Hawthorne wins Prince-Mont swim meet title
Hawthorne wins Prince-Mont Division B meet title, Smallwood finishes fifth
SILVER SPRING — Perhaps it only seemed fitting that after winning all five of their dual meets and then claiming the Charles County Swim Championships to their list of accomplishments, the Hawthorne Country Club swim team would cap their Prince-Mont Swim League slate by capturing the Division B championships title at Strathmore Bel Pre on Saturday morning.
Hawthorne, which went 5-0 during the Prince-Mont dual meet schedule and then pulled away from Smallwood to take the Charles County title on July 16, benefited from a bevy of solid performances from older and younger swimmers alike to surge past Maximum Velocity Propulsion of Washington, D.C. (219.5) and Strathmore Bel Pre (208) to garner the Division B title with 328.5 points.
Hawthorne opened the meet by taking the 18-and-Under boys 200-meter medley relay in 1 minute 58.12 seconds as Conor Vienneau, Kristopher Schueller, Mikel Reyes and Liam Vienneau prevailed by nearly seven seconds to establish a new pool and team mark. The Gators quartet of Megan Schueller, Esther Dugan, Sage Scott and Chase McClure then finished second in the 18-U girls 200 medley relay (2:18.72) to keep the momentum going.
Conor Vienneau, a rising sophomore at La Plata High School, would later capture the 15- to 18-year-old boys 100-meter freestyle (56.93 seconds), 50 backstroke (29.31) and 100 individual medley (1:05.78). Dugan, a rising freshman who has been homeschooled throughout her life, won the 13-14 girls 50 free (29.75), 50 breaststroke (37.72) and 100 IM (1:14.53).
“I was really happy with my 100 free,” Vienneau said. “I set a pool record in that event. I thought my backstroke was OK, but I wasn’t happy with my 100 IM. I’m glad that I won it. But I added a second and it just wasn’t really good. But I’m happy that we won the team title.”
Dugan, who had also recorded a triple six days earlier at the Charles County Swim Championships that her pool hosted, was content with her trio of victories at divisionals.
“I was happy that I won them,” said Dugan, whose older brother, Samuel Dugan won the 1314 boys 50 backstroke (33.21). “I thought I did OK today. I didn’t take any personal bests, but I love having a lot of good competition. It definitely pushes you to keep getting better.”
Hawthorne also got triples from Clinton Cupples, who captured the 9-10 boys 25 fly (17.86), 25 breast (22.56) and 25 back (20.89), and Cole Rapczynski, who took the 11-12 boys 50 fly (33.31), 50 free (29.38) and 50 breast (39.16).
The Gators also got single wins from Mikey Reyes (15-18 boys 50 fly 28.78), Landon Abelende (8-U boys 25 free 17.22), Gavin Abelende (9-10 boys 50 free 36.03), Addy
Donnick (11-12 girls 50 free 31.06), Bryce Johnson (8-U boys 25 breast 25.94), Molly Reisinger (8-U girls 25 breast 28.39), Kristopher Schueller (1518 boys 50 breast 32.31) and Megan Schueller (1518 girls 50 breast 38.03). Landon Abelende’s time broke a Hawthorne team mark that Rapczynski set in 2013.
The Gators capped the meet with two more relay victories and a second-place finish. Juliana Conte, Jackson Donnick, Rachel Peterson and Landon Abelende combined to win the 8-U mixed 100 free relay (1:21.15), then Gavin Abelende, Rapczynski, Samuel Dugan and David Dugan teamed up to capture the 9-18 boys 200 free relay (2:00.00). Jadyn Woolsey, Addy Donnick, Alexandra Tompkins and Chase McClure combined
for second in the 9-18 girls 200 free relay (2:08.67).
Kings Landing, which finished the dual meet slate with a 2-3 mark, attained
175 points Saturday to finish fourth overall.
The Lionfish got triples from Aspen Gallaudet, who won the 9-10 girls 25 fly (17.00), 50 free (33.88) and 25 breast (20.44) and Alexia Zaidi, who prevailed in the 1112 girls 50 breast (39.20), 50 back (34.16) and 100 IM (1:14.00). Zaidi set new team records in all three of her events, while Gallaudet posted team marks in the 50 free and 25 breast.
“I thought Aspen and Alexia both swam great today,” Kings Landing head coach Kandia Spain said. “A lot of the kids came here and dropped time and we finished in mid-pack, which is about what I expected. A lot of our kids are still very young. I’m only going to have two boys age out, John Bubser and my son, Zach [Spain], so I’m hoping they get to qualify for All-Stars in something.”
Kings Landing’s Laurel Gallaudet finished second to Strathmore Bel Pre’s Morgan Hill in the 15-18 girls 50 fly (31.88), but set a new team mark in that event. Luke Hawit was second to Cupples in the 9-10 boys 25 back (21.03) and Alexandria Uhlmann was second to MVP’s Anastasia Orlic in the 9-10 girls 25 back (20.70). Michael Trotter was second in the 11-12 boys 50 back (36.78) and 12-U 100 IM (1:20.63), Isaiah Johnson was second to Vienneau in the 15-18 boys 50 back (30.65) and Sarah Cole was second to Hill in the 15-18 girls 100 IM (1:15.25).
Smallwood Village, which was 3-2 in PrinceMont dual meets, settled for fifth with 149 points on Saturday, but Marlins coach Jeff Rivenburg was pleased with the way his swimmers performed at divisionals.
“A lot of the kids came here and had fun and dropped time,” Rivenburg said. “That’s what summer swimming is all about. I thought Clayton [Jameson] and Justin [Truitt] had some really good swims today. They’ve been getting better all summer. Now we’ll see how many of the kids get to go to All-Stars next weekend.”
Clayton Jameson won the 11-12 boys 50 back (34.94) and 12-U 100 IM (1:14.91), while Truitt captured the 13-14 boys 50 fly (27.88) and was second in the 50 back (33.78). Jameson set a new team mark in the 11-12 boys 50 free (29.50), although he was out-touched by Rapczynski for first in that event.
Cora Jameson edged Belair Bath and Tennis’ Nicole Appiani to take the 13-14 girls 50 back (36.66) after finishing fifth behind Appiani in the 50 fly (37.36).
Swimmers from the three Southern Maryland pools combined to win 34 of the 49 events. The Prince-Mont season concludes Saturday with the All-Stars meet at West Arundel Swim Club in Laurel.