Full Girls and Boys Results, Team Scores
The Delaware DIAA Swimming & Diving Championships took place February 23-27 hosted by the Suburban Swim League. Ursuline Academy cruised to victory on the girls side, winning by nearly 100 points. On the boys side, Charter School of Wilmington won the meet with 294 points, edging out Salesianum who was the only other school over 200 points with 277.5
Girls
Ursuline Academy got off to a good start, winning the opening 200 medley relay by a narrow margin. They touched in 1:48.91 for the win, just ahead of Cape Henlopen, who were 2nd in 1:48.97. The key leg for Ursuline was Marie Dickson’s 27.40 backstroke lead-off. It was the fastest lead-off in the field. The Charter School of Wilmington finished a distant 3rd in 1:54.18.
In the girls 200 free, Ellie Jogani of Archmere landed a decisive victory, taking the win in 1:51.98. Top-seeded after prelims, Ursuline’s Heidi Dickson had to settle for 2nd in a time of 1:54.89, and Alexis DeIonno of Appoquinimink was 3rd in 1:56.04.
After her strong backstroke leg in the medley relay, Ursuline’s Marie Dickson claimed victory in the 200 IM, winning in 2:06.71. Emily Longenecker of Charter-Wilmington was 2nd in 2:09.18, and Emma Menzer of Newark Charter was 3rd in 2:09.70.
Del Mil Acad’s Kelly Blake won the 50 freestyle in a very tight race, finishing in 24.22 just ahead of Wilmington Friend’s Atim Kilama who was 24.28 for 2nd. 3rd place went to Hannah Venables of Sussex Tech in 24.63.
In the 1-meter diving event, Alex Bedord of Newark HS finished 1st with a score of 412.65. Her teammate Carolanne Tims made it a 1-3 finish for Newark, as she was 3rd with 325.50 points, and Katherine Langseder of Charter-Wilmington was 2nd with a score of 378.30.
Appoquinimink’s Josephine Marsh was the only swimmer to crack 56 seconds in the 100 fly, as she won in a quick time of 55.95. After both claiming an event earlier in the meet, Marie Dickson (56.73) and Kelly Blake (57.33) rounded out the podium finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The 100 freestyle saw 200 free champ Ellie Jogani make it 2-for-2, as she obliterated the field in a time of 51.89. Summer Sheats of Charter-Wilmington was a distant 2nd in 54.32, and Elizabeth deBruin was close behind in 54.38 for 3rd.
St.Mark’s Meghan Jones edged Ursuline’s Heidi Dickson in a close race in the girls 500 free, with Jones winning in 5:04.39 with Dickson close behind for 2nd in 5:05.30. Emma Menzer of Newark Charter picked up her second 3rd place finish of the meet, finishing in 5:09.33.
Cape Henlopen came out on top in the 200 free relay, as the only team to crack 1:40 finishing in a time of 1:39.23. The team of Sarah Hyde, Amelia Nigh-Johnson, Sarah Rambo and Molly Weeks had the three finishing swimmers split sub-25 seconds and Hyde lead-off in a tie for the fastest opening leg in 25.46. Ursuline Academy was 2nd in 1:40.39, with Archmere Academy in 3rd in 1:41.53. Ursuline’s Elizabeth deBruin tied Hyde going out in 25.46, and Ellie Jogan continued to post incredible times, splitting 23.79 on the anchor for Archmere.
The 100 backstroke went to A.I. duPont’s Alicia Diaz in a time of 55.98, just ahead of Josephine Marsh who was 2nd in 56.21. 3rd went to Meghan Jones of St.Mark’s in 58.62.
Ursuline continued their dominant showing, as Sophia McAneny-Droz claimed top spot in the 100 breast in 1:06.11, just ahead of Sarah Hyde of Cape Henlopen who was 2nd in 1:06.28. Elizabeth deBruin added more points for Ursuline finishing 3rd in 1:08.81.
