La Plata swim teams split in season opener
La Plata swim teams beat Calvert, lose to Leonardtown
Three days into the 2016-17 high school swim season and Leonardtown has four victories.
After sweeping McDonough and Patuxent on Monday, the Raiders returned to the Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center in Prince Frederick to take on La Plata and Calvert, each swimming its first meet of the winter season, on Wednesday night in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference contest.
And the night ended with two more wins for the Raiders (4-0 overall/SMAC).
In boys, Leonardtown defeated La Plata 154-113 and Calvert, 170-103, while the Warriors (1-1) gained a split with a 138129 over the Cavaliers (0-2). In girls, Leonardtown knocked off La Plata 180-83 and Calvert 190-83 and the Warriors (1-1) edged Calvert (0-2) 135-128.
Leonardtown junior Hayley Newton set a new team record in the girls 200-yard freestyle, winning the event in 1 minute 57.95 seconds. Newton was a double winner with a firstplace finish in the 100 butterfly (1:01.91) and also swam the third leg of the winning 200 medley relay (2:00.28) and the first leg of the winning 400 free relay (3:56.50).
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Newton said of the new record. “Going into it, I was honestly
not feeling like I was going to break a record. I wasn’t feeling super good today, but it was a pleasant surprise.”
Newton said she wants to have more fun this sea- son.
“I want to be serious too like the last two seasons, but I know all of the girls are doing well, so I’m honestly looking forward to the season and having fun,” she said. “A lot of it [the motivation] has
been getting closer with the team and making me want to step it up and do the best I can for every- body.”
Ben Carrigg, Kyle Rock, a newcomer to the high school scene, and Jacob Harris also took home wins for the Leonardtown boys. Carrigg won the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:15.13. Rock, a freshman, won the 100 free, touching the wall in 54.58. Harris, a junior, won the 100 break in 1:09.57.
Leonardtown sophomore Emma Carrigg
joined teammate Newton as a double winner, tak- ing the 200 IM in 2:27.35 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:14.11. Leila McClos- key, a junior, also claimed two events, taking the 50 free in 26.28 and the 100 backstroke in 1:07.43.
Calvert head coach Bri- an Dryer and La Plata head coach Chase McClure said it was a good first meet as their teams broke records and set personal bests.
“I’m happy with all of my swimmers,” McClure said. “I’m happy with the records broken and the
hard work and dedica- tion that’s showing. It’s definitely a good place to start the season and drop some time.”
Senior Liam Vienneau set a new record in the 100 fly with a time of 55.22, just edging Leon- ardtown junior Alec Ba- con (55.24).
Conor Vienneau, freshman and brother to Liam, set a new record in the 100 back, touching the wall in 55.09. Calvert freshman Ben Voelker took second in 59.05.
Conor and Liam teamed up with Michael Bowlin
and Osly Melendez to win the 200 medley relay (1:45.60) and the 200 free relay (1:34.24), setting new records in each.
“It was a good meet. Definitely a solid start to the year,” Liam Vienneau said. “We saw a lot of good swims from everybody.”
The Cavailers saw four new records on the boys side, according to Dryer.
The 200 medley relay of Voelker, senior Paul Goldsmith, junior Walter Kuhaneck and senior Con- nor Gleason set a new record with a third-place finish time of 1:50.35.
“They broke their record from last year by over four seconds.” Dr yer said of the 200 medley relay. “Walter roke a record in the 50 free (23.19). It’s a record he’s been chasing for three years. He finally got it today.”
“Ben broke the record in the 100 fly (1:00.06), which belonged to his teammate Walter.”
The boys 200 free relay of Voelker, Kuhaneck, Michael Redden and Gleason broke a 2002 record with a time of 1:39.30, placing third overall.