David King Sets Trio of State Records As Western Albemarle Sweeps VHSL Class 3 Titles

2024 VHSL CLASS 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 15-17, 2024
• Richmond, Virginia
• SCY (25 yards)
• Finals Results (PDF)

It was a dominant showing for the Western Albemarle High School swim & dive teams at the 2024 Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 3 State Championships, roaring to a pair of state titles for both boys and girls.

Western Albemarle was reclassified down to Class 3 after the boys’ team won the Class 4 state title last season and the girls’ squad was the runner-up (classifications are based on student population).

GIRLS RECAP

Western Albemarle won the girls’ title despite having zero individual swimming victories, claiming two events during the meet, one relay and one diving event.

After finishing 3rd in the 200 medley relay and then 2nd in the 200 free relay, Western Albemarle wrapped up the meet by topping the field by nearly six seconds in the 400 free relay, as Grace McCardle (54.41), Elizabeth Osada (52.84), Lillian Phillips (52.74) and Lucille Nicholson (54.40) combined for a time of 3:34.39 to lead runner-up Lafayette (3:40.25).

Osada, a sophomore, led the team with 31 individual points, having placed 3rd in the 100 fly and 4th in the 200 IM.

In the 1-meter diving event, it was junior Raina Fitzwater putting some big points on the board for Western Albemarle, finishing with a score of 335.40 for the win with three of her teammates finishing in the top nine.

Kettle Run High School placed 2nd in the team race, having had a standout showing across the board with four total wins, including a pair from Caroline Agee.

Agee, a junior, won the 200 IM in a personal best time of 1:59.54, and added a second title in the 100 breast in 1:03.22, just shy of her 1:02.98 PB.

Like Western Albemarle, Kettle Run also competed in Class 4 last season, where Agee won the 100 breast crown and was 3rd in the 200 IM.

Kettle Run sophomore Emma Cigna was also a top performer, winning the 200 free (1:50.84) and taking 3rd in the 100 back (56.71) in personal best fashion.

Kettle Run also had a victory in the 200 medley relay, clocking 1:47.05 with contributions from Ashlyn Augustine (28.03), Agee (29.31), Cigna (25.87) and Lillian Von Herbulis (23.84).

The other real standout individual performer was York High School junior Phoebe Mayo, who won the 100 back (55.10) after placing 2nd last season and repeated as the runner-up in the 200 IM (2:04.06).

Placing 3rd in the team race was Cave Spring, which picked up the title in the 200 free relay in 1:37.47, featuring a lineup of Jillian Sylvester-Johnson (24.76), Tessa Gorby (23.75), Alexis Schaaf (24.74) and Zoey Lusk (24.22).

Other Winners

• 50 Free – Christine Datovech (Maggie Walker Governors School), 23.40
• 100 Fly – Alexandra Fuller (Fluvanna County High School), 54.05
• 100 Free – Samantha Sowers (James Monroe High School), 51.73
• 500 Free – Sofie Vanyo (Monticello High School), 4:59.81

Team Standings – Top 5

1. Western Albemarle High School, 345
2. Kettle Run High School, 269
3. Cave Spring High School, 260
4. York High School, 204
5. Maggie Walker Governors School, 188

BOYS RECAP

It was a landslide victory for the Western Albemarle boys, as the team swept the relays and had three more wins in individual events to distance themselves from the next-best team by 230 points.

Leading the charge for Western Albemarle was David King, a University of Virginia commit who rocketed to a pair of Class 3 State Records by significant margins.

In the 200 IM, King annihilated the field by more than nine seconds in a time of 1:46.22, breaking the Class 3 record of 1:49.68 set by Keith Myburgh in 2018.

For King, the time chipped six one-hundredths off his previous best of 1:46.28 set in December.

Later in the meet in the 100 free, King went sub-44 for the first time in 43.92, cracking the Class 3 record of 45.16 set by August Lamb in 2019 while going under his old best of 44.31 from December.

Runner-up Benjamin Ackerly of Maggie Walker Governors School also went under the old record in 45.04, a new lifetime best for the Yale commit.

King also made his presence felt in the relays.

In the 200 free relay, King led off in 20.52 for another record in the 50 free, and was followed by Jacques Hathaway (21.77), Richard Wang (21.18) and Lucas Quatrara (21.87) as the team clocked 1:25.34 to edge out the Class 3 record of 1:25.39 set by the Western Albemarle squad in 2019.

In the 50 free, King’s time broke the Class 3 record of 20.85 established by Aaron James in 2016 and lowered his personal best of 20.91 set in January.

King also anchored Western Albemarle to victory in the 400 free relay, joining Jonathan Alexander (51.29), Quatrara (48.55) and Thomas Olson (52.79) with a 43.56 split to run down Goochland High School’s Harry Belcher and win the event by just over half a second, 3:16.19 to 3:16.76.

Belcher, a senior and UVA commit, had a record performance of his own in the 200 free, touching in a personal best of 1:38.27 to lower the Class 3 mark of 1:38.56 set by Benjamin Huffman in 2022.

Liberty Christian Academy’s Jerry Gordon also went under the old record in 1:38.48, and the Virginia Tech commit was also the champion in the 500 free (4:28.83), setting best times in both events.

Belcher also secured the title in the 100 fly, establishing a PB of 49.00 after placing 3rd last season when he went 50.45.

Western Albemarle also won the 200 medley relay with a squad of Sam Bledsoe (24.28), Hathaway (26.14), Alexander (23.98) and Quatrara (21.93) in 1:36.33.

Hathaway, a junior, won the 100 breast in a PB of 56.30, coming within seven-tenths of the Class 3 record of 55.63.

Other Winners

• 50 Free – Spencer Pfaff (Rockbridge County High School), 21.11
• 1-Meter – Alex Way (Meridian High School), 378.85
• 100 Back – Jackson Tishler (Kettle Run High School), 50.18

Team Standings – Top 5

1. Western Albemarle High School, 399.5
2. Lafayette High School, 169.5
3. Goochland High School, 164
4. Rockbridge County High School, 142
5. Meridian High School, 135