Prince-Mont swim teams set for divisionals
Local swim teams set to compete in Prince-Mont divisionals
The five weeks of the Prince-Mont Swim League summer season has been highlighted by record-breaking times.
And now with the dual meet regular season, five teams from Charles County are eager to break or drop even more event times in this weekend’s divisional championships.
The winner of each event at the respective divisional meet will earn an automatic berth to the annual all-star meet, scheduled for next Saturday at the West Arundel Swim Club in Laurel.
The Smallwood Marlins, who have claimed three division championships since 2010, won the Division B crown in 2014 and will be looking to win it again this time, along with county foe Hawthorne on Saturday at Strathmore Bel Pre in Silver Spring. The Marlins finished 3-2 in the regular season, falling to Kings Landing of Calvert County and the MVP Dolphins of Washington D.C. in close meets during the five-week regular season.
Smallwood, which also won the Charles County championships for the third time in four years on Sunday at its home pool, have some momentum going into the season’s sixth week.
“We want to qualify as many swimmers as possible for all-stars,” said Smallwood head coach Jeff Rivenburg on Sunday after the Marlins clinched the county title. “We had some close meets in our division, so I think the races can go either way. We have some very good teams in our division.”
Among the top swimmers on the Marlins are Nathalie LaFontant (girls 13- to 14-yearold), Clayton Jameson (boys 11-12), Nicholas Sapp (boys 9-10) and Lawrence Sapp (boys 13-14) and Nicholas Rawson (boys 15-18).
The older Sapp has the second fastest time in the league this summer in the 50-meter butterfly in 29.14 seconds.
The girls 200 medley relay team with
LaFontant, Jaelyn Sapp, Teagan Rohrbaugh and Mya Rivenburg are coming off breaking a team record in Sunday’s county championships that was held since 2014, touching the wall in 2 minutes 19.91 seconds.
“I feel pretty good about my times,” said LaFontant after Sunday’s meet. “I would like to get my [50] breaststroke down to 36 seconds and cut my time down in the individual medley. But I’m really looking forward to divisionals. The races are going to be really tight.”
Leading Hawthorne, which finished 3-2 during the regular season, for the boys will be Conor Vienneau (13-14), Liam Vienneau (15-18) and Cole Rapczynski. On the girls side, Esther Dugan (11-12) and Adeline Donnick (9-10) will be lead the Gators regime.
Donnick, Dugan, Megan Schueller and Chase McClure has the third fastest time in the league in the girls 200 free relay in 2:07.58.
“B Division has been tough,” said Hawthorne head coach Mary Jane Cupples. Each meet has been very close. We are 3-2 and it is anyone’s to win. It is very important for the Gators to make All-Stars. Our team is record driven and always striving for a best time.”
Conor Vienneau has the top time in the league this summer in the 100 individual medley at 1:05.13 and broke a league record in the 50 backstroke with a time of 29.31 seconds. Donnick has the top time in the league in the 25 fly (16.68) and 50 free in 32.75 seconds.
“I’ve been improving on my turns and strokes,” said Conor Vienneau after winning two events on Sunday. “It will be very fun competing about the best swimmers in the division.”
Waves of Westlake (1-4 in the regular season) will be in the Division D championships at West Laurel and will be spearheaded by key swimmers Kerrigan McMillen (girls 1314), Emily Decker (girls 1518), Tyler Whitsett (boys 1518) and Emmanuel Agravante (boys 15-18).
“I’m super excited for our swimmers to be going to divisionals. It has been a tough season,” Westlake co-head coach Anise Foreman season. “This meet can always show you where you stand within the [Prince-Mont] coaches. This week we’ve been doing a lot of pace work and we want our swimmers to drop time as much as possible. This will determine if you make all-stars.”
Since 2008, Westlake has four division championships, its most recent was in 2014 in Division D.
Bannister’s Jonathan Parham (boys 8-and-Under), who was a triple winner on Sunday at the county meet will lead the Barracudas. He has the third fastest league time in the 25 free in 17.18 seconds. Bannister (0-5 during the regular season) and Indian Head will compete in the Division E championships at Belair Swim and Racquet in Bowie.
The key swimmers for Torpedoes (2-3 during the regular season) will be Shaun Butler (boys 15-18), Zachary Will (boys 15-18), Adam Diehl (boys 11-12), Antonio Clark (boys 10U), Rebecca Proctor (girls 1518) and Kyla Smith (girls 9-10).