in the 50 free and a 50.69 in the 100 free. Senior Joelle Vereb took the 100 fly (55.50) and the 100 back (56.52).
Rock Ridge senior Nicole Fye earned victories in the 200 free (1:50.25) and 500 free (4:54.52), and anchored Rock Ridge’s 1st place 400 free relay, helping them touch in 3:31.47.
Other individual event winners included Lafayette freshman Colby Hurt, with a 2:02.60 in the 200 IM, and Jefferson Forest sophomore Tara Enneking, with a 1:05.06 in the 100 breast.
Note: the Virginia High School League (VHSL), which consists almost entirely of public schools, runs five different state meets, for divisions 2A (smaller schools) to 6A (largest schools). Additionally, most of the state’s private schools compete as part of the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA), which runs its own meet. We’ll be recapping all six of those meets here.