2011 Girls Medley Relay at States – Alex Doonis, Lauren Donohoe, Coach Jim Koehr, Bridget Wunderly, and Cat Rogers (L to R)
Alex Doonis ‘12 was an all-time great for Seton Swimming.
She started swimming at Seton as a 7th grader in 2006 when 7th graders were still allowed to compete in the VISAA. That year, only in 7th grade, she was an All-Conference swimmer who was a finalist at National Catholics. That was the beginning of a career that included 17 individual and relay conference championships, All-State recognition nine (9) times, an individual State Championship in 50 Free, and an individual National Catholic High School Championship in 100 Free.
Alex Doonis in 50 Free Final, States 2012
During Alex’s reign as a premier sprinter and backstroker, the Seton girls won four (4) straight VISAA Division II State Championships.
Alex Doonis (right) and Cat Rogers (left) with Coach Koehr after Winning Gold and Silver in 50 Free at States 2012
As memorable as all of Alex’s individual races were though, I have to say that, by far, her most memorable races for me were the two (2) of the girl’s relays we still have immortalized on our Seton Swim & Dive record board. Both their incredible record times and the extreme emotion of the events have survived the test of time. I’m tearing up a little just thinking about it.
Alex Doonis with Coach Jim Koehr at States 2012
The first of those was the Girls 200 Free Relay at States in 2010 which we hosted at the Freedom Center. When you watch the hype video before our meets, and you hear my voice yelling “Can anyone catch ‘the Machine? – No way!’” (referring to Alex’s teammate Lauren “the Machine” Donohoe, that was the relay I was screaming about.
They entered the 2010 Championship Final seeded 2nd behind the all-powerful Collegiate School by only .03 seconds. Their seed time was 1:41.62.
In the Final,s Alex led off the relay with a flat-start 24.98, an amazing time, especially 15 years ago. To put that time in perspective, even today it would be the fastest flat-start time on our team (for the time being anyway). Alex was followed by Cat Rogers (24.50), Laura Talbott (25.78), and Lauren Donohoe (24.79). As you see at the end of the video, Alex and her teammates were able flip the script on Collegiate by holding off the great Rachel Naurath (who almost made me eat my words when she split 22.85) to win Gold by the same .03 seconds. Their final time, and still our team record, was a nearly unbelievable 1:40.05!
Seton Girls 200 Free Relay, Gold Medal Podium, 2010 State Champs – Lauren Donohoe, Laura Talbott, Alex Doonis, Cat Rogers(L to R)
Here is that 2010 Girl’s 200 Free Relay on Seton’s All-Time Greatest Swims YouTube Channel
The other great girls relay immortalized on our record board since 2011 was our Girl’s 200 Medley Relay (pictured at the top of this post) which set the record at States the next year, where we also hosted, this time at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The State Record at that time was held by St. Catherine’s School at 1:50.34, but that record would not survive the Friday night Finals that year.
Seton’s relay of Alex Doonis, Cat Rogers, Bridget Wunderly and Lauren Donohoe came out of Prelims seeded 2nd at 1:51.92, only .11 seconds behind the vaunted St. Catherine’s School.
In the Finals, Alex led off for backstroke at 28.77, followed by Cat Rogers’ breaststroke (30.66), Bridget Wunderly’s butterfly (26.83), and Lauren Donohoe’s freestyle (23.99). In the end, Lauren just couldn’t catch the St. Catherine’s anchor, and they took the Silver medal by only .19 seconds. St. Catherine’s finished with a new State record of 1:50.06.
But Alex’s relay also swam faster than the previous state record! In the process, Alex, Cat, Bridget, and Lauren set a team record that was destined to last for almost 15 years.
Here is that 2011 Girl’s 200 Medley Relay on Seton’s All-Time Greatest Swims YouTube Channel. Seton is in lane 6 and Bishop Ireton (“I-ree-ton” as the announcer kept saying) is lane 4 with St. Catherine’s is in between.
Today, Alex (Doonis) Jacob lives in Warrenton with her husband Chad and their three (3) “wild” boys, ages 3, 2, and 5 months. She works as a nurse and even has her own interior design business.
I looked back at my notes for the 2011 Awards Banquet, and I had a note about Alex that said, “Has greatness in her – I’m sure of it”. Judging from this beautiful current family picture, I was obviously right. Alex’s parents, Carol and Tom Doonis, must just be bursting with pride!
