Seniors – Boys TeamZachary Chapman |
Seniors – Girls TeamRachel DeVore |
Cedar Run District Swimming Championships
Writeup courtesy of Northern VA Sports:
Perhaps a movie title would have been fitting to describe the fortunes of area female swimmers at the Cedar Run District Swimming Championships Friday night at the Freedom Aquatic Center—There’s Something About Mary.
Two freshmen named Mary (Patriot’s Mary Claire Tansill and Battlefield’s Mary Katherine Tillotson) made strong impressions in their first post-season meet as high schoolers. Tansill, swam an impressive breaststroke leg in the 200-yard medley relay to help Patriot to a victory in the event before later finishing second in the 200 freestyle, winning the 100 breaststroke, then swimming a leg of an impressive 400 freestyle relay team that edged out Broad Run, who led for most of the race, by three-tenths of a second, thanks to a brilliant anchor leg by sophomore Samantha Baird.
Meanwhile, Tillotson took the meet literally by storm with a victory in the 50 freestyle, then finished a narrow second in the 100 freestyle despite swimming in one of the outside lanes. Individually, however, the night was not entirely about youth as two longtime district champions, Battlefield senior Nina Tremols (100 backstroke and 100 butterfly) and Osbourn senior Heidi Turner (500 freestyle) each won district titles again.
But the story of the meet was the overall brilliance of an up-and-coming Patriot team that won the boys’ team race behind a strong effort from sophomore Andrew Proper, who narrowly beat top-seeded Bill Pogue of Battlefield in the 200 freestyle and improved his own school record in winning the 100 breaststroke. Proper was also part of the Pioneers’ relay wins in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
Patriot’s girls’ team, sparked by Tansill and Baird, narrowly lost the team race to Freedom-South Riding, but were especially impressive in the final race of the night, the 400-freestyle relay. Broad Run led for the first three legs of the race before Baird poured it on in the final 50 to overtake Helena Wang, helping the Pioneers pull out a close victory.
“We knew they had it in them, and pulled them aside during the meet a couple different times, to say ‘OK, you’re digging deep’ and that relay was incredible,” a beaming coach Lisa Bussian said after the meet. “The outcome [of the team race] may not be where we want it to be, but that relay blew us [the coaching staff] all away with the level of how they were able to dig into their hearts and do that. And we were able to move up a place [from third to second], so that’s great.”
Bussian appeared equally as proud of the boys’ team, which outdistanced Battlefield by 94 points in the team race after losing by just one point to the Bobcats last season. “Through the whole season, we took [the results of] last year’s district meet and we focused on what we needed to do to improve. We planned our practices around it and after every meet we would talk about what do we need to do in our effort to improve,” Bussian said. “We had a few mistakes along the way, but I can go to them [now] and say ‘You did what you said you were going to do. I didn’t see any mistakes [tonight]. You did a great job.’”
“These next few years look pretty bright because of how many swimmers we have returning. I knew this Linton Hall Corridor was strong for swimming because of the community programs and it showed tonight.” Despite the fact Proper is still an underclassman, Bussian said his impact on the team’s performance is significant.
“As a leader he has motivated [others] not only through his effort and ability in the pool, but also with his ability to relieve the stress a little bit,” Bussian said. “He tends to be one who can clown around at the right time, but also is someone who intensely plans what he is going to do next. He’s one of those that they [teammates] can go to and he will be there for them.”
On the medal stand when Patriot was announced the winner and mounted the podium to accept the trophy, Proper was one of the first to leap high and raise his arms up and down as if to get his teammates excited. Tansill, whose older sister Amy swims for Osbourn Park, and older sister Kara swam for Brentsville a couple years back, said she was “not as nervous as I thought I would be.”
“This was really cool to be able to experience for the first time,” Tansill said. “We’re kind of at a high point in training right now, so it [swimming the way the Pioneers did] was impressive. I was pretty happy with the way I swam. I did better in the 200 free[style] than I thought I would, and in the breaststroke it was really good to see where I was [how I measured up] after the training we’ve had.”
Although Battlefield’s boys’ team finished second (and higher in place than the girls’ team], the girls’ team had more individual success. Coach Jay Thorpe estimated his program lost 20 seniors from last year’s team and his girls’ team suffered an even bigger loss when sophomore Sofia Revilak, the freestyle sprinting sensation from last season, moved to her native Mexico to join the Mexican National Team.
