Collegiate Girls’ Swim and Dive Team Wins LIS Championship

The Cougars claimed first place in three events in their victory at St. Catherine’s School Kenny Center. Collegiate junior Jasmine Harper won the 100-yard breaststroke, and junior Sydney Lenz won the 500-yard freestyle race by nearly eight seconds.

 

The medley relay team, comprised of Emily Erard ‘16, Jasmine Harper, Katie Ryan ’17 and Cristina Muncy ’17, set an LIS record with a time of 1:51.30 in their first place win.

 

Additionally, senior Katie Lee reached her qualifying state time in the 200-yard freestyle, and 8^th Grader Avery Rogers, placed third in the 500-yard freestyle race. Freshman Sally Ennis was second in the 100-yard backstroke and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly.

 

The Cougars secured four scoring finishes in all nine individual events. According to Head Coach Mike Stott, the Collegiate divers set the tone Friday night, with a jumpstart to Saturday’s victory.

 

Sophomore diver Caroline Hall won first place in the girls 1-meter diving, while senior Leilani Porter came in fourth, followed by Ellie Angle ‘18 in eighth place, and Ann Ross Westermann ‘19 in 13^th place.

 

According to Coach Stott, Caroline set a record by scoring 359 points - the highest score ever recorded by a female Collegiate diver.

 

Collegiate’s boys swim and dive team also competed and finished fourth.

 

Season-long training on the boys side paid dividends, Coach Stott said, especially for freshman Mercer Reed, who gained a state cut in the 100-yard backstroke.

 

Posting lifetime bests were:

Sam Hart ’20, in the 100-yard butterfly

Joseph Ascoli ’20, in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles

Stephen Laming ’19, in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly

Wyatt Baldridge ’19, in the 500-yard freestyle

 

Impressive relay splits were posted by a number of swimmers, with anchor swims of 22.82 by freshman Charles Armstrong, 22.98 by freshman Iain Moore, and 48.39 by senior Sam Cuthbert near the top of the list. Freshman Zach Cram went 51.18, leading off the boys fifth place 400-yard freestyle relay performance.

 

“It was a total team effort,” said Coach Stott. “The boys and girls supported each other really well with a lot of energy. I’m expecting that once they get a little rest from the week they will perform well in the state meet.”

 

Next week, swimmers and divers will continue to sharpen their training as they focus on the Virginia High School League state championships in Christiansburg.