Ursuline capped their meet off with a bang, taking the 400 free relay by a wide margin winning in 3:37.35. Heidi Dickson had the fastest split for Ursuline, splitting 53.63 on the anchor. Appoquinimink finished 2nd in 3:40.19, with Archmere in 3rd in 3:41.50. Fast splits from those teams including Josephine Marsh leading off in 52.63 for Appoquinimink and Ellie Jogani anchoring in 51.71 for Archmere.
Boys
Opening what would be a meet long battle, Salesianum School topped Charter School of Wilmington in the opening 200 medley relay, with Salesianum finishing in 1:36.67 to Charter-Wilmington’s 1:38.18. Key legs for Salesianum were Matt Otto’s breaststroke leg of 25.30 and Andrew Halberg’s freestyle anchor of 21.77. Conrad Schools of Science finished 3rd in 1:40.92.
In the first boys individual event of the meet Newark Charter’s Alec Menzer claimed victory in the 200 free, touching in a time of 1:41.10. Jerry Veneris of Concord was 2nd in 1:42.29, and Charter-Wilmington’s Connor Sweeney placed 3rd in 1:43.52.
Jacob Johnson of Mt.Sophia came out on top in a very close finish in the 200 IM, touching in 1:51.37 just ahead of Conrad’s Brett Saunders who was 1:51.39 for 2nd. Even on butterfly, Johnson had the advantage on backstroke and freestyle, with Saunders throwing down a very fast breaststroke split of 32.25 before Johnson ran him down for the win. Saunders Conrad teammate Ryan Pirrung was 3rd in 1:59.87.
Salesianum’s Jack Portmann claimed the win in the 50 free, touching in 21.40. Alec Giakas of Archmere was close behind for 2nd in 21.57, and Adam Dias of Carter-Wilmington was 3rd in 22.06.
Jack Kidwell picked up the win for Conrad in the 1-meter dive, scoring 393.20. Tyheir Williams of Glasgow was 2nd with 329.25, and Brendan Newberry of A.I. duPont was 3rd with 322.20.
Tatnall’s David Crossland used a fast opening 50 to take the win in the 100 fly, touching in 48.65. Jacob Johnson closed fast, but couldn’t catch Crossland ultimately finishing in 2nd in 48.89. Connor Sweeney was 3rd in 50.84.
Jack Portmann completed the sweep of the sprint free events, as he took the 100 free in a time of 46.97. Jerry Veneris was 2nd in 47.33, and Alec Giakas finished 3rd in 48.26.
Salesianum continued to swim well as Matt Otto won big in the 500 free in 4:32.79, well ahead of 2nd place Bryce Ciecko of Mt.Pleasant who went 4:38.10, and Alec Menzer who was 4:43.68 for 3rd.
Salesianum made a statement with a very impressive win in the 200 free relay, touching 1.50 seconds ahead of 2nd place Concord. Salesianum’s time of 1:28.27 was highlighted by a 20.74 anchor by Jack Portmann. Concord was 1:29.77 for 2nd, and St.Mark’s was 3rd in 1:31.05.
David Crossland picked up his second win of the meet in the 100 back, touching in 48.24, a new championship record. That swim took down his own previous record set last year of 49.32 by over a second. 2nd place Bryce Ciecko was well back in 52.81, and Jack Weeks of Cape Henlopen was 3rd in 52.85.
Matt Otto won his second event of the meet as well, taking the 100 bread easily in 55.20. Brett Saunders was 2nd in 57.93, and Adam Dias was 3rd in 59.03.
After a 9th place finish in the 200 free relay, Charter-Wilmington came back in the 400 free relay winning in a time of 3:16.56. Concord finished 2nd in 3:18.23 and Delaware Military Academy was 3rd in 3:18.40. Charter-Wilmington and Concord both had fast anchor legs, with Connor Sweeney anchoring in 47.12 for Charter-Wilmington and Jerry Veneris going 46.68 for Concord.