Virginia Swimming’s 2005 Long Course Summer Awards championship meet was a great opportunity for many Hargrave Aquatics athletes to excel. Summer Awards championship is actually two meets run together with separate awards for beginner and more accomplished swimmers. The competition remained tough, while still providing award opportunities for many athletes. Summer Awards ran July 15-16, 2005 at the Freedom Center in Manassas, Virginia.
Summer Awards is also one of two championship meets for the summer, and is the last meet to qualify for Virginia Swimming’s 2005 Long Course Age Group Championships being held this weekend at Hargrave, July 28-31, 2005. The meet is for athletes 14 and under.
“The team did an outstanding job representing themselves and their club in competition,” said Hargrave Aquatics’ Coach William Wiebking. “True to form, we started fast and we were getting faster as the meet went into its third day on Sunday. Sometimes, I think there is a delay for Hargrave swimmers to learn were their training has taken them. They swam great.”
Athletes were classified according to their entry times into the meet. Those athletes with a time faster than a certain cut were placed in the BB+ category for that event. Athletes that didn’t have a cut were placed in B/C competition for a specific event.
In faster BB+ competition, Hargrave excelled by winning four events outright at this level. Two of those claims went to one swimmer, CJ Olp. Olp, age 15 of Blairs, became the master of the meet’s sprint events by winning both the 50m and 100m Freestyles with personal best times of 27.68 and 1:01.92 respectively. The field hotly contested both swims, but Olp persevered with two well-executed finishes for both races. Olp also took second in the 1500m Freestyle, 20.24.96, and third in the 100m Breaststroke, 1:26.58.
Jason Reese, age 12 of Gretna, won the 100m Butterfly, 1:21.55, in a determined race for first. The race was a near flawless execution of both speed and skill in a very difficult stroke. It was his skill work that gave him a solid lead over the field with 25m to go. Reese also took second in three events. He was second in the 50m Freestyle, 31.84, 100m Freestyle, 1:11.40, and 400m Freestyle, 5:23.81.
Additionally, Reese picked-up three additional Age Group qualifying cuts in the 100m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle and 400m Freestyle. He previously earned a cut in the 200m Freestyle and is now prepared for this weekend’s race.
Jennifer Murphy, age 13 of Altavista, proved that she more than just one of the state’s top 13-14 Breaststrokers in winning the 50m Freestyle with an Age Group qualifying time of 30.47. Using her powerful legs and a fair bit of smarts, she managed to stun the field with an upset victory over the top seeded entries. She also took third place in the 100m Freestyle, 1:09.73.
Murphy will race her signature events, the 100m and 200m Breaststroke, at Age Group championships this coming weekend.
Martinsville athletes Sami Norman, age 11, and Hannah Patterson, age 10, also achieved Age Group qualifying cuts in two events. Norman beat the 1:11.09 cut for the 100m Freestyle with a 1:10.27 and third place. She also took second in the 200m Freestyle, 2:36.95, missing the cut by less than a second. Patterson dazzled the team with a solid race and a well-executed swim in the 100m Backstroke, 1:34.32. She improved her time an amazing 2.07 seconds from her previous best time set only two weeks prior. Patterson was also second in the 400m Freestyle, 6:19.89, and third in the 200m Individual Medley (IM), 3:23.86.
Hargrave had a number of other athletes place top three in the BB+ category. Brittany Abbot, age 15 of Republican Grove, claimed second in the 400m, 5:08.26, and 1500m, 20:06.89, Freestyle and third in the 800m Freestyle, 10:37.09. Morgan dePaulo, age14 of Chatham, took third behind Abbott in the 1500m Freestyle with a 21:46.62. Megan Bennett, age 13 of Danville, took second in the 1500m Freestyle, 21:08.51. Kristin Smith, age 10 and formerly of Chatham, took second in the 100m Breaststroke, 1:49.85. David West, age 11 of Altavista, scored a second in the 200m Freestyle, 2:35.91, and two third place finishes in the 100m Freestyle, 1:11.99, and 400m Freestyle, 5:27.88.
In B/C competition, several swimmers did a great job representing Hargrave. One of the highlights included a swim by Andrew Abbott, age 6 of Republican Grove. He took third in the 8&Under 50m Backstroke with a time of 58.81. And, the team welcomed Miranda Farris, age 13 of Gretna, to her first competition.