Alex (Doonis) Jacob with her husband Chad and their three (3) boys
While Alex’s 2011 Girls Medley Relay time of 1:50.25 missed getting State record that year, it did become our Seton team record from 2011 – all the way up until last weekend.
That’s because we have another group of Seton girl’s that are starting to relive those 2008-2012 glory days. Melissa Paradise, (JR), Therese Paradise (8), Ariana Aldeguer (JR), and Maggie Schroer (SO) are four (4) new names going up on our record board and into the annuals of all-time greats for Seton girl’s swimming.
Records Are Meant to Be Broken
I don’t know who first said this, but it seems awfully gracious to me, no matter how true it is that all records will eventually be broken. But as I hope you’ve seen from the first part of my blog, our Girls 200 Medley Relay record was just not your average record, and it was not set by your average group of girls.
That should tell you something about our current set of Seton girls. All underclassmen, these girls, along with their current teammates, are set to make the title of this section of the blog post as true as it has been since 2011.
This current version of our Girls 200 Medley Relay came into the Meet seeded 1st, but it took a team record to hold that seed. Melissa Paradise (JR) led off with an unbelievable 26.10 in 50 Back. If you want to see what Alex Doonis looked like swimming backstroke, just watch Melissa. Smooth as silk, graceful, and fast, just slicing through the water in a way that looks effortless.
Not only did Melissa’s 50 Back give us a lead of over one (1) second, but it also broke another team record, previously set by Seton All-America Anna Kenna in 2015 at 27.03! Melissa broke the record by almost an entire second!
Therese Paradise (8) held on to that lead with her 32.50 breaststroke split, and by the time Ariana Aldeguer (JR) got out of the water from her 25.93 butterfly split, no one was going to catch Maggie Schroer (SO) who brought it home in a lifetime best 25.31.
When I saw their final time of 1:49.84, I almost couldn’t believe it. Not only was that a new team record, it was the fastest time swum in the entire VISAA so far this season! The team they beat was no slouch. Bishop O’Connell’s time of 1:50.19 is the 3rd fastest in the VISAA so far this season.
It is so early in the season that I’m not even going to bother to update the record board yet. I am 100% confident that those times will not be the times I’m climbing the ladder to post at the end of the season (To be fair, Mr. Vander Woude actually climbs the ladder )
Now let’s get back to results of the meet.
Another Great Championship for the Northern Virginia Catholic Schools
On Saturday, January 10, 2026, we held our 16th Annual Northern Virginia Catholic High School Swimming and Diving Championship, and boy was it fast! We hosted 382 athletes from almost every Catholic school in the northern half of Virginia to compete is this highly spirited meet.
Two (2) years ago, Bishop O’Connell was on the losing end of two heartbreakers when Seton beat their boys by only 2-points and Paul VI beat their girls by only 1.5-points! My ears are still ringing from that final relay. But they have spent the last two (2) years getting their redemption.
This year was another story of redemption for the Bishop O’Connell who won both the Boys and Girls “Holy Grail” traveling trophies by comfortable margins. It was a lot of fun for me to watch them celebrate a mid-season championship meet by all jumping into the pool after the meet. Helping to create something that brings so much joy to so many kids (and adults) required a moment of reflection and gratitude for me.
Wasn’t it great to have Fr. Joe Moschetto, a Seton graduate, back to lead the opening prayer? He’s been the chaplain at Bishop Ireton for the last year, replacing the unofficial chaplain of Seton Swimming, Fr. Noah Moray.
We also had another Seton graduate, Fr. Jonathan Fioramonti, the Paul VI Chaplain, in attendance to help us with the second year of our new tradition at this Meet – the St. Peter Sprint. It was the brainchild of Fr. Sean Koehr who is too old to have ever had a chance to swim in this meet.
In scripture, we read of a 100-yard swim by St. Peter to our Lord:
“When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.” – John 21:7-8
Fr. Koehr related to me that the men’s 100-yard freestyle reflects Peter’s passionate response upon recognizing Jesus on the shore. The event mirrors the exact distance Peter swam—100 yards—emphasizing his eagerness, faith, and determination. Who would have thought that 100 Freestyle was being swum 2,000 years ago?
