South River High School swimmer Justin Vagts is congratulated after his 200-yard free relay team pulls out a narrow victory at Friday's county quad meet. The team consisted of Cort Jones, Marc Morelli, Andrew Stevens and Vagts and they finished in 1:38.25.
Senior Lauren Armstrong took first in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 50 free to lift the Broadneck High School girls swim team (160 points) to a victory over Annapolis, Severna Park and South River in a Anne Arundel County quad meet last night at the Arundel Olympic Swim Center.
The Bruins improved to a perfect 14-0 on the season with the county championships scheduled for next week. South River finished with 146 points followed by Severna Park (145) and Annapolis (60).
"The caliber of swimming was very high at this meet," said Broadneck coach Colleen Winans, whose girls team also got a solid performance from freshman Whitney Avers (1st in 100 back and 3rd in 50 free).
Since there were four teams in competition -- regular-season meets usually involve three teams -- the meet was based on invitational scoring.
"Each team got at least one first-place finish, which is amazing," Winans said. "It was a very competitive meet."
Brianna Griffin won the 100 breast to pace the South River girls, who also got the aide of numerous second- and third-place finishers.
"One of our top girls went down with an injury after the first relay so to still finish second was awesome," said South River coach John Wagner, who was referring to Ashley Mascari (shoulder).
Severna Park had six first-place finishers but missed out on a second-place team finish by one point to the Seahawks. Sophomore sisters Emily Lloyd (200 free, 50 free) and Sarah Lloyd (200 IM and 100 fly) paced the Falcons.
Nicole Kliewer's third-place showing in the 500 free paced the Panthers.
On the boys side, Broadneck's Eric Robichaud, Taylor Smith, Doug McWhorter and Ryan Barber won the boys 200 medley relay while McWhorter contributed individual wins in the 50 free and the 100 fly. Smith took home top honors in the 100 breast.
But a South River contingent of Cort Jones, Josh Vagts, Justin Vagts and Joe Vogel (400 free relay) was just enough to forge a tie with the Bruins.
Broadneck and the Seahawks finished in a first-place tie (147 points), followed by Annapolis with 117 and Severna Park at 107.
"Ties are so rare in this sport," said Wagner, whose team also got first-place individual efforts from Justin Vagts (200 free) and Vogel (200 IM and 500 free). "The guys hung tough and gave 100 percent."
Charlie Melesh continued his dominance in the 100 back to lead Annapolis to a third-place team finish. The Panthers also posted a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, which consisted of Melesh, Nicolas Wentworth, Dylan Davis and Thomas Dax.
BOYS RESULTS
South River, Broadneck 147; Annapolis 117; Severna Park 107200 medley relay - Broadneck (Robichaud, Smith, McWhorter, Barber) 1:47.12; 200 free - Ju. Vagts (SR) 1:48.06; 200 IM - Vogel (SR) 2:03.34; 50 free - McWhorter (BN) 0:23.12; 100 butterfly - McWhorter (BN) 0:54.73; 100 free - Jones (SR) 0:50.68; 500 free - Vogel (SR) 4:52.91; 200 free relay - South River (Jones, Morelli, Stevens, Ju. Vagts) 1:38.25; 100 backstroke - Melesh (AN) 0:56.03; 100 breast - Smith (BN) 1:06.50; 400 free relay - South River (Jones, Jo. Vagts, Vogel, Ju. Vagts ) 3:24.12.
GIRLS RESULTS
Broadneck 160; South River 146; Severna Park 145; Annapolis 60200 medley relay - Severna Park (Cropper, Beigel, S. Lloyd, E. Lloyd) 1:47.12; 200 free - E. Lloyd (SP) 1:55.65; 200 IM - S. Lloyd (SP) 2:12.28; 50 free - E. Lloyd (SP) 0:24.3; 100 butterfly - S. Lloyd (SP) 0:54.46; 100 free - Young (BN) 0:57.82; 500 free - Avers (BN) 5:24.43; 200 free relay - Severna Park (Kline, Cropper, Beigel, S. Lloyd) 1:46.15; 100 backstroke - Armstrong (BN) 1:02.43; 100 breast - Griffin (SR) 1:11.18; 400 free relay - Broadneck (Avers, Felton, Young, Armstrong) 3:51.