After the narrow victory over the Mount Vernon Majors, 13 members of the Boys Swim & Dive Team traveled to Newport News, VA to compete in the Twentieth Annual Kecoughtan Invitational.

Individual qualifiers included Alek Anderson (50 FR, 100 BK), David Blincoe (50 FR, 100 FR), Michael Clingaman (200 IM, 100 BR), Paul Cossack (200 IM, 100 BR), Nick Engquist (200 FR, 50 FR), Andrew Frank (50 FR, 100 FR), Alex Howe (200 FR, 500 FR), and Scott Silvester (200 FR, 100 FR).

Relay swimmers were Andy Fernandez, Daniel Healy, Will Rogers, Pieter van Wijngaarden, and Hayden Workman.

The team arrived in Newport News on Friday night around 1:00 AM.  With a 5:30 AM wake up call, no one got very much sleep.

The meet started out with the 200 Medley Relay.  The A relay finished in 24th and the B relay finished in 28th place.  Next, was the 200 FR.  Scott just missed making the finals with a 20th place finish.  Alex finished strong to qualify for finals in 15th place.

The 200 IM featured Paul and Michael in the same heat, across the pool from each other.  They swam stroke for stroke the entire race, with both finishing in personal bests.

In the 50 FR, the Jaguars had Nick, Andrew, David, and Alek.  Andrew swam a personal best, just missing qualifying for finals.  David qualified in 12th and Alek qualified in 10th.

In the 100 FR, David just missed qualifying by placing 20th, as did Andrew in 17th (first alternate).  Scott qualified in 11th.

The 500 FR was a show down for Alex.  He went a best time, just was beaten to the wall in the last 25 yards.  He qualified in 10th place.

The 200 FR relay of David, Scott, Alex, and Alek qualified in 14th, and the B relay of Daniel Healy, Hayden Workman, Paul Cossack, and Pieter van Wijngaarden finished 30th.

In the 100 BK, Alek qualified in 13th place.  The individual preliminaries concluded with Paul Cossack and Michael Clingaman in the 100 BR.  They finished 32nd and 36th, respectively.

The boys 400 FR relay just missed qualifying top 8 by finishing 9th.  Afterward, the team packed up and headed to Anna's Pizza for their annual Kecoughtan lunch.

During lunch (with many MANY pizzas), the team heard from trip coordinator Shelly Blincoe.  Following tradition, all seniors spoke about their memories with the team and in regards to the Invitational.  The team heard from Alek Anderson, Paul Cossack, Nick Engquist, Andy Fernandez, Andrew Frank, Daniel Healy, Scott Silvester, and Pieter van Wijngaarden.

After lunch, the team headed back to Midtown Aquatics Center for finals.

First up, Alex finished in 16th place in the 200 FR, followed up with Alek and David in the 50 FR.  David finished in 14th place, as Alek won the consolation final by finishing 9th with a new personal best.

Scott swam in the consolation finals of the 100 FR, finishing 13th.  Then, Alex stepped up on the blocks to face the swimmer who had beaten him in the morning session.  By swimming a smart race, Alex was able to move ahead in the last 125 yards of the race to win the consolation final with a new person best!

The 200 FR relay finished in 12th place, giving Alek very little time before the 100 BK.  Alek swam an excellent race, finishing in 12th place with a new personal best.

The last race was the 400 FR relay.  This very relay team swam in the 2008 Regional Finals, missing the school record by a narrow 0.4 seconds.  Scott lead off the relay with the second fastest time of the field.  Alex swam next, pulling in front of the field.  Andrew swam an extremely fast leg to pull even further ahead.  As Alek stepped on the blocks, the team was going wild! We realized it would take an extremely fast leg from him to break the record.  As Alek swam the last 10 yards, the team counted down and held their breath as the time came up on the score board.  The boys broke the record by a mere .5 seconds!

The 2009 Kecoughtan Invitational was one of the most exciting in recent years, and we hope that next year's will be even better!