MIAA A Conference Championships
- February 3-4, 2023
- Baltimore, Maryland
- SCY
- Results on MeetMobile: “2023 MIAA A Swimming Championships”
The annual Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) A Conference Swimming Championships was held a few weeks ago at Mangione Aquatic Center, on Loyola University’s campus.
Team Scores:
- McDonogh – 555.5
- Loyola Blakefield – 399.5
- Gilman Swimming – 276
- Mount Saint Joseph – 249
- Archbishop Spalding – 171
- Calvert Hall College – 132
The McDonogh boys dominated the team standings to win their fifth consecutive MIAA A Conference title. They out-scored runner-up Loyola Blakefield by 156 points overall. Prior to 2018, Loyola Blakefield had been the team on a five-straight winning streak.
McDonogh junior Caiden Bowers highlighted the meet with his decisive victories in the 100 breast and 100 fly. Over the course of prelims and finals, Bowers dropped nearly a second in the 100 breast to post a time of 54.70, winning the event by over three seconds.
The 100 fly was a similar story. Bowers clocked a best time of 47.96 to win the event for the second straight year in a new Maryland state record time. His teammate Will Cussimanio took the runner-up spot with a best time of 49.84. Both Bowers and Cussimanio were members of McDonogh’s winning 200 medley relay, where they combined with Langston Duncan and Connor Cashman to post a new MIAA record of 1:30.65.
Cussimanio and Duncan each won an event of their own also. Cussimanio, a UC-Santa Barbara commit, took 1st in the 100 backstroke. He stopped the clock at 49.66, marking his first time dipping below the 50-second mark. Duncan, a sophomore, defended his title in the 50 freestyle with a 21.34, just off his personal best of 21.05 he had set in December.
McDonogh junior Max Mislow added another victory in the 200 IM. He posted a best time of 1:54.37, nearly a second quicker than runner-up Jonah Stein from Mount Saint Joseph (1:55.11). Bucknell commit Drew Greene was another winner for McDonogh, as he touched 1st in the 100 free with a 46.62.
Loyola Blakefield senior Patrick Branon emerged victorious in a tight 200 free. Branon, a Notre Dame commit, won in 1:41.20, less than a second ahead of McDonogh’s Greene (1:41.32) and Loyola’s Harry Belbot (1:41.81). Branon went on to win again in the 500 to take his 2nd straight title in the event. He ran down McDonogh’s Brandon Richter to touch first in 4:35.28.
I remember the days when Loyola and Calvert Hall would always win the swimming championships. Glad to see McDonogh is the new powerhouse! They even have less students than the other two schools AND are coed, making this accomplishment even more incredible!