We recognize the winner of the Men’s 100 Freestyle by engraving their name on a specially commissioned paddle that we be at the Meet each year. Thank you, former Coach Patrick Heiny and Coach Matt Schroer for commissioning the award from a Marine shop in Quantico. It is a large canoe paddle with a boatswain’s wrap (i.e., decorative rope) that is modeled after a common award given in the Marine Corps. Oorah!
This winner of the 2nd annual St. Peter Sprint was Seton School’s Lionel Martinez (JR) who finished the sprint in 49.05.
Our annual swim meet schedule has developed quite a nice cadence with every Meet during the season having its own purpose and meaning. It seems like every week I find myself writing that “this is my favorite meet of the year”, so I’ll try to back off a bit on the hyperbole, but I definitely had a great time hosting all these schools and coaching all of you this past weekend.
Wow, That Was a Fast Meet!
The level of competition was the highest we’ve seen all season so far, and it showed with ten (10) new Meet Records, including one by Seton phenom Melissa Paradise (JR)!
The two (2) swimmers voted by the coaches as most representative of the quality of the competition at this year’s championship were our Swimmers of the Meet:
- Paul Mullen (SR), Bishop O’Connell
- Four (4) Gold medals in 200 Free, 500 Free, the 200 Medley Relay and the 400 Free Relay.
- Two (2) new meet records in 200 Free and 500 Free
- Claire Dobrydney (SR), Saint Paul VI
- Three (3) Gold medals in 200 Free, 500 Free, and the 200 Free Relay plus a Bronze medal in the 400 Free Relay
- An unbelievable four (4) new Meet Records in 200 Free and 500 Free plus in 50 Free and 100 Free leading off relays
It was a lot of fun to learn that Coach Schroer has deployed with Claire Dobrydney’s father, also a Marine officer, and that Coach Schroer is even the Godfather of Claire’s younger sister.
Another indication of the level of competition was the ten (10) new Meet Records set on Saturday – there are only 24 events!
- Boys 200 Free, Paul Mellon (SR), Bishop O’Connell, 1:43.45
- Girls 200 Free, Claire Dobrydney (SR), Paul VI, 1:52.03
- Girls 50 Free, Claire Dobrydney (SR), Paul VI, 1:52.03
- Boys 200 IM, Quinn Caputo (SO), Paul VI, 24.03
- Boys 1-meter Diving, Rai Detten, Bishop O’Connell, 275.50 points
- Girls 100 Fly, Stella Mastroianni (JR), Bishop O’Connell, 57.39
- Girls 100 Free, Claire Dobrydney (SR), Paul VI, 52.43
- Boys 500 Free, Paul Mullen (SR), Bishop O’Connell, 4:33.71
- Girls 100 Back, Melissa Paradise (JR), Seton, 56.68
- Girls 400 Free Relay of Stella Mastrianni, Eleanor Wertzler, Kalyn Ohara, Elliott Rowan, Bishop O’Connell, 3:36.77
A final indication of just how fast this meet can be seen in the final scores. Little Seton performed very well against the very large diocesan schools, beating several of them:
Boys
Bishop O’Connell 513
Seton Swim & Dive 310
St. Paul VI 257
Bishop Ireton 167
Benedictine College Prep 64
Saint John Paul the Great 32
Girls
Bishop O’Connell 334
St. Paul VI 311
Seton Swim & Dive 234
Bishop Ireton 180
St. Gertrude 155
Oakcrest 117
Saint John Paul the Great 64
Seton Was Led by A Small Group of “NoVa Catholic High School Champions”
This level of championship meet gave our team superstars a chance to shine, but what is remarkable is that out of the 24 total events in the Meet, we only took the gold medal in four (4) individual events and one (1) relay – yet we outscored most of our opponents!
We have already talked about our Girls 200 Medley Relay, so let me highlight the individual Northern Virginia Catholic High School Champions:
- Lionel Martinez (JR) – 200 IM, 1:59.86
- Lionel came into the meet seeded first by a wide margin and held serve with a near Personal Record swim.
- Meghan Condon (SO) – Diving, 189.20
- Meghan got us off to a great start with her NoVa Catholic Championship, diving before the swimming competition.
- It is particularly exciting to note that most of the top divers in Northern Virginia were in attendance, so this bodes quite well for States next month.
