VHSL Occoquan Regionals: Do, Helms, Lundgren Double, Robinson and Woodson Win

VHSL Occoquan Region Championships

• February 3, 2021
• Oak Marr Rec Center, Oakton, Virginia
• SCY
• Timed Finals

While many school districts across the state of Virginia opted not to forego or limit winter sports, many of the schools in Fairfax County, where much of the state’s swimming depth is located, have forged on ahead, albeit with various degrees of modifications. Virginia’s Occoquan Region, which is part of the 6A division (largest schools), held its championships yesterday, and with the main modification being to split the meet into separate boys and girls sessions, with plenty of fast swimming on display.

Girls Recap

Over the last three years, Robinson and Woodson have taken the top two spots in the team standings, for both boys and girls, and this year would prove to be no different.

The Woodson girls got out to the lead early with a 1:47.65 victory in the medley relay, holding off Robinson by 0.70s seconds.

Of the two teams, Robinson picked up the first individual win, as Rachel Jones and Aleena Stukus swept the top two spots for the Rams, going 2:06.32 and 2:09.32, respectively. But Woodson bounced right back the next event with a top two sweep of their own, with Emilee Ferrari just touching out Jacqueline Dobrydney in the 50 free, 24.40 to 24.44.

That would be the last victory for either of those two teams for a few events, until Woodson dominated the 200 free relay with a 1:37.70, winning by over two seconds as all four swimmers split 24s. Jillian Ferrari kept things going for the Cavaliers with a 56.89 win in the 100 back.

Woodson didn’t just dominate at the top of the podium — at least eight different girls scored 20 or more points, so they’d secured the team title even before the 400 free relay, but the final race was still a great one. Robinson got out to an early lead thanks to Kitty Moy-Jacobs‘ 53.04 lead-off, but Woodson took the lead on Meghan Murray‘s 53.22 split on the 3rd leg, giving Woodson a 0.33s lead as the anchors dove in. Emilee Ferrari split 52.20 for Woodson, but Jones anchored in 51.50 for Robinson, giving the Rams the win 3:33.12 to 3:33.49.

Lake Braddock finished 3rd in the team standings, having earned individual wins by Elisabeth Rockefeller in the 1m diving event (457.50) and Lilly Cleal in the 500 free (5:10.58).

Individually, South County junior Katherine Helms, a NC State commit, was the big star of the day, winning both of her events by huge margins. After anchoring 23.58 on South County’s 3rd-place 200 medley relay, she dove right back in the first individual event, the 200 free. Accounting for the difference for a relay start and a flat start, she nearly matched her relay leg on the opening 50 of the 200 free, going out in 24.20, then split 27.1/28.4/28.4 to touch in 1:48.22, over seven seconds ahead of Woodson’s Jillian Ferrari, the next-fastest finisher.

It was a similar story in the 100 free, where Helms split 23.87/26.10 en route to a 49.97 victory, nearly three seconds ahead of Robinson’s Jacobs, who took 2nd with a 52.77. Helms wrapped up her day with a 23.48 anchor leg on South County’s 2nd-place 200 free relay.

Fairfax freshman Sophie Scadron won the 100 fly in 57.48, and Edison’s Tidawee Sun won the 100 breast by just 0.03s over Justice’s Emma Redman, 1:06.36 to 1:06.39.

Team Scores:

1. Woodson – 485
2. Robinson – 385
3. Lake Braddock – 260
4. West Springfield – 241
5. South County – 206
6. Fairfax – 134
7. Justice – 124
8. West Potomac – 114
9. Edison – 111
10. Falls Church – 73
11. Annandale – 26
12. Mount Vernon – 22
13. Hayfield – 15

Boys Recap

While the top two teams were the same, it was a much closer team battle on the boys’ side, as the outcome came down to the final event, the 400 free relay. Ultimately, Robinson’s depth prevailed, as the Rams topped Woodson by four points despite not winning any events.

Woodson opened up the lead early on, as Eric Lundgren (23.65) and Aiken Do (25.79), gave the Cavaliers’ 200 medley relay a fast front half, ultimately leading to a 1:34.98. Those two seniors powered Woodson throughout the day, each winning two individual events.

Do, a Virginia Tech commit who we ranked #8 in the high school of 2022, swept the sprint freestyles with times of 20.84/45.55, not too far off of his lifetime bests of 20.56/44.83. He also threw down a 20.23 anchor leg on Woodson’s 2nd-place 200 free relay, as the Cavaliers came within 0.05s of Justice High School’s 1:26.45 win.

Lundgren, who’s heading to Tufts this fall, accounted for Woodson’s other two event wins. First, he nearly set a new lifetime best in the 100 fly, winning in 51.88, just shy of his best of 51.76. Later, he won the 100 back in 50.08, again pretty close to his personal best (49.79). He’d also anchor Woodson’s 3rd-place 400 free relay in 46.44.

Like we said, Robinson didn’t actually win any events, but ultimately won by a steady accumulation of points and a pair of 2nd place finishes in the medley and 400 free relays. Matthew Mitros led the Rams with 32 points, including a 2nd place finish in the 50 free (21.43). JT Schmid also earned a 2nd-place finish with his 1:57.08 in the 200 IM, and picked up 31 points for Robinson.

Again, just as on the girls’ side, Lake Braddock took 3rd overall after picking up a couple wins. Ryan Lincicum won the 200 free by nearly three seconds with his time of 1:42.52. He also played they role in the Bruins 3:10.82 win the 400 free relay, as anchored in 45.57 to run down the Rams’ anchor for a 0.21s win.

West Springfield took 4th overall, as Matthew Hartshorn won the 200 IM in 1:56.08 and Patrick Andrews won the 500 free in 4:48.06. Fall Church’s Aidan Grady won the 100 breast in 58.29, and Jacob Fisher accounted for all 20 of Mount Vernon’s points with his 534.65 win on the 1m diving board.

Team Scores:

1. Robinson – 380
2. Woodson – 376
3. Lake Braddock – 320.5
4. West Springfield – 246.5
5. West Potomac – 178
6. Justice – 172
7. Fairfax – 143
8. South County – 127
9. Falls Church – 88
10. Annandale – 61
11. Edison – 55
12. Mount Vernon – 20
13. Hayfield – 11