RSTA: 2015 Season Ends With Undefeated Co-Champions

On Saturday, Reston Swim Team Association’s Ridge Heights Sharks showed up across town to cheer on their longtime rivals, the Lake Audubon Barracudas.

The fate of the 2015 RSTA Championship was riding on the outcome of Lake Audubon’s meet with Lake Newport. If the Barracudas defeated the Lightning, the Sharks would reign as undisputed champs with an undefeated season.

With Lake Newport and Lake Audubon within six points of each other throughout the meet and tied halfway through the freestyle events, anything could happen. Two rain delays had swimmers and parents waiting it out in their cars.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be called off because of the weather,” said David Cordts, parent to two Barracuda swimmers. “The score was so close it would have gone down as a tie and Lake Newport needed a win, so we knew we’d keep swimming.”

Ultimately, Lake Newport prevailed and preserved its own undefeated season, making them co-champions of the league with Ridge Heights, which had not gone undefeated since 1998. (Because there are nine RSTA teams and only six meets, not all teams swim against each other.)

Lake Audubon finished in second place with a 4-2 record, while Hunters Woods and North Hills were tied for third with 3-2-1 records. See complete RSTA season standings on the RSTA website.

Nine swimmers finished off their regular season by smashing some team records:

• Lake Audubon’s Mathew Fritz crushed two long-standing team records. In the boys 11-12 50-meter breaststroke, he broke a record set in 1985 by half a second, and in the 50-meter butterfly he broke a record set in 1986 by .26.

• Glade’s relay team of Madeline LaPorte, Meghan Benedetto, Isabella Gati, and Emily Landeryou set a new team record of 2:15.12 in the girls 15-18 200-meter Medley Relay.

• Lake Newport’s relay team of Dylan Jones, Dan Ni, Alan Yu, Zach Wang broke a record set earlier this season in the boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay.

Newbridge Dolphins 560, Glade Gators 548

For Newbridge, double event winners were Elise Baldwin, Levi Bishop, Eric Compton, Everett Ha, Sam Joyner, Greg Mayo, and Joseph Sgambati. Triple event winners were Justin Compton, Mary Carol Cook, Jean-Louis Guill, Ethan Ha, Ian Ha, Laela Huddleston, and Sarah Zhong.

For Glade, double event winners were John Clarke, Blake DeHoust, Clara Landeryou, Madeline LaPorte, Everett Liggett, Abigail Stiglitz, and Maggie Thomas. Triple event winners were Natalie Bardach, David Clark, and Sophia Landeryou.

Lake Newport Lightning 591.5, Lake Audubon Barracudas 564.5

For Lake Newport, double event winners were Caitlin Connelly, David Egge, Morgan Giebel, Greta Larne, Siena Shannon, Connor Witt, and Amy Zhao. Triple event winners were Dan Ni, Anna Redican, Meghna Sharma, Casey Storch, Vania B Zeledon, and Michael Zhou.

For Lake Audubon, double event winners were Kathryn Cole, Robby Cordts, Sumaya Finney, Abigail Hofheimer, Bryce Onozuka, Aidan Scanlan, Griffin Scanlan, and Julianna Toth. Triple event winners were Max Daum, Matthew Fritz, Joel Hahn, and Marley Mulvaney.

North Hills Hurricanes 620, Autumnwood Piranhas 494

For North Hills, double event winners were Marlee Czarny, Lindsey Hill, Albert Huang, Daniella Ramsey, Emily Ren, Peri Schiavone, Samantha Sciortino, Catherine Swarts, Grace Tierney, and Grayson Williams. Triple event winners were Katie Cazenas, Ryan Grimes, Joseph Sciortino, Sarah Sciortino, and Mary White.

For Autumnwood, double event winners were Nolan Brown, Bailey Copeland, Will Daly, Andrew  Freeman, Dean Hartke, Kalista Majoros, Donovan Willson, and Cash Xeller. Triple event winners were Michael Norford and Andrey Smiryagin.

Ridge Heights Sharks 348, Hunters Woods Blue Marlins 283

For Ridge Heights, double event winners were Maya K Becker, Hailey Brown, Eva Decker, Ian Hansing, Mac Sogandares, and Paige Sogandares.

For Hunters Woods, double event winners were Nolan Dunkel, Kevin Vintimilla, Roger Zeng, and Brian Zhou.

Photos: Top, Season 7 swim action; bottom, Ridge Heights Sharks celebrate their share of the 2015 championship/Courtesy RSTA