- Lionel Martinez (JR) – 100 Free, 49.05
- Lionel beat the top sprinter from O’Connell by more than a second and a half on his way to the gold medal in the St. Peter’s Sprint
- Melissa Paradise (JR) – 100 Backstroke, 56.68
- Melissa was not done with her record-setting ways!
- Channeling her inner-Alex Doonis, Melissa beat the field by almost two (2) full seconds while beating the Meet Record by exactly a half a second.
- Congratulations to Melissa Paradise for a new NoVa Catholic record in 100 backstroke!
Diving Continues to be our Secret Weapon
Bishop O’Connell brought a powerhouse team full of Club divers, but that didn’t keep Seton’s high-school only team from scoring more points in the diving events combined. “Depth over Dominance” as we say.
On the boy’s side, O’Connell took 1st, 2nd, and 8th with 12 places scored. That earned them 34 total points, but interestingly, our 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th by John Witter (8), Max Ashton (8), Tom Waldron (SO), and Kenny Nguyen (JR) scored 40 points!
And on the girl’s side, Meghan’s victory was accompanied by a 6th, 7th and 10th from Maria Miller (SR), Clare Kay (8), and Bella Gorman (8) to score 35 points. O’Connell took 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 9th to score 39 points.
So combined, Seton’s divers beat O’Connell in aggregate by a combined score of 75 to 73!
I’ll let Coach Ashley Keapproth tell the rest of the story with this excerpt from her message to the Diving Team:
Seton Diving Families —
I am so incredibly proud of our team performance at NoVa Catholics today! I have been beaming ear to ear since I got home! With 14 boys and 18 girls, this was the biggest and deepest competition that we have seen this year, and so many Seton divers stepped up their game!
Before delving into the many PRs and highlights, I want to take a step back. NoVa Catholics is a tough meet, especially on the girl’s side. For years, we struggled to place any girls in the top 10. Just three short years ago, in 2023, we finally managed to get one girl in the top 10. This year, we had 4 in the top ten. Three years ago, our best female diver scored 120. This year, all 6 of our girls beat that score. The collective improvement, especially on the girl’s team, has been amazing to watch!
On the boy’s side, I was delighted to see so many divers step up and train hard this week, and it really showed in the number of PRs we had on the boys side. 7 of our 9 boys set a PR this week! I think that must be a record!!! It’s amazing when focus and hard work pay off, especially as we head into our Championship season. Keep up the good work, boys!
Congratulations to the following divers with significant achievements or PRs. On the girl’s side:
- Meghan Condon (10) took 1st with 189.20 points, less than 2 points off of her PR. Her front flip with two twists was the highlight of her list. Meghan’s score today was over 100 points higher than her first NoVa Catholics, where she scored 87.10 points as a 7th grader, and 40+ points higher than her score at NoVa Catholics last year.
- Maria Miller (12) was 6th with 166.05, crushing her prior PR by over 10 points! She did an amazing reverse dive and her inward 1.5 flips just keeps getting better! Maria’s score today was over 55 points higher than her first noVaCathics, where she scored 110.95 as a freshman, and 20+ points higher than her score at NoVa Catholics last year.
- Clare Kay (8) was 7th with 150.35, setting a new PR! Clare has been working so hard on her front double somersault… and it was her highest scoring dive. This was 25+ points higher than her score at NoVa Catholics last year.
- Lucy Herwick (9) was 10th with 143.20 points, beating her old PR by over 5 points! Lucy’s full twisting somersault was her highest scoring dive. This was 35+ points higher than her score at NoVa Catholics last year.
On the boy’s side:
- John Witter (8) took 3rd with 146.80, crushing his PR by over ten points. His front double somersault pike was his highest scoring dive. John has been incredibly focused on improving his dives, and it shows! This was 10 points higher than his score at NoVa Catholics last year.
- Max Ashton (8) was 4th with 137.25. Max DEMOLISHED his prior PR by over 25 points, and narrowly missed the State qualifying score. He was incredibly focused on his dives and tight form. He has been working incredibly hard this week to learn his full 11-dive list!
- Daniel Sokban (10) was 5th with a score of 136.90, setting a new PR and just shy of the state qualifying score! His reverse dive was phenomenal. This was also 20 points higher than his score at NoVa Catholics last year.
