SMAC swimmers shine at state meet

Although the swimmers from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference may have found the going considerably tougher in the Maryland 4A/3A state swim championships on Saturday morning at the University of Maryland, those from the smaller schools fared much better in the evening session.

On the heels of the seeing the school’s girls indoor track team garner the 3A state title three days earlier, the Northern High School girls swim team attained 307 points to finish well clear of runner-up Damascus (257), while La Plata (187) finished fourth in a very good showing. While three seniors may have led the way for Northern on Saturday, a pair of underclassmen also contributed to the Patriots’ first state swim title.

Northern started the meet in style as junior Carly Damon, senior Lyla Smith, freshman Cedar Gallaudet and senior Aspen Gallaudet combined to take the 200 medley relay (1:50.14). Later Cedar Gallaudet, senior Mary Kathryn Stum, Smith and Aspen Gallaudet combined to take the 200 free relay (1:39.43) and later Damon, sophomore Aubrey Randolph, freshman Lily Smith and Stum combined to take second in the 400 free relay (3:47.17) to seal the overall team title.

“It really just seems so surreal,” said Stum, who has already signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and athletic prowess at Randolph-Macon. “We’re really like a big family. Most of us came up swimming together at Kings Landing. If you had told me three years that we would win the state title my senior year I would have never believed you.”

Northern’s girls won two relays and freshman Cedar Gallaudet won the 100 butterfly (59.00), while Damon took second in both the 200 IM and the 500 free, while Aspen Gallaudet was second in the 100 back and third in the 50 free. Lyla Smith was second in the 100 breast and Stum was third in the 100 back.

La Plata’s boys accumulated 228 points to finish third overall as Poolesville (325) won that title handily, while the La Plata girls finished fourth while earning 187 points while Huntingtown (58) was 12th. Huntingtown’s boys took fifth with 129.5 points, three spots ahead of Calvert (85) with Northern (59) in 12th.

La Plata, however, had bragging rights in regards to gold medals on Saturday. Senior Addy Donnick took both the 100 free (51.08) and 100 back (56.55) to cap an undefeated high school career in individual events. Warriors’ junior Gavin Abelende also recorded a pair of first-place finishes, taking both the 50 free (20.79) and the 100 free (46.04) easily while junior teammate Jadyn Woolsey won the 50 free (23.88) and was third in the 100 fly.

“This whole day was really bittersweet,” said Donnick, who has already signed her National Letter of Intent to attend the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. “I was really focused on winning my two events and finishing my high school career undefeated in individual events. But I’m really going to miss all of my teammates and [coach] Mary Jane [Cupples]. A lot of us have been swimming together for a long time even before high school at Hawthorne [Country Club].”

Abelende won two individual events and anchored the Warriors’ triumphant 200 free relay (1:27.84) that led with junior Clinton Cupples, freshman Jackson Donnick and senior Mario Curtis. Cupples was also second in the 100 fly (49.93) and fourth in the 200 IM, while Landon Abelende was fourth in the 500 free.

Calvert senior Drew Lynch was second in the 200 free (1:44.44) and third in the 100 breast. Sophomore teammate Jacob Strain was fourth in the 100 breast and sixth in the 200 IM. Huntingtown senior Thomas Biehn was sixth in both the 50 free and 100 fly, while Hurricanes’ freshman Eliana Quaresma was sixth in the 100 fly and Patuxent junior Kennedy Sloan was seventh in that event.

A trio of SMAC swim teams represented the conference in the 4A/3A session earlier that day at Maryland, but of them only Leonardtown collected any points. In a meet again dominated by the Montgomery County squads, Leonardtown (94) finished 10th behind all Montgomery County teams while the Raiders’ boys (64) placed 11th behind all Montgomery schools.

Leonardtown junior Madeline Chen placed 11th in the girls’ 100 free (53.48), while Raiders’ sophomore Ava Keefer finished 11th in the girls’ 500 free (5:18.13) and junior Ashlyn Zeier was 12th in the 10 back (1:02.01). Leonardtown senior Samuel Walls placed 10th in the boys’ 500 free (4:48.79) and Ryan Ludlow was 13th in the 100 breast (1:01.91).