Girls’ swim and dive win divisionals, boys’ tie for fifth

The+girls+swim+and+dive+team+celebrates+their+divisionals+win.+Their+win+came+down+to+the+last+event+where+the+400+freestyle+relay+held+their+ground+over+BCC.

Photo courtesy of WJ Athletics

The girls’ swim and dive team celebrates their divisionals win. Their win came down to the last event where the 400 freestyle relay held their ground over BCC.

The rivalry between WJ and BCC remained prominent during the last event of divisonals for the girls’ swim and dive team. With the entire team screaming with excitement, the girls’ 400 freestyle relay added to the electric environment of the pool deck by winning with a time of 4:30.84. This first-place finish by junior captain Healy Morgan, sophomores Madeleine Simmons and Isla Bartholomew and senior captain Maren Conze sealed WJ’s divisonals win over BCC by seven and a half points.

On the other side of the board, the boys’ swim and dive team also embraced the competition with the Barons. Both teams tied for fifth place with a score of 240. This was 13 points under Blair who finished fourth, and 191.5 points behind Churchill who won the meet.
“The boys did well. They had some good swims and some people did really well. Some people went some lifetime bests. The boys had hard competition, our division has a lot of really good swimmers,” head coach Jamie Grimes said.

The girls started the meet by breaking a school record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 145.56. The relay included Conze, fellow senior captains Sienna Karp and Matti Harvey and Simmons.

“I am most excited for our 200 medley relay at metros. We have a really good set of girls on the relay so I’m hoping we can come home with a win in that event,” Karp said.

The girls brought home a total of four individual first-place finishes at divisonals. Karp finished first in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststrokes, Conze finished first in the 200 freestyle and Morgan won the 100 freestyle.

“I was super happy with my races. I knew how close the meet was going to be against BCC so I did my best to give my races everything I had and was rewarded with some time improvements. Winning both races gave the team a lot of points which was super important for our overall team success,” Karp said.

Sophomore Noah Potter got fourth in the 200 individual medley and sixth in the 100 freestyle.

“Divisonals was a lot of fun. There was a lot of cheering. It was a good environment and we all tried our best,” Potter said.

The next championship meet will be Metros from Feb. 8-11 at Germantown Aquatic Center. This will be the first time spectators are allowed at Metros since 2020.
“The girls’ team is super excited about the win but we all know that we only beat BCC by a few points. We are certainly using this to push ourselves to race a little harder over the next few weeks. Metros will be tough against Stone Ridge so hopefully we can hold our own against BCC and Holton Arms, I know our girls are ready,” Karp said.

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