Bannister rolls past Oxon Hill in Prince-Mont Swim League
Ends regular season schedule with two straight wins
Following its first win of the Prince-Mont Swim League regular season last week over Prince George’s Park and Recreation, the Bannister swim team did not disappoint on Saturday in their regular season finale.
The Barracudas cruised to a 285-46 victory over Prince George’s County outfit Oxon Hill at Bannister pool.
Bannister (2-3 overall) was winless in Division F through its first three meets of the regular season, but ended it with a second straight win.
Bannister had 39 first-place finishes, including all the relay events on the day. The Barracudas had five triple winners.
Christopher Brown won three events in the 11- to 12-year-old boys, collecting victories in the 50 butterfly (45.79 seconds), 50 backstroke (45.31) and 100 individual medley (1 minute 40.22 seconds). Tayton Hoefferle was a triple winner in the 15-18 boys 50 fly (36.84), 50 back (38.72) and 100 IM (1:24.41).
On the girls side, Marissa Parks tripled in the 15-18 girls 50 fly (54.10), 50 breaststroke (1:01.21) and 50 back 53.65), while Amira Wright won the 8-and-Under girls 25 free (24.38), 25 breast (46.67) and 25 back (32.92) and Alyssa Rios was a triple winner in the 13-14 girls 50 free (34.53), 50 breast (44.89) and 100 IM (1:28.51).
“Winning the final meet of the season was the cherry on top. We came into this meet knowing that the other team had a very small amount of swimmers but my team still pushed to beat their own times and not disqualify,” said Bannister head coach Julia D’Alessandro via email to Southern Maryland Newspapers on Monday night. Swimmers such as Tayton Hoefferle dropped a second on his 100 IM race. Tayton is very competitive, and I was proud to know that he pushed hard even when there was not an opposing swimmer to race against.”
Bannister had several double winners in Jayla Bell (10-U girls 25 fly 25.34, 50 free 49.77), Aiden Frierson (8-U boys 25 free 33.75, 25 back 37.13), Jonathan Parham (9-10 boys 50 free 40.46, 25 breast 27.02), Amara Kazim (15-18 girls 100 free 2:04.41, 100 IM 2:21.89) and Emily Padilla (11-12 girls 50 backstroke 46.87, 100 IM 1:40.90).
The Barracudas won the 18-U boys and girls 200 medley relay events. Hoefferle, Nicholas Brown, Jared Smith and Bryce Simmons teamed up to win the boys (2:30.63), while Padilla, Amiya Bell, Rios and Grace Adams claimed the girls win (2:49.85).
Jonathan Parham, Christopher Brown, Michael Parham and Carl Wachowski teamed up to win the boys 9-18 200 free relay (2:39.92). In the 8-U mixed 100 free relay Bannister won that race led by Timothy Brown, Chloe Parham, Dylan Whetzel and Zaniya Mason (2:14.40).
Bannister had individual wins from Elijah Green (9-10 boys 25 fly 38.39), Jared Smith (13-14 boys 50 fly 37.47), Amiya Bell (13-14 girls 50 fly 41.63), Simmons (13-14 boys 50 free 31.83), Wachowski (15-18 boys 100 free 1:13.06), Nicholas Brown (13-14 boys 50 breast 41.85), Keyon Gronau (9-10 boys 25 back 31.88), Padilla (11-12 girls 50 back 46.87), Keira Chestnut (9-10 girls 25 back 45.60), Dominic Rios (13-14 boys 50 back 43.80) and Grace Adams (13-14 girls 50 back 50.62).
The Barracudas will compete in the Division F championships on Saturday at Brandywine pool in Upper Marlboro.
“The seasons get better each year. Even though this is only my second season with the Bannister Barracudas, I find myself loving the swimmers and sport more and more. Having a small team is tough, but when you have a team of focused swimmers, they make my job easier and more fun. This 2017 summer season was amazing,” D’Alessandro said. “I had kids who couldn’t swim join the team and they worked their hardest to swim across the pool. All my new swimmers achieved that goal. I’m so proud of the returning swimmers. They all pushed themselves and kept their focus on shaving off time.”