- Brian Orellana (10) was 9th with a score of 103.85, crushing his old PR by almost 15 points. He performed an excellent back flip.
- Caleb Neuhaus (8) was 10th with a score of 100.02, beating his prior PR by over 5 points. His front flip with a half twist was his highest scoring dive. He has come so far in his first-year diving!
- Mark Hartung (7) competed in his very first 6 dive meet and finished 11th with 97.80 points, a new PR! I am incredibly proud of him for learning a full 6 dive list in his first year of diving. He has such a bright future in diving.
- Will Judge (7) competed in his very first 6 dive meet and finished 13th with 81.65 points a new PR! He has worked so hard to learn his 6 dive list, and I am so incredibly proud of him.
Thanks,
Coach Ashley
Top Scorers for Swimming
This meet was scored as a championship meet with twelve (12) places scored, and per the scoring rules, relays scored double. Even with a meet this fast, Lionel Martinez (JR), Melissa Paradise (JR), and Meghan Condon (SO) were not our only athletes who shined through at or near the top. Here is one other Seton athletes with top-3 finish:
- Ariana Aldeguer (JR) took the Silver medal in both 200 IM and 100 Free with a 2:08.35 and a 54.21, respectively.
- Thiago Martinez (SO) won the Silver medal in 200 IM behind only his brother Lionel Martinez with a 2:05.96, a high school PR by 1.28 seconds. Thiago also took the Bronze medal in a very fast heat of 500 Free with a lifetime best of 5:12.07, beating his previous best by 2.52 seconds.
- Melissa Paradise (JR) didn’t just win 100 Back, but she also took the Bronze medal in 100 Fly with a 1.21 second PR 1:02.08.
- Therese Paradise (8) swam 100 Breaststroke right before the 400 Free Relay and took the Bronze medal. Therese also scored in 5th place in 200 Free with a big 1.91 second PR.
- Maggie Schroer (SO) streaked to the Bronze medal in 50 Free with a .36 second PR 26.29. She also scored in 10th place in 100 Back with a 2.91 second PR 1:08.82.
You might be thinking, “Wow! We won and that’s it for top-3 finishers?”
Yep. We beat so many of the Diocesan schools on the strength of our relays and our individual depth. With 12 places scoring, there was tremendous opportunities for swimmers other than our top performers to make a big difference.
First, let’s look at the Relays that finished in the top 3, and then we’ll talk about the individual top 12 finishers.
Top-3 Relays
Besides our Gold medal, record-setting Girls 200 Medley Relay, we had numerous other relays score very highly with top 3 finishes:
- Boys 200 Medley “A” Relay of Dominic Judge (JR), Lionel Martinez (JR), Thiago Martinez (SO), and Daniel Sokban (JR) took the Silver medal behind a powerful O’Connell boys relay. They have posted the 6th fastest time in the VISAA so far this season.
- Boys 200 Free “A” Relay of Lionel Martinez (JR), Dominic Judge (JR), Thiago Martinez (SO), and Daniel Sokban (JR) also took the Silver medal behind O’Connell with a time that is the 7th fastest posted in the VISAA so far this season. All of the splits were very fast, particularly Dominic’s personal record split of 23.71.
- Boys 400 Free “A” Relay of Greg Bauer (SR), Jack Herwick (SO), Patrick Kay (SO), and Michael Zahorchak (JR). Michael had a crazy anchor leg which he swam in 53.20, 2.44 seconds faster than ever before. Jack also beat his previous best split by .15 seconds.
- Girls 400 Free “A” Relay of Melissa Paradise (JR), Therese Paradise (8), Maggie Schroer (SO), and Ariana Aldeguer (JR) got the Silver medal, again behind a powerful O’Connell relay, but with a season-best time of 3:41.18. Melissa led off with a PR 53.74, Maggie split a PR 56.40, and Ariana anchored with a 53.98. I was experimenting with Therese who I asked to swim 100 Breaststroke immediately before this relay. Even after getting the Bronze medal in Breaststroke, she still split a very fast 57.06 in the relay. That Bronze medal was worth it, because even her best split would not have done any better than Silver for relay as a whole. But even with that experiment, they are very close to breaking the 2010 team record of 3:40.51. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Alex Doonis, Cat Rogers, and Lauren Donohoe were on that relay also. It’s just a matter of time now.
