On paper, the Chantilly Chargers had calculated they could win their first boys region swimming and diving championship by a close score.
In reality, and with a little help, the squad won comfortably.
The Chargers, second the past two seasons, won the 6D North Region high-school title Saturday (Feb. 15) with a point total of 404. The defending champion Langley Saxons were second with 345 and the Oakton Cougars third with 299.
“We set the stage early, had good swims all night, kept building on our success in each race and everything worked out well for us,” Chantilly coach James MacKenzie told FFXnow. “We were on fire all night and did exactly what we had to do.”
Prior to the finals, the Chantilly coaches scored the meet and estimated the Chargers would win by somewhere between one point and slightly more than a dozen. The end result was a 59-point margin.
Langley would have been 30 points closer had its 200 medley relay not been disqualified in the first race of the meet. That relay would have finished second to Chantilly’s winning time of 1:31.70.
“Certainly Langley’s disqualification gave us more of a cushion,” MacKenzie said.
Chantilly won all three relays and had five individual first-place winners, with three more runner-up finishes.
The Chargers were led by double winner Kyle Li in the 200 individual medley (1:50.25) and 100 breaststroke (55.67). Blake Madsen won the 500 freestyle (4:42.29) and was second in the IM, and Yaron Li won the 100 free (45.13) and was second in the 50 free.
The team’s other winner was in diving. Ivor Brown finished first with a 533 point total, with Paxton Martinez fifth, Mason Waterfield 10th and Edward Moore 11th.
Back to swimming, Chantilly’s Ben Farello was second in the 200 free and IM, Ben Clabeauz was fourth in the 100 and 50 free races, and Jason Xin was fifth in the back and sixth in the fly.
Aiden Wong was 12th in the 100 free and 13th in the 200 free, Ben Matyas was 13th in the fly and 15th in the 200 free, Nate Murphy (50 free) and Lou Murphy (fly) each placed 11th, Adam Aly was 14th in the 50 free and Isaiah Wong was 16th in the IM.
Xin, Madsen, Clabeaux and Kyle Li made up the medley relay. The winning 200 free relay consisted of Farello, Lyle Li, Yaron Li and Nate Murphy. The first-place 400 free relay had swimmers Madsen, Farello, Clabeaux and Yarin Li.
“We had big contributions from a lot of swimmers and divers,” MacKenzie said.
Langley was led by double winner Hunter Zipperer in the 50 free (20.37) and fly (49.46). Zipperer also swam on the second-place 200 free relay and was on the medley relay.
Also for Langley, Gavin Parris won the 200 free (1:40.14) and was second in the breast.
The 400 free relay was second and Max Thompson, Michael Zhou and Ethan Shin all had top finishes.