“We were kind of outmanned by Patriot, but our kids swam well,” Thorpe said. “We’ll be back [atop the team podium]. We kind of have a young team, with a lot of freshman right now.”
But the performance of Tillotson may have softened the blow of losing Revilak as the giddy freshman said she surprised even herself with her performance. “No, I had no expectations for that,” a breathless Tillotson said when asked if she expected to make the podium twice. “I was just hoping to make regionals actually and maybe go to states. My friend Nina [Tremols] has really given me a lot of advice that has helped me. She just told me to go out there and not be nervous, go kill it.”
Tillotson appeared to be on cloud nine following her fifth victory, almost running to Thorpe for a congratulatory pat on the head while wearing a wide smile. The reason for the smile was apparent when Tillotson was asked for her reaction. “I dropped so much time. I’ve never swam that time before and I’m just so proud of myself,” said Tillotson, who seed time was 25.81, a full four-tenths slower than her winning time on Friday.
Tremols said she was happy for herself, since she kept up the family tradition of winning district titles. Her older brothers Ed and Nick, who are both in college, each won Cedar Run butterfly titles during their high school tenure. “I am definitely happy,” Tremols said. “But I also know where I made some mistakes and I can fix those before regionals. I am really happy for Mary Katherine. I wasn’t where she was when I was her age. She is really showing some leadership and really helping our team.”
Osbourn’s Ethan Mernin, who plans to study engineering but not swim at Virginia Tech next fall, won the grueling double of the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle while providing the main boys’ highlight for the Eagles. Stonewall Jackson’s highlights were second place finishes from Matthew Pomajevich in the 100 freestyle and Natalie Purnell in the 100 breaststroke. Purnell also finished third in the 100 freestyle for the Raiders.
BOYS
Team Results—1. Patriot 496; 2. Battlefield 402; 3. Freedom-South Riding 291; 4. Broad Run 235; 5. Osbourn 188; 6. Stonewall Jackson 122.
200 medley relay—1. Patriot (C. J. Higdon, Andrew Proper, Thomas Scott, Gavin Graham) 1:44.10; 200 freestyle—1. Andrew Proper (Patriot) 1:47.86; 200 indvidual medley—1. Ethan Mernin (Osbourn) 2:01.81; 50 freestyle—1. Michael Harman (Freedom) 21.84; 100 butterfly—1. Jack Morrisroe (Broad Run) 54.08; 100 freestyle—1. Michael Harman (Freedom) 50.02; 500 freestyle—1. Ethan Mernin (Osbourn) 4:48.68; 200 freestyle relay—1. Freedom,. 1:31.9; 100 backstroke—1. Jack Morrisroe (Broad Run) 57.32; 100 breaststroke—1. Andrew Proper (Patriot), 1:03.24; 400 freestyle relay—1. Patriot (Thomas Scott, Jeffrey Pfannenstein, Andrew Proper, Luke Cumberland) 3:26.56.
GIRLS
Team Results—1. Freedom 407; Patriot 392; 3. Broad Run 353; 4. Battlefield 272; 5. Osbourn 228; 6. Stonewall Jackson 88.
200 medley relay—1. Patriot (Samantha Baird, Mary Claire Tansill, Morgan Mugnolo, Madeline Brant), 1:55.37; 200 freestyle—1. Emily Adams (Broad Run), 2:01.43; 200 individual medley—1. Samantha Baird (Patriot) 2:17.39; 50 freestyle—1. Mary Katherine Tillotson (Battlefield) 25.40; 100 butterfly—1. Nina Tremols (Battlefield) 59.88; 100 freestyle—1. Emily Adams (Broad Run) 55.61; 500 freestyle—1. Heidi Turner (Osbourn) 5:21.16; 200 freestyle relay—1. Freedom, 1:31.93; 100 backstroke—1. Nina Tremols (Battlefield) 1:01.96; 100 breaststroke—1. Mary Claire Tansill (Patriot) 1:07.08; 400 freestyle relay—1. Patriot (Morgan Mugnolo, Mary Claire Tansill, Haley Soller, Samantha Baird), 3:50.59.