Top-12 Finishers
Here are the other Seton athletes that performed well enough to score in the Top-12:
- Dominic Judge (JR) is really starting to hit his stride. He dropped nearly a full second (.96 seconds) in 50 Free, and he dropped 2.34 seconds in 200 IM. He scored in 4th for 200 IM and 8th in 50 Free.
- Michael Zahorchak (JR) busted his way onto the “A” 400 Free Relay with a 53.15 in 100 Free, which scored in 4th Incredibly, it was 2.61 seconds faster than his previous best – a very nice pop for Michael. He also dropped .27 seconds in 50 Free.
- Jack Herwick (SO) rocked his 100 Back and 100 Fly, scoring in 5th and 8th place with PRs of 3.22 seconds and .26 seconds, respectively. He looks to be on the verge of breaking the one-minute barrier in both events.
- Anastasia Garvey (SR) scored in 6th in 100 Fly and 8th in 100 Breaststroke. Her breaststroke was a 1.62 second PR.
- Daniel Sokban (JR) scored in 6th and 8th in 50 Free and 200 Free, respectively.
- Patrick Kay (SO) had two (2) 7th place scoring finishes in 200 IM and 100 Back.
- Betsy Arnold (SO) scored in 9th place in 100 Fly with a big 3.55 second PR.
- Philomena Kay (JR) also scored in 9th place after her 1.00 second PR in 100 Free.
- Greg Bauer (SR) scored twice. He finished 10th in 500 Free and 12th in a very competitive heat of 50 Free.
- Ben Ellis (JR) continues to show that he wants to make Varsity this season with his 1.36 second PR in 100 Breast that scored in 11th He also cut .89 seconds in 200 Free, just missing a scoring position with 13th.
- Joey Lynch (SO) took 11th place in 100 Back. He also had a 1.75 second PR in 100 Free and a 1.01 second PR in 50 Free leading off a relay. His 100 Free was the first time he has broken the one-minute barrier!
- Jonas Wilson (SO) went 6:16.17 in 500 Free to score in 12th
- Paul Partridge (8) is starting to break out this season. His 35.07 second PR crashed through the 7-minute barrier and jumped him up to 12th He also dropped 7.33 seconds in 100 Breaststroke.
Personal Records
137 Personal Records – another very strong total. That brings our Seton season total to 709 PRs! Can we break 1,100 again this year?
That high total is yet another data point that proves our basic coaching thesis at Seton Swimming, “The fastest way to make a high school swimmer faster is to get them doing the strokes right.”
Here are the Personal Records that were swum at Saturday that I have not previously mentioned:
- Bethany Allen (7) dropped 2.58 seconds in 100 Back
- Angela Andreu (SO) beat her previous best in 50 Back leading off a relay by 1.39 seconds.
- Clara Bauer (7) cut .23 seconds from her 50 Free PR and 2.62 seconds from her 100 Free PR.
- Katie Bauer (SO) continues to move up on my reports because of the great improvement she has shown this season. That continued on Saturday with a 10.87 second drop in 200 Free and a 14.73 second drop in 500 Free.
- Joel Bookwalter (FR) almost broke the one-minute barrier in 100 Free after his 2.06 second PR. He also dropped 1.25 seconds in 100 Breaststroke.
- Michael Brand (SR) cut .05 seconds in 50 Free and 4.23 seconds in 100 Free.
- Grace Catabui (8) dropped 4.23 seconds in 100 Free.
- Anselm Clune (7) beat his PR in 50 Free by .71 seconds and in 100 Free by 3.70 seconds.
- John Cooley (SO) crushed his previous best in 100 Breaststroke by 11.19 seconds.
- Rafael De Micoli (SO) dropped .55 seconds in 100 Free.
- Annie Dusek (SO) continued to improve her 500 Free PR, this time by 5.82 seconds. She also improved her 50 Free PR by .59 seconds.
- Charlie Dusek (SR) destroyed his 100 Free PR by 5.16 seconds.
- Rose Ellis (SR) dropped another .12 seconds in 50 Free.
