Osbourn boys, OP girls win Cedar Run

MANASSAS — Osbourn head coach Jason Lucey knew his boys team would toss him in the Freedom Center pool if the Eagles won the inaugural Cedar Run Swimming Championships on Friday night.

He came with a swimsuit under his pants and a change of clothes.

If Osbourn Park’s Heather McManus expected her girls to do the same, her attire didn’t show it. She wore a white button-up shirt and jeans.

But both coaches succumbed to the wishes of their championship teams and got thrown in the water — swimming’s customary celebratory equivalent of football’s Gatorade dump — to top off a night spotted with surprise performances and close finishes.

The Eagle boys, who scored 398 points, dominated their district counterparts despite finishing first in only three events, including the meet-opening 200-yard medley relay and the 100-yard freestyle.

But it was the second-to-last event, the 100-yard breast stroke, where Osbourn took the first four places and impressed the large gathering of onlookers. The Eagles also put plenty of distance between themselves and second-place Osbourn Park, which finished with 284 points. Stonewall Jackson scored 275.

The Eagles came into the breast stroke with four of the five fastest seed times, and Aaron Kendle (1:02.72), Josh Nicoletti (1:03.61) and Peter Waldron (1:06.12) held up their end of the bargain.

But the surprise was fourth-place finisher Ethan Bruce, a fifth seed who cut nearly a second and a half off of his seed time in beating fourth-seeded Joshua Reed of Stonewall Jackson.

“Ethan called it,” said Kendle, who was joined on the first-place perch on the medal stand by all four finishers for a picture.

“I knew that the top three could do it,” said Lucey, the Eagles’ first-year head coach. “My worry was Ethan. I asked him before the race, ‘do you want it bad enough?’ He said it was his.”

“[Finishing first through fourth] most definitely put the icing on the cake,” Waldron said.

Osbourn Park’s girls received strong performances from Stine Hestdal (two firsts, third, fourth), Melissa Burlovich (three firsts, third) and Krissy Mulholland (two firsts, second, third), but none stood out more than junior Erin Hammersley.

Hammersley dueled Stonewall Jackson’s Ashley Razo on the anchor leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay, making up a seven-hundredths of a second deficit to help the Yellow Jackets win by five-hundredths of a second. Both Osbourn Park (1:42.84) and Stonewall (1:42.89) set new school records in the process.

Hammersley also anchored the Yellow Jackets’ 400-yard freestyle relay and won the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles.

“When I think Erin has swam the fastest she can, she goes out and beats her best time by eight tenths of a second… Eight tenths is a lot [of improvement] to expect for a whole season.”

Hammersley won the 100 freestyle in 54.12, then swam a 53.8 split in the 400 freestyle relay.

Hammersley wasn’t the only Yellow Jacket to finish first four times. Jon Hayden won the 200 and 500 freestyles and helped OP finish first in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

Though the Raiders were the only Cedar Run team not to win a title –Potomac did not field a team this season — coach Khristy Gilmer took solace in the performance of her young swimmers. She also expects the Raiders to have success at regionals and states when the field thins out and depth is not as important.

“My underclassmen surprised the [heck] out of me,” Gilmer said, listing Ashley Wells, Samantha Smith, Rachel Fuschillo, Megan Behrle and Emily Slough among those who excelled.

Michael Cartwright, a winner in the butterfly and backstroke, and Arlen Connolly (second in the 500 freestyle) led the Raider boys.

Dan Freed, who won the 50 freestyle, finished second in the 100 freestyle and had two relay wins, helped the Yellow Jacket boys finish second, though there were only 10 competing. Drew Chartrand won the 200 individual medley and added two relay wins and a second-place finish.

Osbourn’s Audrey Pietryzk edged Stonewall’s Allison Behrle in the 100 breast stroke, winning by 14-hundredths of a second.

“It was my [17th] birthday, and I wanted a present,” Pietrzyk said.

Eagles sophomore Nicole Snyder chopped four seconds off of her seed time in the 500 freestyle and won by eight seconds.

Osbourn senior Kyle Palmatier notched two third-place finishes, including one in the backstroke, where he was seeded seventh.

It was performances like those that got Lucey and McManus tossed in the pool.

“I knew either way I was going in, this being my last district meet,” laughed McManus, who will hand over the reigns at the end of the season.

Lucey, new to the job, said he’d never have been able to take his team-aided dip if not for McManus, Gilmer and retired Eagle coach Harry DeLong. Assistant Tina Cox got tossed in the pool as well.

“We’ve got a good group of boys,” Lucey said. “I don’t know if Osbourn will ever see this kind of combination again… I was lucky to jump into the job when I did.”

“It’s a good way to end the season,” said Waldron, “bringing some hardware back to Osbourn.”