7 boys records and 3 girls records fell as Sherwood High and Churchill High won their second consecutive Maryland state titles in class 3A-4A.
Girls Meet
Sherwood High won their second consecutive state title on the girls side, winning three individual events with three different swimmers.
Junior Amanda Wenhold and senior Kaitlin Gravell won at opposite ends of the distance spectrum. Wenhold paced the 50 free at 24.23, winning by just .01 over Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s Jazz Barry. Meanwhile Gravell went 4:55.59 to win the 500 free. Sherwood also got a 100 back title from senior Sophia Ryan in 56.66.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase did win the 200 medley relay in 1:46.73 to open the meet, using Barry on breaststroke.
Quince Orchard’s Catherine Belyakov stood out individually, breaking her own 200 IM state record. She was 2:01.41, taking almost a full second off her own 2018 record. She also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.71 and came off that race to help her team win the 400 free relay in a state record 3:30.12. Joining her on the relay were Marisa Tozzi, Emily Mann and Anastasia Belyakov.
Walter Johnson High won the 200 free relay, breaking a state record in 1:36.13. Molly Benson was part of that relay, and also won the 200 free in 1:50.95. Other relay members were Maya Drill, Jane Umhofer and Lianna Rosman.
Other event winners:
- Walt Whitman senior Sophie Reilly won the 100 fly, going 55.91.
- Montgomery Blair got a 100 free win from junior Alexandra Marney-Bell in 52.04. She won by a single hundredth over Magruder’s Natalie Dobrzykowski.
Top 5 Teams:
- Sherwood – 285.5
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase – 259
- Walter Johnson – 192.5
- Quince Orchard – 191
- Churchill – 189
Boys Meet
7 state records fell in 11 events on the boys side.
Churchill High won their second consecutive title, getting three wins from senior Steven Mendley. The sprinter went 20.98 to break the state 50 free record, pulling it below 21 seconds for the first time in history. He later won the 100 free in 46.29, taking two tenths off the state record.
Churchill junior Noah Rutberg also won the 100 backstroke, going 50.03 for a new state record.
At the end of the meet, Rutberg and Mendley combined to hold down the back half of Churchill’s 400 free relay, joining Ziad Bandak and John Nguyen to go 3:09.34 and break the state record by nearly a full second.
Walter Johnson senior Timmy Ellett added three wins and two more state records. He was 1:49.02 to take the 200 IM state record below 1:50 for the first time – in fact, Ellett previously held the record at 1:52.11 from 2018. Later, Ellett was 56.37 to win the 100 breast. Ellett also joined James Collishaw, Henry Bagshaw and Sean Keller to go 1:26.43 and break the state record in the 200 free relay.
Wheaton senior Alex Colson also doubled up on wins, taking the 200 free in 1:39.72 (three tenths off a state record) and the 100 fly in 48.31 (breaking his own state record).
Other event winners:
- Richard Montgomery High won the 200 medley relay in 1:35.33.
- Connor Din also won the 500 free for Richard Montgomery, going 4:37.32.
Top 5 Teams:
- Churchill – 312
- Richard Montgomery – 279
- Montgomery Blair – 223
- Walter Johnson – 219
- Walt Whitman – 201
BIG STEE