Senior Liz Collins wins WMPSSDL title as Cards finish strong in area swimming

The Cardinals are swimming their best times as the state, Metros loom at season's end

It was another great weekend for BI Swim and Dive team whose members competed in the Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swim and Dive League championship meet over a four day period at several local pools. This meet is very large and the competition is fierce with some of the fastest times turned in so far this year in the Metro area.

The BI girls finished 6th and the boys 10th in a field of 27 teams. Senior Captain and new League Champion, Liz Collins won first place in the 100 breaststroke with the time of 1:08.02. Liz also took 5th place in the 100 fly.

The diving competition was first on Wednesday. Under the coaching of Anita O’Quinn, the divers performed well, earning many points for the team. Elizabeth Schafermeier was the top women’s diving competitor (12th) with Alex Braham following closely with a 13th place finish. Cameron Wallace placed highest for BI in the men’s diving competition.

There were many greatperformances in the meet including those by Brian McGinty (14th 100 breaststroke), Giovonni Salvatori (1.14 sec time drop in 100 back), Kelly Palmer (6th in 200 free and 7th in 500 free), Catherine Kennedy (4.15 sec time drop in the 100 backstroke), Zach DeForge (2 sec time drop in 100 breaststroke), Allison Wullf (10th place in 100 breaststroke), Eileen Louison (1.76 time drop in 100 free), Tommy Reichelt (20 sec. time drop in the 500 free), Loren Gant (8 sec time drop in the 500 free), Saskia Kroesen (7th in 50 free and 6th in 100 free), and Maddie Zeigler (11th in 100 back and 16th in 50 free).

Other noteworthy races were turned in by Laura Becht (50 free) and Andrew Crandall (50 and 100 free) who both qualified for individual events in the upcoming state chamionship meet with their fast swims at this meet.

All of the BI relays (3 men’s and 3 women’s) made it to finals and each one dropped time and placed well. The relay finishes were:

Women’s 200 Medley: 4th place (Maddy Zeigler, Liz Collins, Saskia Kroesen, and Laura Becht
Men’s 200 Medley: 10th place (Michael Ryan Clark, Brian McGinty, Kevin Grant, and Andrew Crandall)
Women’s 200 Freestyle: 5th place (Maddie Zeigler, Laura Becht, Saskia Kroesen and Allison Wulff)
Men’s 200 Freestyle: 6th place (Michael Ryan Clark, Ryan Dougherty, Kevin Grant and Andrew Crandall)
Women’s 400 Freestyle: 5th place (Kelly Palmer, Laura Becht, Allison Wulff, and Liz Collins)
Men’s 400 Freestyle: 6th place ( MIchael Ryan Clarlk, Ryan Dougherty, Kevin Grant and Brian McGinty)

The team will continue to train for their next competition which is the Virginia State Independent School Championship meet which will be held February 18-20, 2011, in Christiansburg, Va.