Hargrave Aquatics is a competitive swimming team serving both Hargrave Military Academy Cadets and the surrounding community. The team competes through USA Swimming, Inc. and Virginia Swimming, Inc, two not-for-profit agents of the United States Olympic Committee based in Colorado Spring, Colorado.
Other Top Ten Finishes in BB+ Competition:
Brittany Abbott, age 15 of Republican Grove: 4th 200m Freestyle, 2:27.01; 5th 200m Backstroke, 2:52.85; 6th 100m Freestyle, 1:09.32; 9th 100m Backstroke, 1:20.53.
Megan Bennett, age 13 of Danville: 5th 100m Backstroke, 1:24.87; 7th 100m Freestyle, 1:11.16; 7th 200m Freestyle, 2:30.70.
Joseph Campbell, age 13 of Gretna: 5th 400m Freestyle, 5:20.40; 5th 400m Freestyle, 5:22.40; 9th 100m Backstroke, 1:14.87.
Morgan dePaulo, age 14 of Chatham: 8th 100m Butterfly, 1:22.92.
Jennifer Murphy, age 13 of Altavista: 7th 100m Backstroke, 1:23.39; 8th 200m Freestyle, 2:30.86.
Sami Norman, age 11 of Martinsville: 4th 50m Butterfly, 36.3; 5th 100m Butterfly, 1:25.59; 6th 400m Freestyle, 5:34.92; 9th 50m Backstroke, 40.62; 9th 50m Freestyle, 32.95; 10th 200m IM, 3:02.57.
CJ Olp, age 15 of Blairs: 4th 400m Freestyle, 4:57.20; 5th 200m Breaststroke, 3:05.89; 8th 200m Freestyle, 2:20.12.
Hannah Patterson, age 10 of Martinsville: 4th 200m Freestyle, 3:02.50; 6th 100m Freestyle, 1:26.40; 7th 50m Breaststroke, 52.06; 7th 100m Butterfly, 1:53.05.
Jason Reese, age 12 of Gretna: 5th 50m Butterfly, 38.31; 7th 200m IM, 3:09.47; 6th 50m Backstroke, 42.27; 100m Backstroke, 1:25.73.
Kristin Smith, age 10 and formerly of Chatham: 6th 400m Freestyle, 6:36.48; 6th 50m Breaststroke, 51.36; 7th 200m Freestyle, 3:12.73; 7th 200m IM, 3:09.47; 8th 100m Freestyle, 1:28.36; 8th 100m Butterfly, 1:53.52.
David West, age 11 of Altavista: 5th 100m Backstroke, 1:24.39; 7th 50m Freestyle, 33.75.
Other Top Ten Finishes in the B/C Competition:
Andrew Abbott, age 6 of Republican Grove: 6th 50m Freestyle, 50.28; 7th 100m Freestyle, 1:54.41.
Megan Bennett, age 13 of Danville: 1st 800m Freestyle, 11:02.00.
Joseph Campbell, age 13 of Gretna: 1st 800m Freestyle, 10:55.93.
David Collins, age 11 of Danville: 7th 100m Butterfly, 1:54.20; 8th 50m Freestyle, 36.43.
Morgan dePaulo, age 14 of Chatham: 7th 100m Backstroke, 2:06.69.
Miranda Farris, age 13 of Gretna: 9th 100m Freestyle, 1:42.89.
Baleigh Hicks, age 8 of Chatham: 9th 50m Backstroke, 1:03.75.
Jennifer Murphy, age 13 of Altavista: 1st 400m Freestyle, 5:30.66; 2nd 400m IM, 6:03.18; 3rd 800m Freestyle, 11:16.99.
Rachel Patterson, age 8 of Martinsville: 5th 50m Backstroke, 56.13; 6th 50m Breaststroke, 59.01; 7th 100m Freestyle, 1:47.72; 7th 50m Freestyle, 47.25.
Katheryn Thompson, age 11 of Chatham: 9th 50m Freestyle, 40.66.
David West, age 11 of Altavista: 1st 50m Backstroke, 39.67.
Caroline Williams, age 8 of Martinsville: 10th 50m Breaststroke, 1:05.98.
Mary Kate Williams, age 10 of Martinsville: 6th 50m Breaststroke, 53.31.
