Bishop Ireton's Cardinals, shown here at City championships, swam in one of the area's most competitive meets prior to the VISAA state championships coming up.
The Bishop Ireton Swim and Dive team made their presence known at the WMPSSDL Championship meet this past weekend in Takoma Park, Maryland. The boys and girls teams were scored separately and both girls and boys finished in the top half of the field. The women finished 8th out of 18 teams and the men 9th out of 18 teams.
The team had great success in both individual and relay events. The two top relay finishes were by the men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Michael Ryan Clark, Kevin Grant, Andrew Crandall and Ben Gorski which finished 5th overall and the women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Emi Quinn, Kelly Palmer, Hayley Snell and Maddie Zeigler which finished 6th overall. This women’s relay team also swam in the 200 medley relay and placed 8th. The third women’s relay team of Catherine Kennedy, Tori Camardella, Eileen Louison and Alex Branham had a great race and finished in 13th place.
Two other men’s relay teams competed and the boys 200 medley team of Michael Ryan clark, Ben Gorski, Andrew Crandall and Kevin Grant finished 8th in that event. The final men’s relay team of Andrew Crandall, Carl Smearman, Giovanni Salvatori and Rob Mejia had an impressive swim in the 400 freestyle relay and earned 12th place in the finals.
In addition, Bishop Ireton swam more relay teams that also turned in great times. Swimmers who made up these relays and who are not mentioned above are: Caitlin Lucas, Margaret Gray, Kaitlin Nguyen, Juliana Sampaio, Kevin Abbed, Vince Mule’, Max Becker, Jimmy Grant, Cory Conway, and Tommy Corridon.
Beside the great relay swims, there were many noteworthy individual swims. On the girls’ side, junior Kelly Palmer finished 6th in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle. Freshman Hayley Snell finished 8thi n the 50 freestyle and 10th in the 100 backstroke. Senior Maddie Zeigler finished 8th in the 100 backstroke and sophomore Alex Branham finished 9th in women’s diving. Junior Emi Quinn placed 12th in both the 50 free and 100 back and sophomore Catherine Kennedy made her first high school swimming finals appearance and finished 16th in the 100 breaststroke.
On the boys’ side, senior Michael Ryan Clark finished 11th in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 backstroke. Junior Kevin Grant placed 14th in both the 50 and 100 freestyle and freshman Ben Gorski made his high school finals debut and finished 16th in the 200 freestyle.
Parents and supporters of Ireton swimming made an impact as well. “A big thanks must be extended to the BI parents who volunteered at the meet. Ireton parents stocked and ran the hospitality room for the meet officials and volunteers, more timers than any other school, according to the team officials who offered a hearty, Thanks to all of you!” for the strong support.
The Cardinals will participate in the prestigious Metros Championship meet this coming weekend in Germantown, Md.
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