2023 Virginia High School League Class 1/2 Swimming and Diving Championships
- February 17-18, 2023
- Christiansburg Aquatic Center, Christiansburg, Virginia
- Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
- Full Meet Results (PDF)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2023 VHSL Class 1&2 Swim and Dive Champs
After winning the boy’s meet for three straight years, the Radford boys were defeated, falling to third as Virginia High claimed the Virginia small school boys title. Despite losing, Radford sophomore Trent Hollandsworth set the Class 2 Record in the 100 breast, giving the program hope to return to the top of the podium in the near future. The girl’s meet saw Bruton potentially begin the building of a new streak, winning their second straight state title with nearly 100 points separating them from the field.
Girls Meet Recap
Bruton was dominant on their way to the state title, sweeping the relays and winning a trio of individual events to give them nearly a 100-point victory. Their times in the 200 medley relay (1:53.37) and 400 free relay (3:47.07) were both just shy of the Class 2 state record while their 1:44.31 in the 200 free relay was three seconds off.
Individually, Bruton was led by freshman Maddie Hubbard, who won two state titles. Her first win came in the 200 IM, where three Bruton girls were within the top-4. The top spot came down to a battle between Hubbard and teammate Izzie Check, with Hubbard coming out less than three-tenths ahead in a time of 2:15.50. Chloe Check took forth for the team in 2:17.74. Hubbard later added an eight-second victory in the 500 free in 5:24.41.
While Chloe Check came fourth in the IM against her sister and teammate, she claimed a state title later in the meet with a win in the 100 breast. Winning the event for the second straight year, Check finished just over a second off of her lifetime best, touching at 1:07.96.
Outside of Bruton, Galax had a multiple-event winner in senior Mia Llamas. Llamas started the day by winning the 200 free with a time of 1:58.34. The win completes Llamas’ sweep of the event during her high school career, having won the state title all four years. She followed that performance with a win in the 100 back, finishing as the only performer under 1:00 in a time of 59.26. Llamas has committed to travel across the country this fall with a commitment to California Baptist University.
Radford also had a swimmer pick up more than one state title, with sophomore Evie Grim winning both sprint freestyle races. Both events featured a battle of last year’s state champion Claire Griffith and last year’s runner-up, Grim. This year, Grim came out on top in both races, winning the 50 free in 24.44 and the 100 free in 53.27.
Winning her first state title as a freshman was Tatti Bernier of Radford. Bernier was over two seconds faster than the field in the 100 fly, finishing in 1:00.37.
Team Scores
- Bruton – 350
- Radford – 261
- Nandua – 192
- Galax – 151
- Strasburg
Boy’s Meet Recap
After finishing third last season and second the year before, Virginia High came out on top of the boy’s meet this year despite having just one individual event title in the 1-meter diving. Virginia High’s win ends a three-year winning streak from Radford, who fell to third this season.
While Radford fell to third overall, the team’s 200 medley and freestyle relays both came home with gold medals. The team of Trent Hollandsworth, Graham Minarik, Greg Cinson, and Ian Mayer led the field in the medley relay, finishing in 1:49.74. It was the same quartet that claimed first in the 200 free relay as well, finishing in 1:38.43.
In addition to featuring on two Radford relays, Hollandsworth also picked up a pair of individual state titles on the day. In the 200 IM, he led the meet by nearly twenty seconds, dipping below 2:00 with a time of 1:58.70. He followed that swim by resetting the 100 breast Class 2 record that he set during prelims. After touching in 58.57 during his first swim, he shaved another tenth of a second off of his record in finals with a time of 58.43. Only a sophomore, Hollandsworth will have two more seasons to further lower that record.
A junior at George Wythe, Joseph Puckett finished as the top performer in the 200 free. Battling with Bruton’s Riley Thompson throughout the race, Puckett overcame a nearly full second gap at the 100 mark to win in 1:52.50. He also finished as the runner-up in the 100 back where another Bruton swimmer, Zach Hubbard, took gold in 56.63.
Dominating the sprint events on the day was Ian Andresen, who took gold in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. In the 50, Andresen was the only swimmer to finish under 22.0, touching in 21.93. The 100 free saw just two swimmers dip below 50.0, with Andresen doing so by almost a full second in 49.06. Last year, as a sophomore, Andresen took 2nd in the 50 and 1st in the 100.
Like Andresen, Connor Wilkes of Glenvar left Christianburg with a pair of golds. In the 100 fly, Wilkes swam to a lifetime best of 54.35 to hold off Zach Hubbard, who later won the 100 back, for gold. He followed that swim with another lifetime best, this time taking over five seconds off his previous best in the 500 free to win in 5:15.01.
The lone relay not won by Radford, the 400 free relay, went to Glenvar. Anchored by 100 fly and 500 free state champion Connor Wilkes, the relay combined to finish in 3:39.59.
Team Scores
- Virginia High – 202
- Clarke County – 169
- Radford – 165
- Glenvar – 145
- Poquoson – 139
