kennedy
01-26-2008, 11:42 PM
Menchville swims to repeat sweep
By Dan Maher
NEWPORT NEWS — Saturday’s Peninsula District swimming championships at the Midtown Community Center didn’t suit those who like change. The meet repeated many of the 2007 outcomes.
But Menchville certainly didn’t find the repetition tedious, as it surged to its second consecutive boys and girls championships.
Once again, Menchville’s boys came into the meet with their only dual-meet loss coming to Warwick. Just as they did last year, they avenged that loss with the help of dominance in the lightly contested diving competition.
Only Menchville and Woodside had competitors in the diving, permitting the Monarchs to amass 67 points that padded their winning total of 448.
Kecoughtan’s boys demonstrated great depth, finishing second with 411 points, though the Warriors didn’t win any events. Warwick finished third with 281.
The Menchville girls continued their recent district dominance and pointed to a bright future, getting key contributions from underclassmen as they rolled up 490 points to pull away from Kecoughtan (360) and Warwick (279).
"We had enough depth," said Menchville coach Katherine Dowdy. "We had a lot of top-eights and people who would step in to scoop up points."
The Monarchs also had a lot of winners, claiming nine individual victories and four in relays.
Menchville junior Mason Wilcox repeated last year’s victories in the boys 100-yard butterfly (52.03 seconds) and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.73).
Most of all, though, he took satisfaction in the way his victories reversed the four-point loss suffered against Warwick earlier this season.
"A lot of people from Warwick are my friends," Wilcox said. "It’s a good thing we came out and won. I think everybody on our team stepped up."
Many of the competitors will head to the Eastern Region meet, which starts Friday at Bayside Rec Center in Virginia Beach.
Warwick had three double individual winners from its boys’ squad.
Raiders junior Chris Cirillo swam to victories in the 200 and 500 freestyles. His winning 500 time of 4:57.91 was nearly 22 seconds faster than runner-up Sean Davis of Kecoughtan.
Warwick junior Stevie Cline swept the 50 and 100 freestyle titles for the second straight year, while sophomore Kohl Hurdle attributed improved pacing to his emergence as an easy winner in the 100 backstroke (53.25 seconds) and the 200 individual medley (1:56.95).
"This year I’m working on my races by splitting it out better," Hurdle said. "In IM usually I go out sprinting and die, so I took it easy in the free and that helped a lot. The backstroke was just ‘go for it.’ "
Menchville’s girls had been undefeated in the district dual meets, paving the way to an expected district title.
"The girls have proven themselves all year long, and today they were able to come out and prove what they’ve got," Dowdy said. "I had a bunch of underclassmen, but I was surprised and pleased at the number who made the finals."
The Monarchs’ 200 freestyle relay breezed to a 1:42.49 clocking, winning by eight seconds, smashing a district meet record and highlighting a relatively easy title defense.
Senior Kristina Lewis and sophomore Rachel Sears were members of that victorious relay unit, as well as two-time individual winners.
Lewis repeated her 2007 success in the 200 and 500 free, defending her district titles in both. Sears notched wins in the 200 IM (2:14.21) and 100 free (57.26).
Lewis mentioned that the Monarchs’ repetitive run to victory was not without its own stresses.
"There’s pressure because you don’t want to be the ones who don’t win," she said. "We’re just getting better, and even though I’ll be gone, hopefully next year we’ll have depth and continue to improve."
By Dan Maher
NEWPORT NEWS — Saturday’s Peninsula District swimming championships at the Midtown Community Center didn’t suit those who like change. The meet repeated many of the 2007 outcomes.
But Menchville certainly didn’t find the repetition tedious, as it surged to its second consecutive boys and girls championships.
Once again, Menchville’s boys came into the meet with their only dual-meet loss coming to Warwick. Just as they did last year, they avenged that loss with the help of dominance in the lightly contested diving competition.
Only Menchville and Woodside had competitors in the diving, permitting the Monarchs to amass 67 points that padded their winning total of 448.
Kecoughtan’s boys demonstrated great depth, finishing second with 411 points, though the Warriors didn’t win any events. Warwick finished third with 281.
The Menchville girls continued their recent district dominance and pointed to a bright future, getting key contributions from underclassmen as they rolled up 490 points to pull away from Kecoughtan (360) and Warwick (279).
"We had enough depth," said Menchville coach Katherine Dowdy. "We had a lot of top-eights and people who would step in to scoop up points."
The Monarchs also had a lot of winners, claiming nine individual victories and four in relays.
Menchville junior Mason Wilcox repeated last year’s victories in the boys 100-yard butterfly (52.03 seconds) and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.73).
Most of all, though, he took satisfaction in the way his victories reversed the four-point loss suffered against Warwick earlier this season.
"A lot of people from Warwick are my friends," Wilcox said. "It’s a good thing we came out and won. I think everybody on our team stepped up."
Many of the competitors will head to the Eastern Region meet, which starts Friday at Bayside Rec Center in Virginia Beach.
Warwick had three double individual winners from its boys’ squad.
Raiders junior Chris Cirillo swam to victories in the 200 and 500 freestyles. His winning 500 time of 4:57.91 was nearly 22 seconds faster than runner-up Sean Davis of Kecoughtan.
Warwick junior Stevie Cline swept the 50 and 100 freestyle titles for the second straight year, while sophomore Kohl Hurdle attributed improved pacing to his emergence as an easy winner in the 100 backstroke (53.25 seconds) and the 200 individual medley (1:56.95).
"This year I’m working on my races by splitting it out better," Hurdle said. "In IM usually I go out sprinting and die, so I took it easy in the free and that helped a lot. The backstroke was just ‘go for it.’ "
Menchville’s girls had been undefeated in the district dual meets, paving the way to an expected district title.
"The girls have proven themselves all year long, and today they were able to come out and prove what they’ve got," Dowdy said. "I had a bunch of underclassmen, but I was surprised and pleased at the number who made the finals."
The Monarchs’ 200 freestyle relay breezed to a 1:42.49 clocking, winning by eight seconds, smashing a district meet record and highlighting a relatively easy title defense.
Senior Kristina Lewis and sophomore Rachel Sears were members of that victorious relay unit, as well as two-time individual winners.
Lewis repeated her 2007 success in the 200 and 500 free, defending her district titles in both. Sears notched wins in the 200 IM (2:14.21) and 100 free (57.26).
Lewis mentioned that the Monarchs’ repetitive run to victory was not without its own stresses.
"There’s pressure because you don’t want to be the ones who don’t win," she said. "We’re just getting better, and even though I’ll be gone, hopefully next year we’ll have depth and continue to improve."