Saturday, Feb 14 2009 - Northern Region Championship
We'll sum up our trip to Regions in two words: mission accomplished. To be completely honest, the game plan didn't go quite as expected, but the ultimate result was what we were hoping for. When it was all said & done, 10 swimmers qualified for the state meet, which is 6 more than last season. Some of the highlights of the meet included an automatic All-American & record-setting performance by the girls 200 medley relay, Brett Merker cracking the one-minute mark & breaking his team record in the 100 breaststroke, & Natalie Leake gaining All-American consideration in the 100 breaststroke. Not to be outdone, Susie Lesniewski qualified for her first individual swim at the state meet in the 50 free, while Sana Alloo won the consolation heat of the 100 back with a lifetime best time of 1:01.97.
The individual finalists for the meet included Natalie Leake (4th, 100 breast & 9th, 50 free), Susie Lesniewski (5th, 50 free & 10th, 100 free), Brett Merker (7th, 100 breast), & Sana Alloo (9th, 100 back). Taylor Avery & Will Balberde finished just out of the top 16 in both of their 50 free races by both finishing 19th. All of our relay events finished in the top 16. The girls: 200 medley was 3rd (Alloo, Leake, Avery, & Lesniewski), 400 free was 9th (Lesniewski, Avery, Alloo, & Leake), and 200 free was 16th (Avery, Hadsell, Kim, & Hagan). The boys: 200 free was 14th (Balberde, Germanis, Culleiton, & Carlson), 200 medley was 14th (Culleiton, Merker, Kelly, & Balberde), & 400 free was 15th (Germanis, Culleiton, Carlson, & Merker).
Our individual state qualifiers included Natalie Leake (50 free & 100 breast), Susie Lesniewski (50 free), & Brett Merker (100 breast). Joining them to compete in the relay events will be Taylor Avery, Sana Alloo, Yoona Kim, Will Balberde, Ryan Carlson, Johnny Germanis, & Connor Culleiton. All three of the girls' relays qualified for the state meet, while the boys' 200 free relay qualified.
Saturday, Feb 7 2009 - Concorde District Swim [ full meet results ]
(coming soon)
Thursday, Feb 5, 2009 - Concorde District Dive
The divers had a great showing at the District meet. Mary Pat & Catherine Colandro finished 14th & 16th, respectively. Both of our Wilidcat ladies made it through all 11 rounds of the diving event. The boys were led by Chance Roman who took 14th place. Matt Mason follwoed closely, coming in 17th & missing a scoring position by only two points.
Jan 16, 2009 - Centreville @ Herndon
The girls almost pulled out a win, but it wasn't to be as the Herndon girls place 1st & 3rd in the final event of the night, the 400 free relay. By virture of outscoring our ladies in that event 13-5, they walked away with a 2 point win. Our girls were able to win 6 of the 12 swimming events & place 2nd in 5 of the remaining six. Event winners included Natalie Leake (200 IM & 100 breast), Susie Lesniewski (50 free), & Taylor Avery (100 fly). Both of the girls' 200 relays also won. The meet was close due to a number of strong swims that allowed us to pick up the pivotal 3rd though 7th places.
The boys were able to garner 1st-place finishes in two events - the 200 medley relay (Connor Culleiton, Brett Merker, Johnny Germanis, & Will Balberde) 7 the 100 fly (Johnny Germanis), but after that, had to settle for numerous 2nd & 3rd-place finishes. All in all, it was a tough night (after a long week ofhard practice) for both squads as they were only able to hit 50% best times (with a goal of 75%) on both sides. The girls managed 16/32 best times, while the boys hit 14/28 best times.
Jan 10, 2009 - Kecoughtan Invitational [ full results ]
After impressive showings the last two seasons, both the boys & girls teams continued to be competitive at this invitational meet help in Newport News, VA. The girls team was able to bring home 2nd-place honors & the boys in the top half of all the teams with a 12th-place finish.
Boys' individual finishers: Will Balberde was the high-point winner on the boys' side of the meet. He finaled in the 50 free (5th) & 100 free (8th). Brett Merker & Johnny Germanis were the only other Wildcat boys to make in back top-16. Brett finaled in the 100 breast (4th) while re-setting his newly aquired team record & finished 10th in the 100 free. Johnny Germanis had strong finishes in the 200 IM (15th) & 100 fly (16th).
Girls' individual finishers: Natalie Leake was the high point winner for the team with a 2nd-place finish in the 100 free & 100 breast. The only other girl to final in both of her events was Susie Lesniewski, who finished 5th ibn the 50 free & 6th in the 100 free. Other swimmers who finished top-16 were: Sana Alloo in the 200 free (9th) & 100 back (11th), Taylor Avery in the 50 free (8th, & Sarah Hadsell in the 50 free (16th).
Boys' relays: The 200 'A' medley (Connor Culleiton, Brett Merker, Bobby Kelly, & Will Balberde) won the consolation heat & finished 9th, the 200 'A' free (Johnny Germanis, Connor Culleiton, Johnny Germanis, & Will Balberde) finished 10th, & the 400 'A' relay (Mike Helme, Ryan Carlson, Johnny Germanis, & Brett Merker) finished 10th.
Girls' relays: After losing their meet record in the morning at prelims, the 200 'A' medley (Sana Alloo, Natalie Leake, Taylor Avery, & Susie Lesniewski) rebounded at finals by not only defending their crown, but taking their meet record back. The 200 'A' relay (Susie Lesniewski, Taylor Avery, Sarah Hadsell, & Natalie Leake) also was impressive, notching a 2nd place finish & making their state cut. The 400 'A' relay (Taylor Avery, Jenn Hagan, Sarah Hadsell, & Sana Alloo) won the consolation heat & finished 9th overall, while the 200 'B' relay (Yoona Kim, Jessica Sussman, Krista Germanis, & Jenn Hagan) finished 11th.
Jan 9, 2009 - Centreville @ Fairfax
Brett Merker stole the show by not only getting his state cut in the 100 breast, but by breaking the school record in the same event. (more coming soon)
Dec. 19, 2008 - Chantilly @ Centreville
Despite losing on both sides of the meet, we were able to achieve an exceptional % of best times. The boys' team led the way by posting 78% best times, while the girls' team was able to hit the 74% mark. Sean Mauk showed the buggest drop of the evening, bettering his 500 free time by nearly 2 minutes. Jenn Hagan, Stephanie Kelly, Chris Fallon, & Johnny Germanis followed along by showing double-digit drops in their respective 500 swims. Bobby Kelly swam a fantastic 100 fly which resulting in not only a 2nd-place finish, but a career best time that had him breaking 1:00 for the first time. 1st-place finishes included: Natalie Leake (100 fly & 100 breast) & Brett Merker (100 breast). 2nd-place finishes included: Susie Lesniewski (50 & 100 free), Sana Alloo (200 IM & 100 back), Rebekah Balint (1-m diving), & Bobby Kelly (100 fly). And finally, after two tries, the boys 200 medley relay of Connor Culleiton, Brett Merker, Bobby Kelly, & Johnny Germanis made their region cut.
Dec. 12, 2008 - Centreville @ Stuart
Both the boys' and girls' teams won their lone non-district meet of the season with impressive wins against the Stuart Raiders. The girls team cracked the 200-pt mark with the girls leading the way with 225 pts and the boys followed suit with 185 pts. The girls won all 11 of the swimming events, while the boys won 8 of the swimming events.