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Falcon swimmers fly past Patriots
The Briar Woods Falcons swim teams earned decisive victories in a Dulles District meet with the host Park View Patriots Jan. 3 at Claude Moore Recreation Center.
The Briar Woods girls won 181-100 while the boys triumphed 203-74. The Falcon girls move to 6-0 while their male counterparts -- who had won just one meet in their entire history prior to this season -- are 5-1.
"One of the things that makes our team so good is that we have a lot of depth," Briar Woods coach Jonathan Radow said. "There's not really one swimmer who stands out above the rest."
The Falcons' depth made itself known on the results sheet, as 13 different Briar Woods swimmers captured firsts in individual events.
Among the boys, Tim Mittan took home two first-place finishes, winning the 200-yard individual medley by 16 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke by 1.4 seconds.
Mittan and Chris Farley teamed with Mo Ziegler and Ryan Faulkner to claim the 200-yard medley relay by 20 seconds, and with Nick Mason and Philip Mardock to win the 400-yard freestyle relay by 21 seconds.
Mason surged ahead of the field to touch the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle, landing 25 seconds ahead of teammate Alex Webb.
Mardock won the 100-yard butterfly, one second ahead of Ziegler. Faulkner landed first in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Farley nearly lapped the competition in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in 62 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, teammate Eric Guessford.
For the girls, Elise Guessford demonstrated her versatility by winning the 100-yard backstroke by 2.4 seconds and the 100-yard butterfly by 13 seconds.
She also contributed to a Falcon victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay, teaming with Alli Haufler, Simone Woodward and Mercedes McGann.
Haufler claimed the first spot in the 50-yard freestyle. Woodward took first for the 100-yard breaststroke.
Kelsey Atkinson won the 200-yard freestyle by 32 seconds.
The Patriots managed to claim the top spot in just three of the meet's 22 events, all on the girls' side.
Courtney Jones easily won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:22.06, 36 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Jones, along with Julia Chelar and Brittany Griffin, helped the Patriots to first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay.
Park View coach Emily Felker indicated that she had high hopes for Chelar, a freshman.
"If she continues to go at the rate I think she will, she's a contender for states," said Felker of Chelar, who participated in club swimming before joining the Patriots. "She has a background in swimming, so just having that helps her out a lot."
Park View senior Nicole Henke, who used to spend her winters on the Patriot basketball team, swam in her first competitive heats during the meet. She contributed two points to the Patriots' effort by finishing sixth in the 100-yard butterfly.
Both squads were experiencing attrition and did not have their full teams at the meet. The Patriots, who have the smallest roster in the district, were missing three swimmers for vacation and three others due to illness.
"That was the case tonight," Felker said. "And that ends up with a lot of empty lanes."
Radow had a similar temporary reduction of his available swimmers.
"It's winter break," he said. "I'm really proud of all the kids because a lot of them swam events they haven't swum before, and they did a great job."
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