Photo by Jon Fleming
Qualifying swimmers from Lord Botetourt and James River will be heading to the Swim RVA facility in Richmond this week for state swim meets. The Class 2 meet, including James River swimmers, will be on Thursday and the Class 3 meet, with Lord Botetourt, is scheduled for Saturday.
James River qualified five swimmers for the state meet at last Thursday’s Region 2C meet at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. For the boys, senior Walker Wilson was the region runner-up in the 50 freestyle and he also took a third in the 100 free. Freshman Austin Myers placed fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Three girls advanced from the region meet, including freshman Riley Persinger with third place finishes in both the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Freshman Sarah Lorman was third in the 100 butterfly and senior Drew Whitson swam to a fourth place finish in the 100 free.
In the Region 3D meet in Christiansburg on February 6, Lord Botetourt finished fourth among 11 schools in the girls meet and seventh in the boys meet. The Cave Spring girls and Hidden Valley boys were team winners and the top five in each event advance to this Saturday’s state meet in Richmond.
Botetourt had two double winners in the girls meet. Senior Layne Jones won the 200 free and 100 backstroke and junior Hannah Mizuba won both the 50 and 100 freestyle races.
Freshman Julia Misicko qualified in two events, taking fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Olivia Nicely was fifth in the 100 free and just missed a state time with a sixth place finish in the 50 free.
The girls also had two relay teams place in the top five. The 400 free team of Misicko, Isabella Sanchez, Jones and Mizuba was runner-up while the 200 free team of Sarah Frederickson, Ella Johnston, Sanchez and Nicely was fifth.
The boys had one state qualifier, freshman Max Mizuba. He won the 200 IM and took second in the 100 breaststroke.