- Luke Fifield (FR) had a massive PR in 500 Free, beating his previous best by a whopping 68.03 seconds! He also dropped a massive 8.67 seconds in 200 Free and 1.00 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- JJ Garvey (FR) cut 3.63 seconds in 100 Fly, 5.83 seconds in 100 Back, and .42 seconds in 50 Free leading off a relay. That was a pretty good day for JJ!
- Addi Hadro (8) beat her previous best in 100 Back by .81 seconds.
- Eamon Haggerty (FR) looked strong during his 3.48 second PR swim in 100 Free.
- Gus Halisky (7) dropped 2.95 seconds in 100 Breaststroke
- Blaise Hallada (8) must be listening to Coach Shane Koehr in practice because he dropped a whopping 39.34 seconds in 100 Breaststroke and .63 seconds in 50 Free.
- Camille Hallada (6) cut 1.96 seconds from her 50 Free PR.
- John Paul Hartung (FR) beat his previous PR by 1.97 seconds in 50 Free. But for a one-hand touch in breaststroke, I suspect he would have had a PR there also.
- Charley Hawley (7) lowered his 50 Free PR by 1.72 seconds.
- Natalia Hercules (7) cut a huge 13.05 seconds in 100 Back and 3.31 seconds in 50 Free. Coach Jeremy Kleb must have been proud!
- Lucy Herwick (FR) dropped 7.06 seconds in 100 Back and .53 seconds in 50 Free.
- Elizabeth Hurley (SO) had a strong swim in 100 Fly, beating her previous best by 2.81 seconds.
- Monica Irving (SO) cut a huge 5.93 seconds in 100 Breaststroke
- Jane Judge (SO) beat her previous 100 Free PR by 2.63 seconds and her previous 100 Back PR by .78 seconds.
- Will Judge (7) continues to get better with a 1.65 second PR in 50 Free and a 1.47 second PR in 100 Back.
- Clare Kay (8) is starting to reach high school-level times in 500 Free after a 22.37 second drop. Her fly is also getting into scoring range in our conference after her 3.06 second drop.
- Connor Kay (6) looked great in both 50 and 100 Free where he dropped .54 seconds in both events.
- Marian Kay (6) remarkably also dropped .54 seconds in 50 Free, as well as a .13 second drop in 100 Free.
- Cora Kramer (JR) looked great in 50 and 100 Free, beating her previous PRs by .30 and .13 seconds, respectively.
- Colette Kramer (SR) is having a great senior campaign. On Saturday, she dropped .75 seconds in 50 Free and .79 seconds in 100 Free.
- Emma Magness (7) cut .24 seconds in 50 Free.
- Siobhan Maher (8) lowered her 100 Free PR by 4.03 seconds.
- Avila Mantooth (SO) just missed scoring with two (2) 14th place finishes and two (2) big PRs. Her 200 IM PR was by 10.12 seconds and her 100 Fly PR was by 8.80 seconds.
- Julia Maranian (SO) dropped 1.04 seconds in 50 Free and 4.98 seconds in 100 Free.
- Gabe Marm (SR) led off a medley relay with a 1.08 second 50 Back PR, and followed that up with a 2.01 second PR in 50 Free.
- Evie Mayer (FR) had a pair of huge drops including a 7.36 second PR in 100 Back and a 1.69 second PR in 50 Free.
- Heidi Mayer (6) had Coach Jeremy Kleb very excited with her 54.78 second PR in 100 Breaststroke. He was also exciting about her 1.90 second PR in 50 Free.
- Adian McCardell (SR) continues to get better. On Saturday, he cut 2.64 seconds from his 100 Breaststroke PR and 1.19 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Charlotte Meadows (FR) crashed through the 7-minute barrier in 500 Free with a 24.01 second PR. She also crushed her 200 IM PR by 5.92 seconds and her 50 Free PR by 1.21 seconds. It was a pretty good day for Charlotte!
- Annabelle Mikkelson (FR) had a good swim in 100 Fly, beating her PR by 1.16 seconds.
- Maeve Mooney (6) made her Grandfather proud with a 1.40 second drop in 50 Free and a 1.43 second drop in 100 Free.
- James Nguyen (8) cut 3.90 seconds from his 50 Back PR, 3.92 seconds from his 100 Back PR, and .02 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Philip Nguyen (8) had a huge drop in 100 Free, beating his previous best by 5.42 seconds. He also dropped .06 seconds in 50 Free.
