Congratulations to the Hampton Hammerheads swim team of the Hampton Pool in Towson. The Hammerheads took down York Manor Swim Club in a battle of undefeated teams on July 18 with a super-tight margin of just 12 points! Their winning score of 257 to 245 locked up a 9-0 record to earn the Hammerheads the title of champions of the Freestate Swim League dual meet season for 2016.
The nine Freestate Swim League teams include the Campus Cabana Seahorses, Hampton Hammerheads, Pine Ridge Piranhas, Stoneleigh Sharks, Towson Golf and Country Club Screaming Eagles, Valley Swim Club Gators, Wiltondale Warriors, Woodcroft Waves, and York Manor Makos.
Meets were held on Monday and Wednesday nights. Hampton finished the season by defeating rivals Campus Cabana on July 11 and Stoneleigh Pool on July 13.
The win over the Stoneleigh Sharks was a defining moment for the Hammerheads this summer, as Stoneleigh has been a formidable opponent for years.
The Hammerheads had a whopping 175 swimmers this summer (too many to list the full roster here). Standouts this season included Mary Kate Clancy, Alex Blair, Ian Anderson, Izzy Dernetz, Charlotte Bott, Liam Schindler, Ryan Snyder, Sydney Turk, Rain Shinnick, Leah Goldstein, Michael Litrenta, Jake Maly, Ali Snyder, and Callie French.
This successful season was a terrific way to cap things off for team members Morgan Kollman, Maura Neely, Hannah Dorsch, Maddie Eckels, and Mary Kate Clancy, for whom this was a final year of summer league swimming. On the flip side, the team's newest little swimmers were Cora Kennedy, Finley Permison, Olivia Christopher, Elly Wiseman, Harper Mays, Alex Raymond, Matt Dyer, Max Layton, Max Dickson, Sam Dickson, Oliver Luzar, Daniel DeVault, and Jack Tidball, who enjoyed a fun introduction to summer swim league.
After the Freestate League Trophy meet, held at Loyola Blakefield on Saturday, July 23, Hampton Pool hosted a party to celebrate the swim team's winning season and to recognize outstanding efforts by the swimmers and coaches.
Head coach Melissa Dorsch has been with team for five years and is now "retiring" as she has graduated from college.
To win the whole league in her final year as a head coach was a thrilling accomplishment for Melissa.
She was joined by her brother, Finny Dorsch, who enjoyed taking on a co-head coach role in a most exciting year. Senior swimmer Mary Kate Clancy served dual roles as swimmer and assistant coach. Kudos as well go to swim team directors Beth Kennedy and Holly Littrenta.
The combination of good coaching and a skilled group of swimmers added up perfectly for the Hammerheads. "My brother and I put the kids in the right spots and they showed up, plain and simple," said a very proud Coach Melissa. "If they didn't bring their 'A game' we wouldn't be sitting here with this trophy."
Well done, Hammerheads!