By Brian Hoffman
The Stonegate Swim Club swam to the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association championship last weekend at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The Gators combined an undefeated Monday Night season with a win in the Duane Whitenack City-County meet to rule the RVAA in 2022.
The Gators finished the two-day City-County meet with 17,588.5 points to outswim second place Olympic Park, who had 15,185. Hunting Hills, who had been the top dog in the RVAA in recent years, finished third. The Hound Dogs had 14,117.5.
There were a dozen teams competing in this year’s City-County meet. The Hidden Valley Country Club, whose numbers have dwindled in recent years, was 12th with 2,399 points.
Stonegate had some dominating performances, including five first golds by Brandon Ress in the 25-39 men’s division. Brandon won the 50 Backstroke, 50 Freestyle, 50 Breaststroke, 100 Freestyle and 100 Individual Medley.
Riley Handy won four first golds in the boys’ 11-12 division, taking the 50 Free, 50 Fly, 50 Breast and 100 IM. Riley also took a second gold in the 100 Free.
Chris Tucker won three first golds in the men’s 60-69 division with wins in the 50 Back, 50 Free and 100 Free. Other Gators who took first gold included Stephen Cromer in the 40-49 men’s 50 Back, Ellyn Anama in the women’s 19-24 50 Free, Logan DeWalt in the men’s 19-24 50 Breast, Scott Lear in the men’s 50-59 50 Breast and Mike Bateman in the boys’ 11-12 100 Free. Bateman also took second gold in the 50 Back and third gold in the 100 IM.
Some other performances that helped put Stonegate over the top included a third gold in the six-and-under 25 Fly by Logan Cromer, a second gold in the 50 Free and a fourth in the 25 Free in the 7-8 class by Izzy Supanich, a fourth gold in the 9-10 50 Free and a fifth in the 50 Back by Brooklyn Shelton and a first silver in the six-and-under 25 Fly by River Whitt.
For Hidden Valley, Caleb Hagadorn swam to three first golds in the 17-18 men’s division, winning the 50 Back, 50 Fly and 100 Free. Micah Lowe won first gold in both the 50 Back and 100 IM in the men’s 19-24 division.
