The Stonegate Swimmers were bridesmaids again and Hidden Valley was 10th last weekend when Stonegate finished second to Hunting Hills in the 14 team City-County swim meet.

The highlight event of the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association season was held at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center on Friday and Saturday.

Hunting Hills won the meet for the fifth straight year, and more often than not the Gators have been second. Stonegate was the last team other than Hunting Hills to win an RVAA title. The Gators won in 2011 and 2012, ending a seven year run by the Hound Dogs, who have now won 12 of the last 14 titles.

This year the Gators were only 440.5 points behind Hunting Hills. The team swam their best and a majority of swimmers dropped times in their events. Standouts from Stonegate included the following.

On Friday,  Grace Breedlove (6),  dropped 12 seconds in her 25 yard backstroke to place her 5th in the silver division for 6 and unders.  Whitt Parrish (8), lead the way for the Stonegate Gators in the 7-8 Mens 25 yard Freestyle. He finished 1st in the silver division, .9 seconds away from the gold division.

In the 9-10 Men’s 50 yard freestyle, Stonegate Gators had 3 finishers in the gold division. Joren Poush (10) won the event with a 29.03. Connor Wilkes (10) finished 6th place with a time of 31.03. New comer to the Stonegate Swim Team, Daniel Maloney, placed 19th with a time of 39.26.

In the Fridays afternoon session, Chris Tucker won and set two new meet records in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Individual Medley for the 60-69 age group.

In the 13-14 age group, Ellyn Anama (14) finished 2nd in the Womens 50 yard Backstroke. Logan DeWalt (14) and Boone Fleenor (13) finished 1st and 2nd in the Mens 50 yard Freestyle.

On Saturday Lin Daniel III (6) was Stonegate’s only 6 & under swimmer to compete on the second day of competition. Daniel placed 6th in the gold division for the 6 & under Mens 25 yard butterfly.

Isaac Snow (8) finished 1st silver for the 7-8 Men’s 25 yard breaststroke. Snow less than a second away from the gold division. Eva Dalaski (10), finished 8th silver in the 9-10 Women’s 100 yard freestyle bringing in 33 points for Stonegate.

Blake Shaner (11), dropped 4 seconds in his 50 yard butterfly placing him 6th in the silver division for the 11-12 Men’s 50 yard butterfly.

Anna Clare Fleenor (15) finished 2nd gold in the Women’s 15-16 50 yard breststroke, giving Stonegate 59 points.  Kelsey Habeeb (19) had a spectacular finish in the Women’s 19-24 100 yard freestyle. Habeeb dropped 2 seconds to place her first in the silver division

Hidden Valley made a strong showing as well. The Blue Wave finished first in Division 4 and will be moving up to Division 3 next season.  Many swimmers swam best times and several medaled in their events.

In the 6 and under age group, Madison Gee earned a second place Gold medal in her 25 Back and a third place Silver medal in the 25 Free.  Natalie Thorell earned a second place Bronze medal in the 25 Back and Miller Weld earned a third place Bronze medal in the 25 Back.

Aliese Viar earned a first place Gold medal in the 9-10 girls 50 Breastroke. Sydney Bobo earned a second place Silver medal in the 11-12 girls 100 IM and a third place Silver medal in the 50 Fly.

Mary Grace Atkins earned a third place Gold medal in the 11-12 girls 50 Breastroke. Daniel Byrnes earned two first place Gold medals in the 13-14 boys 50 Fly and 100 Free.  He also earned two second place Gold medals in the 50 Back and 100 IM.

Drew Smith earned four first place Bronze medals in the 50 Back, 50 Fly, 50 Free, and the 100 Free in the 17-18 Division. Aidan Finucane earned two third place Gold medals in the 50 Free and 100 Free for 17-18 men.

Trey Lowe earned a first place Gold medal in the 17-18 mens 100 IM and four second place Gold medals in the 50 Fly, 50 Free, 50 Breastroke, and 100 Free. Mary Catherine Yeakel earned a second place Gold medal in the womens 25-39 100 Free and a third place Gold in the 100 IM.

Heather Young earned two first place Bronze medals in the 25-39 womens 50 Free and 100 IM.  She also earned a second place Bronze medal in the 50 Back and a third place Bronze medal in the 50 Fly. Justin Young earned a first place Silver medal in the mens 25-39 100 Free and two third place Silver medals in the 50 Back and 50 Breast.

Kathleen Thorell earned a first place Gold medal in the womens 40-49 50 Breastroke and two second place Gold medals in the 50 Fly and 100 IM.  She also earned two third place Gold medals in the 50 Free and 100 Free.

Whitney Smith earned a second place Gold medal in the mens 50-59 50 Fly and two third place Gold medals in the mens 100 IM and 100 Free.

The meet ended the RVAA season.

Ethan Dalaski(top) of Stonegate and Hope Smith(bottom) of Hidden Valley compete in last weekend’s City-County swim meet in Christiansburg. PHOTOS BY KYMN DAVIDSON-HAMLEY