- Gianna Pillion (FR) beat her previous best in 100 Back by 2.90 seconds.
- Charlotte Poullath (8) lowered her 50 Free PR by another .50 seconds.
- Camila Quispe (FR) dropped 3.43 seconds in 50 Back and 1.90 seconds in 100 Back.
- James Reynolds (FR) cut .18 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Caroline Schroer (8) beat her 50 Free PR by .06 seconds.
- Dominic Sciscilo (7) cut 3.46 seconds in 50 Back, .10 seconds in 50 Free, and .83 seconds in 100 Back.
- Bella Vaughan (FR) lowered her 50 Back PR by .61 seconds and her 100 Back PR by 7.67 seconds.
- Jane Vaughan (7) beat her previous PR in 100 Back by 4.53 seconds.
- Noah Vaughan (JR) had a strong swim in 100 Breaststroke, lowering his PR by 5.86 seconds.
- Lily Waldron (SO) had the meet she’s been working towards with three (3) big PRs. In 50 Back she dropped 2.14 seconds, in 50 Free she dropped .71 seconds, and in 100 Free she dropped 5.69 seconds.
- Joce Wilson (7) had a huge cheering section watching the livestream, so I was happy to see her deliver a 2.20 second PR in 50 Back, a 1.42 second PR in 50 Free, and a 7.34 second PR in 100 Back for them to see.
- Patrick Wise (7) had two (2) really nice drops with his 2.72 second PR in 50 Free and his 2.33 second PR in 100 Back. He has developed a very nice freestyle.
Positioning to Win Some Championships
We have some big goals ahead of us in February.
For the Girls, we are settling for nothing short of victory in the VCAC Conference Championship Meet and our 7th VISAA Division II State Championship. If we pull it off, it would be our 11th State Championship overall.
I’m expecting our big competition at States to be the St. Annes-Belfield, the surprise victor last year with the late discovery that they were no longer a Division I school. If our Girls win at States, I’d expect that it will be on the strength of our three (3) relays plus individual points scored by Ariana Aldeguer (JR), Melissa Paradise (JR) and our Divers. That means you can all count on all our top swimmers swimming all-three relays except for Ariana, and maybe Melissa.
For the Boys, we need to win the VCAC Conference Championship Meet, and then we need to take our shot at the VISAA Division II State Championship. If we swim like I know we can, I’d expect a victory at VCAC Champs, but I think The Covenant School is going to be a tough out for Will Charleton’s senior year.
The Rest of the Season
We have just a few final meets before we must cut the team down to just the Varsity swimmers:
- National Catholics at Loyola Baltimore this weekend. Everything you need to know is already posted.
- Seton Winter Invitational is also next weekend for everyone not going to National Catholics. There will be no diving, but otherwise the schedule will follow our typical Saturday meet schedule.
- Paul VI is trying to get an annual Relay Carnival going again. Years ago, Woodberry Forest used to run one, and it was a lot of fun.
- The event is this scheduled for Thursday, January 22nd and no information is out for the meet yet..
- Once I see the information, we’ll decide who we are taking, but it probably just be our top relays. It will be an optional meet for those swimmers for whom it might impact their training too much.
- VISAA Junior Varsity Invitational on January 24th at the Freedom Center
- All swimmers who are in 9th grade and below will be entered in this meet unless I hear from you that you cannot make it.
- I also plan to enter non-Varsity upperclassmen to give you one final chance to have some fun swimming 50s, but you won’t be able to score.
- Upper-class Varsity swimmers should plan to come and help cheer or time.
After the JV Invitational, the remaining meets for the year will not allow any exhibition swimmers. Those meets are:
- VISAA Division II Invitational Championship on Saturday, January 31st at the Freedom Center
- VCAC Conference Championship on Saturday, February 7th at the Freedom Center
I will be limited for these final two (2) championship meets to four (4) entries per individual event and two (2) entries per relay event. At most, that takes 16-18 boys and 16-18 girls, not counting Divers.
Final Notes
On so many levels, I was very pleased with what I saw on Saturday. I was very proud of you all – as well as all the volunteers that put on such an amazing event.
For most of you, we are in the last couple weeks of the season, but for the rest of you, we still need to go get some more championships!
See you at 6:04 a.m. Come ready for the final push.
Coach Jim Koehr