MPSSAA Swimming Championships

4A/3A Girls

Walter Johnson won its first MPSSAA state championship in girls swimming by finishing with 292 points, besting defending champion Sherwood which ended with 246 points.

The Wildcats' biggest haul for bringing in points came in two relays- the 200 yard medley and 200 yard freestyle. The two wins, which gave Walter Johnson 40 points each, had two overlapping members- Margaret Wolfson and Maya Drill. The duo was joined in the medley by Athena Aravantinou and Molly Benson, and in the freestyle by Celine Nugent and Kiki Bonetta-Misteli. The Wildcats' freestyle team set a state record by completing the event in 1:36.74.

Walter Johnson's 400 freestyle relay, comprised of Katie Ellett, Benson, Aravantinou and Nugent, also finished third and gave the team 32 points.

In individual events, the best day was had by Nugent, who finished second in both the 200 yard IM and 100 yard freestyle, amassing 34 points in the process. Nugent was joined in the freestyle by Drill, who placed sixth. Drill finished in the same position for the 50 yard freestyle.

Benson scored the second most points for the Wildcats by finishing fourth in the 500 yard freestyle, and sixth in the 100 yard butterfly. Wolfson also had a strong showing, getting third in the 100 yard breaststroke.

4A/3A Boys

Richard Montgomery won its second straight MPSSAA state title, and third in four years, by narrowly besting Churchill. The Rockets finished with 289 points, while Churchill placed second with 287.

Richard Montgomery won four events, two of which were relays. The team of Matt Nguyen, Kenny Afolabi-Brown, Greg Afolabi-Brown and Jonathan Mendley won the 200 yard medley. Simon Li joined the trio of both Afolabi-Brown's and Mendley first place finishing 200 yard freestyle team, which also set a state record of 1:26.50.

The Rockets two individual triumphs came courtesy of Jack Rose and Kenny Afolabi-Brown. Rose won the 100 yard backstroke, while Afolabi-Brown finished first in the 50 yard freestyle.

Richard Montgomery's 400 yard freestyle relay team also had a strong showing, finishing third for 32 points. The team was made up of Rose, Connor Din, Steven Mendley and John Clado.

Other big results for Richard Montgomery included Rose placing third in the 500 yard relay, Kenny Afolabi-Brown finishing fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke, and Din getting sixth in both the 200 and 500 yard freestyles.

1A/2A/3A

Poolesville was far and away the top team at the smaller school meets, winning both the boys and girls competitions for the third straight year.

For the boys team, it was the Falcons sixth straight team state championship. Poolesville finished with 347.5 points, while second place Middletown scored 220 points,

The group won four events, including two relays. Poolesville's individual champions included Justin Kim in the 200 yard freestyle and Theodore Jagodits in the 100 yard freestyle. The Falcons' championship winning relay teams were the 200 yard medley (Kim, Benjamin Kaplan, Kevin Song, Jisu Kim) and 200 yard freestyle (Conner Dunathan, Justin Kim, Song, Jagodits).

Poolesville's 400 yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Jagodits, Dunathan, Kaplan and Steven Huntley placed second.

Other notable performances for the Poolesville boys team included Jagodits placing second in the 50 yard freestyle, and event where Dunathan finished fourth. Dunathan placed third in the 100 yard freestyle, which was the same position Kaplan got in both the 200 yard IM and the 100 yard breaststroke. Song placed fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke, and got the same result in the 100 yard butterfly.

Jisu Kim finished fifth in the 100 yard butterfly, and also tied for third in the 200 yard freestyle. Justin Kim got third in the 100 yard backstroke, while Zachary Nachod got fourth in the 500 yard freestyle.

On the girls side, Poolesville was equally successful, scoring 363 points, while second place Easton finished with 233.

The Falcons won five different events, including all three relays. Moshelle Borjigin, Helena Narisu, Katarina Lechner and Theresa Nardone won the 200 yard medley; Borjigin, Nardone, Julia Wang and Fanny Wu won the 200 yard freestyle; and Wang, Wu, Arona Baigal and Emma Bentz won the 400 yard freestyle.

Poolesville's individual events were won by Lechner and Borjigin. Lechner won for the 500 yard freestyle, while Borjigin claimed first in the 100 yard backstroke. Both swimmers also finished second in an individual event- Borjigin in the 200 yard freestyle and Lechner in the 200 yard IM.

Narisu also had a strong individual performance for Poolesville, finishing second in the 100 yard breaststroke and third in the 200 yard IM. Rachel Ryan got third in the 500 yard freestyle and fifth in the 200 yard freestyle, while Wu placed second in the 100 yard butterfly. Autumn Wang finished third in the 100 yard backstroke, while Julia Wang got the same place in the 100 yard freestyle.

Baigal got fourth in the 100 yard butterfly, the same position Nardone finished in the 50 yard freestyle.
February 27th, 2017By: Wick Eisenberg

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