By Marisha Goldhamer
CHANTILLY, VA-The South Riding Stingrays won a closely fought swim meet on June 22, topping Alexandria’s Chinquapin Wahoos 247 to 204 points.
The Wahoos, the only public team in the Colonial Swim League, opened the meet with a decisive win in the mixed 5-18 200-meter medley relay. Alex Guevara took the lead in the backstroke leg and the Stingrays were never able to catch up as Micaela Zuniga, Jolan Foronda and Madison Forde closed the race in 2 minutes 24.76 seconds.
In addition to relays, swimmers can compete in a maximum of three individual point earning races. Wahoos Bennett Sherry and Karon Moten both topped all of their events. For the Stingrays 8 and under swimmer Riley Clevenger also took home three first place ribbons.
Sherry and Max Kessler-Gowell locked the Stingrays 9-10 boys out from the top spot on the podium. Sherry won the 50-meter freestyle in 35.78 seconds, 50-meter backstroke in 41.33 seconds while Kessler-Gowell took the 25-meter butterfly in 18.18 seconds.
In the 50-meter breaststroke, just 0.19 seconds separated Sherry and his teammate Chase Conjura as he won in 40.76 seconds. Conjura also grabbed a point for third in the 25-meter butterfly (20.56 seconds) before teaming up with Sherry, Kessler-Gowell and Maxim Postow to win the 100-meter medley relay in 1 minute 18.81 seconds.
Moten turned in a dominant win in the 11-12 boys 50-meter freestyle, beating Stingray Sian Kang by 3.2 seconds in 31.01 seconds. He won the 50-meter backstroke in 33.37 seconds and edged Ryan Lyden by just 0.03 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly race with a time of 33.37 seconds.
Swimmers with two race wins included Stingrays Liam Markey, Timothy Song, Aiden Kim, Mollie Thompson and Savannah Penland and Wahoos Zuniga and Foronda.
Zuniga edged Stingray Ellie Dobish by 0.8 seconds in the 11-12 girls 50-meter freestyle and scored a comfortable 2.18 second win in the 50-meter butterfly (36.71 seconds). She also touched second in the 50-meter backstroke in 41.58 seconds.
The 11-12 girls went 1-2 in the 50-meter breaststroke with Freya Montes de Oca winning in 44.65 seconds ahead of Isabel Martorana (48.75 seconds).
Montes de Oca then teamed with Zuniga, Eloise Sumner and Clara Hagemann to win the medley relay in 2 minutes 44.93 seconds.
Foronda was instrumental in the Wahoos 15-18 boys keeping Stingrays out of the top two spots on the podium. He won the 50-meter breaststroke in 32.24 seconds ahead of Jonathan Ramsdell (33.16 seconds) and topped the 50-meter butterfly in 28.54 seconds with Blake Conjura second (29.15 seconds).
Ramsdell won the 50-meter backstroke in 31.45 seconds, just 0.45 seconds ahead of Bodie Lauinger, while Lauinger out touched Conjura to win the 50-meter freestyle in 26.33 seconds.
Foronda, Ramsdell, Conjura and Lauinger closed the meet with a 1 minute 58:59 second win in the 200-meter medley relay.
Three additional Wahoos picked up points for race wins.
In the closest race of the day, Grace Whitmer won the girls 13-14 50-meter freestyle. She hit the wall in 31.77 seconds, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Stingray Logan Noyes.
Ryan Shaw topped the girls 9-10 50-meter freestyle in 41.76 seconds – 0.95 seconds separating her from third-place Wahoo Winnie Cloninger (42.71 seconds).
Sophie Wharton also factored for the 9-10 Wahoo girls with a 53.34 second win in the 50-meter breaststroke ahead of Stingray Savannah Penland (56.45 seconds) and Wahoo Charlotte Reyna (58.81 seconds).
In a nailbiter of a relay, Forde, Wharton, Cloninger and Shaw combined to win the 100-meter medley in 1 minute 31.42 seconds, just 0.54 seconds ahead of the Stingrays.
The Wahoos will travel to face the Ashburn Farms Barracudas on June 29.
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