The Havre de Grace Warriors earned their first ever overall victory in the pool against Fallston Monday night in an important dual meet, defeating the Fallston Cougars, 187-153, at North Harford Middle School.
For the Warriors, it was also the first time Havre de Grace's girls team, which defeated the Cougars 94-76, had ever topped Fallston. The Havre de Grace boys, who won 93-77, last beat the Cougars in 2005.
"Last season, both of our meets with Fallston got snowed out," Havre de Grace head coach Aaron Thompson said. "We eventually lost to them at the county championship, so they were the better team, I think, but we proved at this meet that we can swim with anybody in the county. The next time we face them, it's a tri-meet with C. Milton Wright, and that's going to be a dogfight, for sure."
CMW dominates Icicle Invitational
At Friday's Icicle Invitational relay swim meet held at Magnolia Middle School, the C. Milton Wright girls and boys squads raced to a combined first-place finish. The Havre de Grace team took second in the 10-team meet.
The Mustangs first victory of the evening came in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as the team of Darren Slotnick, Andrew Youn, Ryan Pellegrino and Ian Kearney took first place. In the girls 400-yard freestyle race, CMW's Danielle King, Erika Abshire, Lauren O'Mara and Rachel Flint finished in first.
The boys 200-yard backstroke relay was won by the CMW team of Jordan Wells, Bernie Chang, Colin Hildebeidel and Pellegrino beat the field, while the Mustangs' Kyle Paxton, Katie Gallagher, Emily Jordan and Darren Slotnick won the mixed 800-yard freestyle relay.
In the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay, CMW's Kearney, Erika Slotnick, Gabby Jordan and Tyler Dellarrata picked up a victory.
Flint, O'Mara, Chang and Kearney won the 400-yard mixed freestyle for CMW, while Pellegrino, O'Mara, King and Darren Slotnick took first in the 400-yard mixed event.
The boys 200-yard breaststroke relay was won by the Mustang team of Jordan Wells, Ryan Brown, Hildebeidel and Kyle Paxton.
CMW won the boys 400-yard medley race with a team of Chang, Paxton, Pellegrino and Kearney, while the Mustangs girls team of Taylor Nesbit, O'Mara, King and Flint also took top honors.
Havre de Grace's group of Chris Worrell, Robbie Orzewicz, Daniel Schoeberlein and Renz Amato won the 200-yard medley relay.
The John Carroll squad of Katelyn Wofl, Sean Difatta, Carrie Dukes and Caleb Anderson took first place in the mixed 200-yard medley event, while the Patriots saw another victory in the girls 200-yard butterfly race, when Hanna LeBuhn, Deandra Casados, Emily Cashour and Dukes topped the field. In the boys 200-yard freestyle event, John Carroll's team of Difatta, Anderson, Jon Leishman and Will Horn took a first-place finish.
The Mustangs earned 271 points overall, while Havre de Grace grabbed second with a 205-point performance.
Among other Harford County teams competing in the meet, John Carroll finished fourth with 174 points, Bel Air took fifth with a 146-point showing, and Joppatowne took the fifth spot with 125 points. Harford Tech was eighth with 119 points, and Edgewood earned the 10th place with 100 points.
Mustangs bash Bobcats
Taking part in a dual-meet on Dec. 7, the C. Milton Wright boys and girls squads combined for a 258-82 victory over the Bel Air Bobcats.
Leading the way for the Mustang boys squad were Darren Slotnick and Bernie Chang. Slotnick took top honors in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, while Chang raced to first in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke.
CMW's Rachel Flint won the girls 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, while teammate Lauren O'Mara finished first in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley. Julia O'Mara had two top finishes, taking first place in the girls 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke events.
Colin Hildebeidel won the 200-yard freestyle for CMW, while Kyle Paxton helped the winning cause with a top finish in the boys 200-yard individual medley. Ian Kearney beat the field in the 50-yard freestyle, while fellow Mustang Ryan Pellegrino notched a first-place finish in the boys 100-yard butterfly.
The Mustangs' Jillian Carter won the girls 500-yard freestyle, and Taylor Nesbit won the girls 100-yard backstroke for CMW.