The state Class 1 & 2 swim tournament, which was scheduled for today, has been postponed until February 18 due to an anticipated snow storm this week. The Virginia High School League made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Glenvar girls are the defending state champions in Class 1 & 2 and the Highlanders are making waves again with a Region C championship last week at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. A total of 22 Swimming Highlanders took to the water as the girls repeated as champions, scoring 144 points to 92 for second place Radford and 71 by George Wythe with 71 among the nine schools competing. The GHS boys team scored 49 points and finished fourth.
The girls qualified 11 individual swims and all three relays for the State Championship. The boys qualified all three relays and one individual swim. Overall the Highlanders set 28 personal records and one school record on the night.
The boys medley relay team of Derrick Hall, Zander Hoanaker, Cooper Campbell and Colvin Delano got the meet started in the 200 Medley Relay, finishing 4th and getting the automatic entry to the state championship. The girls’ team of Reese Dunkenberger, Isabelle Pope, Adrianna Hall and Carly Wilkes finished second and head to states.
Adrianna Hall finished 3rd in a tightly contested 200 freestyle getting a state qualifier. Teammates Natalie McMahon and Delaney Eller both set personal records, finishing 5th and 6th and narrowly missing a state finish but scoring valuable points for the Highlanders.
Cooper Campbell set a personal record in the 200 Individual Medley to finish 4th. He qualifies to swim the event at states. Wilkes also set a personal record in the event and will represent the girls team at the state championship. Isabelle Pope, Macy Westland and Brooklyn Woolwine all set personal records in the 200 IM on the night.
Claire Griffith, the 2020 state champion, took off at the horn and never looked back, setting a new school record in the 50 Yard freestyle at 24.99 seconds. She won the event by over two seconds. Eller also swam a personal record time finishing third. Both will swim at states.
Two time state champion Reese Dunkenberger rolled to a victory in the 100 yard freestyle, swimming her best time of the season, and 2020 state runner-up Griffith finished second on the night. Both go to states again.
Hall was 2nd in the 500 freestyle and will swim the event for her second year at states. Freshman Natalie McMahon set a personal record finishing 4th and will swim the event at states as well.
The boys 200 freestyle relay team of Hall, Delano, Hoanaker and Campbell finished 4th and advance to states. The girl’s team of Eller, Pope, McMahon and Dunkenberger won the girls 200 freestyle relay after the defending state champion George Wythe team was disqualified for an early start. The girls also advance.
Dunkenberger blew away the competition in the 100 backstroke, winning by more than four seconds. Reese will head to states where she was the 2019 and 2020 runner-up.
The race of the night was the girls 100 breaststroke. Pope and Wilkes swam side by side the entire race. Isabelle’s arms were just a little longer as she touched the wall .18 seconds faster. Both will advance to states to represent the Highlanders.
The boys 400 freestyle relay team of Hoanaker, Jacob Hall, Tucker Henderson and Derrick Hall finished 2nd and head to states. The girls’ team of Eller, Wilkes, McMahon and Hall won the event and also head to the state championship.
“The entire team worked hard and faced a ton of obstacles in this COVID-19 shortened season,” said coach Shannon Hall. “I can’t say enough about their preparation and focus. This is a special group of young men and women in and out of the pool. “