SLHS sent all three of its girls’ relays into the Northern Region Swim Meet finals Saturday night. With deep talent, the relays swam well and achieved best times. Two relays made State cuts, and the girls are looking forward to their trip to George Mason in a couple of weeks.
The girls’ 200 Medley relay swam a 1:50.59, besting their seed time by 2.44 seconds and winning their heat against powerhouses Madison and Langley. Kaylyn Macaluso, a sophomore and member of both the 200 Medley and 200 Free relays, said the team discussed the competition before the race and all agreed, “We were seeded 13th and just wanted to go out there and beat our best time. It was just incredible!” The relay placed 9th overall.
The 200 Freestyle Relay, including Sasha Avilov, Tope Oladimeji, Katie Degutis and Macaluso, also made the cut with a 1:41.95, swimming under the state mark of 1:42.09. “Right before the race, Coach Brown changed up our order so that Sasha could get us out front and try for her state cut,” said Macaluso. “I was panicked because that meant I had to anchor the race. Sasha said, ‘I promise I’ll make this for us. You are doing this for me, so I’ll do it for you!’”
Sophomores Sabrina Groves and Natalie Obando scored individual personal bests on their way to the State meet.
Groves swam a 2:10.74 in the 200 IM, improving her seed time by 0.68. She will also swim the 100 Fly, having earned a State cut with a 58.90 in the dual meet with Madison earlier in the season.
Obando posted her season-best time in the 100 Back, taking 3rd place overall with a 57.43, an improvement of 1.49 seconds. She also shaved over two seconds off her 200 Freestyle, barely missing the state cut with a time of 1:57.81.
The 4X100 Freestyle relay (Katie Lee, Degutis, Obando and Groves) dropped 3.89 seconds, missing the state cut, but posting their season best time with a 3:46.00.
While the boys’ relay didn’t make finals, the team, led by Seniors Sean McCrone and Sebastian Waldschmidt, swam a season best in the prelims. Along with John Hughes and Mac Sogandares, they finished in 3:29.58, lowering the season’s best time by 3.50 seconds.
The Virginia AAA State Swimming and Diving Championships take place February 15-16 at George Mason University.
