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Local swimmers rake in postseason medals
Athletes shine at SMAC, regional meets
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
Huntingtown's Brianne Palensky churns through the water during the regional meet.
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LANDOVER — Just two days after teams from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference swam for the league crown, it was back in the pool at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex to decide who was best in the region as the Class 4A-3A South region meet.
Leonardtown was the team to watch. The Raiders, who swept the SMAC meet Thursday on the boys and girls side, were looking for a repeat sweep in this competition after doing so last season. But it was not to be as they settled for third place in boys with 285 points and second in girls with 280.
Thomas Johnson of Frederick County took home the boys trophy with 347 points, while Urbana of Frederick County sealed the win for the girls with 378 points.
C.J. Culpepper represented Leonardtown well in the 500-yard freestyle with his winning time of 5 minutes 10.38 seconds. On the girls side, Olivia Ray placed fourth overall in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:19.92, which broke the regional record of 2:20.89.
Huntingtown placed fourth overall, second in SMAC, for the boys with 206 points. Northern finished up in fifth place with 184 points, while North Point took home sixth place with 149 points. Great Mills placed eighth overall with 137 points. Ninth place went to Thomas Stone with 103 points and Chopticon took 11th with 88 points.
For the girls, sixth place went to North Point with 178 points with the help of Kendall McMillen placing fifth overall, first in SMAC, in the 100 back with a time of 1:06.63, breaking the regional record of 1:06.91.
Chopticon took seventh with 150 points. Eighth place went to Northern with 112 points. Huntingtown tied with Linganore with 84 points.
After debating who to put on the boys 200 free relay team, Northern first-year head coach Kandia Spain said they made the right decision.
The all-senior relay team consisting of Eric Carr, Darryl Baxter, Chris Cranford, and Andrew Lacosse set a new regional record for its first-place time of 1 minute 35.15 seconds, beating the 2009 mark set by Huntingtown's Jake Sheldon, Jon Moorman, Luke Dohrman and Thomas Morgan by one tenth of a second.
"It's unbelievable [the new record]," Spain said. "Today was probably the best day for the relays. It [SMAC] did help. Many had great times at SMAC, but today times were really improving."
Baxter swam the second leg of the race after Carr got things started for the Patriots.
"We were neck and neck with Thomas Johnson High School when I got in," Baxter said, "then we pulled ahead when Andrew started swimming. We were all tip-top — we all did our best. For this race, I switched with Jack Roberts [who swam the second leg of the 200 medley relay]. It would be nice to cut a few seconds off our time for states. That would be great. If we all work hard, I know we can do it."
The 4A-3A state swim meet is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at the University of Maryland College Park's Eppley Recreation Center.
3A-2A-1A South meet
Many of the swimmers in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference knew how stiff the competition would be Saturday at the Class 3A-2A-1A South region swim championships at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex.
It didn't stop the La Plata boys squad from collecting a third-place finish with 246 points. Lackey placed sixth with 179 points, Patuxent took seventh (167), while McDonough (116), Westlake (93) and Calvert (47) settled for ninth, 10th and 12th, respectively.
On the girls side, Patuxent nabbed the third spot with 232 points. Westlake was fifth (198 points), La Plata placed sixth (193), Lackey took 10th (99), Calvert was 11th (91) and McDonough (46) was in the 12th spot.
"Both the boys and the girls have been working hard all year," said Patuxent head coach Jeff Ganoe, who took over for Shannon Doleski for the remainder of the season. "They made it here on heart, the girls are stronger overall and the boys were light physically and numbers wise. I'm very happy with our efforts on both sides."
The top four finishers in their respective events qualified for the state meet, which will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday. at the University of Maryland College Park's Eppley Recreation Center following the 4A-3A meet.
On the girls side, senior Ebony Sherrill of Westlake took second in the 50 free (26.58) and her teammate Amelia Tarlton took fourth. Tarlton also finished third in the 100 free with a time of 1:01.75, while Patuxent's Rebecca Blitch came right behind her in fourth (1:02.61).
