Patriots point north for Group AAA meet

Ten boys swimmers from Albemarle will make the trip to George Mason, and they’ll have to be focused if they want to slay some of the giants they’re about to face.
The Northwest Region champions will face a slew of deep, talented Northern Virginia squads like Robinson and Oakton at the Group AAA meet this Saturday and Sunday at GMU’s Freedom Center, and while the Patriots stack up well, they’ll have to swim some of their finest races to have a shot at the title.
Seniors Roger Fan and Andrew Starr will lead the Patriots. Fan, and individual medley and butterfly specialists, and Andrew Starr, a 200 freestyle and backstroke swimmer, have been critical to Albemarle’s district and regional titles, helping lift the Patriots to Northwest title despite the threat of a tight regional matchup with Osborne Park.
“On paper that region meet was supposed to be close, and we were actually a little bit of an underdog,” said Albemarle coach Jake Shrum.
That was no matter for the Patriots. The relay teams dropped a lot of time and helped lift Albemarle to the Northwest title. The early lead from the relays propelled the Patriots in the rest of their races, including Starr who raced to nearly a lifetime best in his event.
As deep and versatile as the Patriots are — Shrum didn’t use the same dual meet lineup twice all season — the win wasn’t a huge surprise. Pulling off a shocker at states will be a taller task.
With 13 seniors on the team — the class dominates the roster of 10 swimmers headed to George Mason — there won’t be a lack of focus. The Patriots have benefited from strong leadership all year.
“When you have 13 seniors its almost hard for the leadership not to be there,” Shrum said. “Pretty much entire team was coming back.”
Sean Cudahy, Ian Joyce, Ryan McGhee, C.J. Trachta, Michael Bernardino, Jack McHugh, Josh Sachs and John Leonard will represent the Patriots along with Starr and Fan.
Albemarle will also take girls swimmers Katie Roddy and Holly Harper to Mason. Harper has a shot at being at least in the top 10 in the 100-backstroke. She comes in the 15th best time.
Divers Casey Kyriacopoulos and Jen Mileur will also participate in the state meet.
More from Region II track
Louisa County’s boys indoor track team piled up 185 points on Wednesday to take the Region II crown by a landslide. Western Albemarle finished second with 82 points, and Fluvanna County took third. Monticello and Charlottesville were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Lions took the top spot in six events and the 4x200 relay team of Corrinn Harris, Tyler Jackson, Gunnar Carroll and Dante Davis also claimed first place.
Louisa started off with strong performances in the field events as Andre Hunter (21-0), Harris and Chris Henry swept the top three spots in the long jump. Harris also won the high jump and triple jump.
Tyler Jackson recorded a personal-best for a first-place finish in the pole vault (13-9), and later won the 300 meters. He also finished second to Fluvanna County’s Jamal Spears in the 55-meter dash. Davis took first in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.69.
One of the highlights of the meet were Tyler Stutzman’s performances in the 1,600 and 1,000. The Western Albemarle senior, who is headed to Stanford, won both events and set a new facility record at Fork Union’s Estes Center in the mile with his time of 4:14.33.
Teammate Kyle Satterwhite earned a win in the 3,200 in a time of 9:37.66, while Adrian Sitler took first in the 500.
On the girls side, Western Albemarle captured the title, collecting 93 points to outdistance Louisa County, which garnered 77 points. Brentsville finished third, followed by Sherando. Fluvanna County and Monticello were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Claire Johnson led the Western girls with a victory in the 1,600-meter run and a third-place finish in the 1,000. Louisa’s Hannah Best took second in the 1,600. Johnson teamed with Hilary Wayland, Jordan Haws and Katie Farina to win the 4x800 relay.
Louisa County’s 4x400 relay team of Kia Christmas, Michelle Best, Nojai Veras and Imani Dugger won the title in 4:14.93, outdistancing Western.
The Warriors took the top four spots in the pole vault, led by Nicole Harding’s first-place finish.
Fluvanna County’s Precious Banks was a double winner, taking the top spots in the long jump and 500. Other notable performances included Orange County’s Ashontae Jackson, who won the 300-meter dash and was second behind Charlottesville’s Jessica Jordan in the 55-meter dash. Monticello senior Holly Rich won the 3,200 meters, followed by Best.