The girls of Patrick Henry swept the relays and won the opening four events to earn the 2016 Virginia state title in Class 5A, while the Menchville boys won both 200-yard relays and got four wins from Alex Moore for their own title.
Boys Meet
Menchville’s Alex Moore went four-for-four on state titles to lead his team to the 5A state title over Princess Anne.
Moore won the 50 free and 100 free individually, going 20.96 and 45.83, respectively. In both races, he was just two tenths off of Harrison Pierce class 5A state records.
Moore also had the best anchor leg on the 200 medley relay, splitting 20.17 to cap off a 1:35.23 victory for Menchville. Jordan Duncan, Griffen Younger and Kade Younger joined him on that relay, with Duncan putting up the field’s best backstroke split at 24.41 and Kade Younger the top fly split at 23.21.
In the 200 free relay, Moore was almost identical on his anchor split, leading all swimmers at 20.18. State 50 free runner-up Niko Nemceff led off in 21.89 and Kade Younger and Duncan rounded out the 1:26.52 relay.
Patrick Henry senior Ted Schubert and Tuscarora senior Simon Shi also doubled up on wins. Schubert, a top-20 recruit nationally who will swim for the Virginia Cavaliers next season, went 49.15 to win the 100 fly and 49.86 to take the 100 backstroke title. Shi went 1:50.57 to win the 200 IM and 4:37.33 for the 500 free title.
Other event winners:
- Thomas Jefferson sophomore Jonathan Pollock took the 200 free, going 1:41.62.
- The meet’s only state record went to Ian Shelton in 1-meter diving. His 559.55 broke his own Class 5A record from last year.
- After taking second in the 200 IM, Princess Anne senior Daniel Arris won the 100 breaststroke in 57.67.
- Albemarie’s team of Jack Robbins, Caleb Smith, Nick Pease and Hogan Harper went 3:10.20 to win the 400 free relay, getting a 46.6 anchor leg from Harper.
Top 5 Teams:
- Menchville – 272
- Princess Anne – 245
- Albemarie – 201
- Thomas Jefferson – 178
- Hickory High – 163
Girls Meet
Patrick Henry High won the first four events and swept the relays en route to a dominant team effort on the girls side.
Freshman Caroline Kulp was central to the win, breaking two Class 5A state records individually and winning all four of her events.
Kulp was the first individual to win for Patrick Henry, taking the 200 free in 1:49.56. That took well over two seconds off the existing 5A state record set last year.
Kulp would also win the 500 free in 4:49.14, breaking the 5A record by seven seconds this time.
Directly after that event, she provided the meet’s fastest anchor leg on the 200 free relay, going 23.33 and joining Whittney Hamilton, Cabell Whitlow and Taylor Summerlin to go 1:37.05.
In the meet’s final event, Kulp, Olivia Stanley, Shelby Stanley and Hamilton combined to go 3:30.56 in the 400 free relay, getting a 51.38 leadoff leg from Kulp to win the state title and break the 5A state record. Second-place Briar Woods High was also under the old record in 3:32.90, with Camryn Barry anchoring in 51.83.
Hamilton also won individually for Patrick Henry, going 23.63 to win the 50 free in a new 5A state record, capping off a meet-opening run of four straight event wins for Patrick Henry. That run started with the 200 medley relay, where Whitlow, Summerlin and the Stanley sisters went 1:47.37 to take the win. In between Kulp’s 200 free and Hamilton’s 50 free was a Whitlow win in the 200 IM at 2:03.68.
Other event winners:
- Lee-Davis junior Molly Sheffield took the 100 fly in 55.19, just missing her state record from a year ago.
- Briar Woods’ Barry won the 100 free in 51.20, beating out defending champ Olivia Fisher of Atlee. Fisher would go on to win the 100 breaststroke in a new 5A state record time of 1:03.50.
- Potomac Falls freshman Charlotte Fieeiki won the 100 back, going 56.56 and just missing the two-year-old 5A state record.
- Thomas Jefferson’s Gloria Chen won the diving event with a score of 343.75.
Top 5 Teams:
- Patrick Henry – 328
- Briar Woods – 223
- Albemarie – 195
- Menchville – 184
- T-5 Falls Church – 146
- T-5 Lee-Davis – 146