Ocean Lakes gymnasts rule the region
Grassfield’s Davis all-around champ
Ocean Lakes won the team championship and Grassfield’s Reagan Davis took the all-around title in Wednesday night’s Class 6 Region A gymnastics meet at Kellam.
Led by vault champion Katie Wilkinson, the Dolphins totaled 140.325 points to win the region’s only berth in the state team championship meet Feb. 17. It will be held at Lightridge High in Aldie, part of Loudoun County in Northern Virginia.
Oscar Smith (136.85) edged Kellam (136.625) and Grassfield (136.45) in a close race for second in the region.
Davis (36.425) and Oscar Smith’s Ailee Sheehan (36.1) took the region’s two all-around berths in the individual championships, which will be contested Feb. 18 at Lightridge.
Davis won the balance-beam competition at 9.4.
Wilkinson’s 9.2 score was the best among vaulters. Sheehan won two individual events. Her 9.275 was tops on the uneven parallel bars, and she took the floor exercise at 9.2.
The top four finishers in all four events gained berths in the individual competition. Those included those event victors plus competitors such as: Grassfield’s Loreena Manser (vault, bars), Landstown’s Amelia Steinemer (vault), Ocean Lakes’ Wilkinson (bars) and Mackenzie Murphy (vault), Oscar Smith’s Ah’Lier Maybeth (floor) and Kellam’s Zoe Bilger (beam) and Kendall Mariano (beam).
SWIMMING AND DIVING Menchville teams sweep region crowns
The Menchville boys and girls won the Class 5 Region B championships Wednesday at the Hampton VA Aquaplex.
The Monarchs’ boys registered 425 points, followed by Nansemond River (350), Maury (316), Kecoughtan (297) and Granby (252) in the top five.
That top-five order was exactly the same for the girls, with Menchville (435) outpacing Nansemond River (375), Maury (274), Kecoughtan (262) and Granby (206).
Phillip Rodgers and Ian Rodgers both were quadruple victors for the Monarchs, winning every event they entered. Phillip won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles in 1:49.48 and 4:56.67, respectively. Ian took the 100 butterfly (51.91) and 100 backstroke (52.67). They both swam on the victorious 200 medley relay (1:45.05) and 200 free relay (1:33.98).
Nansemond River’s Forrest Ward won top honors in the 50 free (23.44) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.03).
Menchville’s Caitlin Wilson went 4 for 4 in triumphs. She won the 200 individual medley (2:18.09) and 100 breaststroke (1:12.54), and she sparked the 200 medley relay (1:58.08) and 200 free relay (1:46.12).
Granby’s Ella Arbuckle won the 200 free (2:07.40) and 500 free (5:37.94).
Many of those swimmers will return to the Aquaplex for the Class 5 state championships. The diving is set for Feb. 15 and the swimming for Feb. 17.