Patuxent senior Courtney Parkes collected second-place finishes in the 100 backstroke (1:05.09) and 100 breast (1:16.18). Those wins helped lead her team to a second-place finish in the 400 free relay (4:15.94).
"As a team we did really well. I was impressed," Parkes said, who led her team to a third-place finish in the 200 free relay. "We just wanted to go out and kick some butt on the relay. I would really love to medal in states."
Ganoe added: "Courtney is a natural leader and she leads by example and really encourages them. She helps the younger swimmers with their strokes. I can't say enough about her; I hope she takes some medals at states."
SMAC
Leonardtown continued its dominance in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference championships Thursday by sweeping the competition on both sides at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex.
The boys edged Huntingtown, 397-382, while the girls had no problems taking the meet by 157 points over North Point.
Leonardtown was one of the teams who were able to finish out the regular season before the blizzards of 2010 rolled into the area. The girls finished unbeaten for the sixth consecutive season, while the boys secured their first-ever, back-to-back SMAC regular-season title and its first undefeated season since the 2004-05 season.
Northern took third place for the boys with 338 points. Fourth place went to La Plata with 317 points.
Northern's Andrew Lacosse doubled, winning the 50 free (23.10) and the 100 butterfly (57.72). He battled out the 50 free with Leonardtown's Tyler Lydon, Thomas Stone's Jake Scannapieco and La Plata's Zakary Meszaros. Teammate Chris Cranford won the 100 free in 51.58.
Huntingtown's 200 medley relay team team of Jacob Dohrman, Luke Dohrman, James Murphy and Christian Naumann placed second in 1:51.43.
Leonardtown's Olivia Ray doubled, winning the 200 IM (2:20.16) and the 500 free (5:35.27). La Plata's Anna Wells (100 fly, 200 free) and Patuxent's Courtney Parkes also doubled. Parkes won the 100 backstroke (1:05.01) and the 100 breaststroke (1:15.82). Patuxent finished fourth with 285 points.
"The 100 back time was a personal record as well as a school record," Parkes said. "I dropped two seconds on my time so far this season and broke the school record by a second. It was really exciting."
The Northern girls finished sixth (264 points) and Huntingtown was ninth (233). Calvert was a 12th (120).
SMAC meet results
Boys
1. Leonardtown 397, 2. Huntingtown 382, 3. Northern 338, 4. La Plata 317, 5. North Point 285, 6. Great Mills 255, 7. Chopticon 204.5, 8. Stone 195, 9. Patuxent 185.5, 10. Lackey 183, 11. McDonough 150, 12. Westlake 117, 13. Calvert 68
Double winners: Paras L (200 IM 2:11.03, 100 breast 1:06.66); Lacosse N (50 free 23.10, 100 fly 57.72)
Single winners: Roth LaP (200 free 2:01.25); Cranford N (100 free 51.58); Culpepper Lt (500 free 5:11.61); Scannapieco TS (100 back 58.25); La Plata 200 medley relay (1:50.88); Northern 200 free relay (1:35.96); Leonardtown 400 free relay (3:35.21)
Girls
1. Leonardtown 465, 2. North Point 308, 3. Chopticon 297, 4. Patuxent 285, 5. La Plata 271, 6. Northern 264, 7. Westlake 258, 8. Stone 240, 9. Huntingtown 233, 10. Great Mills 156, 11. Lackey 138, 12. Calvert 120, 13. McDonough 59
Double winners: Wells LaP (200 free 2:06.11, 100 fly 1:05.33); Ray Lt (200 IM 2:20.16, 500 free 5:35.27); Parkes P (100 back 1:05.01, 100 breast 1:15.82)
Single winners: Rondeau Lt (50 free 26.48); Robinson Lt (100 free 59.64); Leonardtown 200 medley relay (2:04.54); Leonardtown 200 free relay (1:52.35); Leonardtown 400 free relay (4:05.27)
