The two county high school swim teams celebrated “Senior Night” together last Thursday at the Botetourt Family YMCA, as both teams honored their seniors and competed against each other along with Liberty Christian Academy.
It was a night of personal records for the LB boys team, as all of the swimmers set at least one personal record. The boys relay team of Cooper Dehr, Jacob Hodnett, James Lively, and Griffin Davidson won both the 400 free relay and the 200 free relay, with a drop of three seconds in both races. The relay team of Andres Hernandez, Davidson, Hunter Dillon and Hodnett finished second in the 200 freestyle relay behind LCA, dropping 4 seconds.
In individual events, Dehr finished second in the 200 freestyle and first in the 100 free. Hodnett finished second in the 50 free, Lively finished second in the 100 free, Davidson finished fourth in the 100 breast and Hernandez finished fifth in breast and second in the 500 free. Dillon placed third in 100 backstroke and fourth in 100 free. Each of these races was a personal record for these swimmers.
In girls competition, LB swept all three relays, with the all senior team of Sophie Rakes, Hattie Butler, Brielle Jackson, and Madelynn Sprouse winning the 200 medley relay. Emily Hanson, Katie Cross Layne Jones and
Angelina Zeidan won the 200 free relay and Rakes, Jones, Sprouse, and Zeidan took first in the 400 free relay.
Jones won both the 500 free and the 100 backstroke, setting a personal record in the back. Cross won the 200 IM, setting a personal record, and also won the 100 breast. Sprouse won the 200 freestyle and finished second in the 100 breast.
Rakes won the 100 freestyle and placed second in the 50 freestyle. Zeidan won the 100 fly and finished second in the 100 back. Emily Hanson won the 50 freestyle and finished third in the 100 fly, setting a personal record. Jackson swam the 200 IM for the first time this season, finishing fourth in that event and third in the 100 backstroke.
Sidney Saunders set a personal record with a fifth place in 200 IM and also finished fifth in the 100 fly. Hattie Butler placed second in the 100 free and third in the 100 breast setting personal records in both events. Hannah Dillon placed fourth in the 100 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle while Ainsley Wood placed seventh in the 50 free.
James River also had many strong performances. Coach Franceschini was impressed with many individual fast times by the Knights.
Nathan Etzler finished third in the 200 free and first overall in the 100 backstroke. Drew Whitson, 200 free, 100 breaststroke and Mackenzie Alford, 200 free, 100 backstroke swam personal best times.
Senior Sydney Wilson (200 IM, 100 butterfly) swam at or near her state times from last year. In the 50 free, Dillon Minnix and Walker Wilson had very strong performances while Kaylee Cox had a strong performance in the 100 free and helped the 400 free relay finish second overall.
Alex Campbell contributed to the meet, competing in the 50 free and 100 breast with two fast times. Riley Potter, in the 50 free and 100 backstroke, continues to get faster each meet. Norah Jones swam the 500 free for the first time and went under eight minutes with a fourth place overall. Senior Isaac Bell had fast times in the 100 free and 100 breaststroke while Ellie Holter finished third in the 500 freestyle and helped the 400 free relay finish second overall. Eighth grade swimmer Addie Jones swam a very fast 100 free and 100 breaststroke.
“I think what really made the evening was Senior Night recognition,” said Franceschini. “Girls’ captains Sydney Walker and Ellie Holter and Senior Boys’ captains Dillon Minnix, Isaac Bell and Riley Potter will be finishing up their season in about three weeks. They will be missed by the coaching staff and fellow high school swimmers.”
The Knights will compete at Regions on January 30 at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center with a start time of about 5:45 p.m.
LB will host a virtual meet tonight against Carroll County and Franklin County. This will be a new “COVID first” for the team, then the Cavaliers will travel to Christiansburg on Saturday for the regional meet.
