Hargrave Aquatics claimed four very difficult first place finishes a the Virgnia Swimming’s 2005 Short Course Age Group Championships, held this past weekend March 17-20, 2005. 37 club teams and 716 athletes from across the state participated in the event. The meet was held at Radford University’s Dedmon Center.
Hargrave Aquatics placed 19th overall with 231 points. The team was 17th in the girl’s division, 143 points, and 23rd in the boy’s division, 88 points. It also took its largest team to the twice-annual meet with 12 athletes participating. One out of five Hargrave Aquatics athletes attended the meet from a team featuring community kids as young as five and Hargrave Cadets as old as 18. The age group meet was for those 14 and under, however.
Leading the charge for Hargrave were two swimmers. Lauren Hines, age 14 of Forest, VA, captured the top spots in three 13-14 Girl’s events. Racing tough opposition, Hines managed wins in her three signature events. She took first in the 50y Freestyle, 24.28, 100y Freestyle, 53.07, and 100y Backstroke, 59.83. She also placed 4th in the 200y Freestyle, 1:55.92, 5th in the 200y Backstroke, 2:13.05, and 13th in the 100y Butterfly, 1:02.33. She also improved her time in the 50y Freestyle by .22 seconds, an event she qualified to swim at Junior Nationals in Orlando.
Hargrave Aquatics Head Coach Scott Bowser will be Hines and another athlete, Hargrave Cadet Andrew Hetzner, to Orlando this week for National competition.
Jesse Conner, age 10 of Danville, VA, took first in the Boy’s 10 & Under 500y Freestyle, 5:52.81. While this was 4.95 seconds off his personal best time, it was still enough to win the event. Conner also suffered from illness during the course of meet, suffering a serious setback in his second best event, the 200y Freestyle. Despite his illness, Conner managed to take 5th in the 100y Freestyle, 1:04.98, 9th in the 100y Backstroke, 1:14.19, 12th in the 50y Backstroke, 35.60, and 16th in the 200y Individual Medley (IM), 2:47.07.
Conner’s first place finish in the 500y Freestyle qualifies him to join the Virginia Swimming Zone team, which will compete in Sewell, NJ, at this end of March. Zone competition consists of only the best age group swimmers in the Northeastern Atlantic states. It is a very fast, very elite meet and a large honor for those who qualify.
David West, age 10 of Altavista, VA, managed several great performances during his five qualified swims. In the 500y Freestyle, West took 6th behind Conner’s 1st place finish with a 6:14.15. This handed the Hargrave Boy’s team 33 points out of one event. West was also 11th in the 50y Backstroke, 35.49, 12th in the 200y Freestyle, 2:26.18, and 15th in the 100y Freestyle, 1:08.00.
Jessica Abbott, age 12 of Republican Grove, VA, managed to ‘make it back’ for four swims in evening finals sessions, improving her time significantly in the 200y Butterfly and Backstroke. Abbott was 9th in the 500y Freestyle, 5:37.46, 11th in the 200y Backstroke, 2:21.15, 14th in the 200y Butterfly, 2:28.21, and 15th in the 200y Freestyle, 2:08.78.
Jacob Conner, age 14 of Danville, VA, managed an 8th place finish in the 13-14 Boy’s 1650y Freestyle or mile swim with at 17.39.22 and earned 15th in the 500y Freestyle, 5:10.34.
Other athletes participating were Brittany Abbot, age 14 of Republican Grove, VA; Drew Bennett, age 14 of Danville, VA; Megan Bennett, age 12 of Danville, VA; Joseph Campbell, age 13 of Gretna, VA; Chelsea Law, age 12 of Gretna, VA; Jennifer Murphy, age 13 of Altavista, VA; and Jason Reese, age 12 of Gretna, VA.
Hargrave Aquatics is a USA Swimming club team associated with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The USOC governs Olympic competition for the U.S. The next tryout period of the team will occur mid-April.
