Taylor Wins Gold Medals in the 200 Freestyle Relay, Diving Contribute to a Yorktown Team Title at Virginia AAA State Meet

By Brian Savard

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia, February 20. YORKTOWN High School's Maren Taylor flashed uncanny versatility winning a gold medal in both the 200 meter freestyle relay and in the diving competition as well, and she rewrote the record books in the process at the Virginia AAA State High School Championships in short course meter competition.

Her relay's time of 1:49.04 bettered the 1:49.82 mark set by Vinland High School (Vinland, N.J.). The Yorktown record-setting relay included Taylor, Kristen Wolla, Thea Kromer and Katy Hinkle.

Taylor also captured the diving title with a final score of 420.93.

Taylor said that winning the two gold medals this year meant a lot to her because she was out of the water due to injury last season.

"All the girls in that relay were seniors, so this was their last high school meet," Taylor said. "It meant a lot to me to be able to be a part of that team and win."

Yorktown's 200 meter medley relay comprised of Hinkle, Abby Ortmayer, Kromer and Wolla swam to a national high school record of 2:01.35. Amanda Weir's former Brookwood High School (Snellville, Ga.) relay held the previous mark of 2:01.93.

Robinson High School's Amanda Kendall took titles in both sprint freestyle events. She clocked a state-record 26.47 time in the 50 meter freestyle. Patrick Henry's Claire Woodall-Gainey set the previous standard of 26.49 in 2003. Kendall continued her record-setting rampage going a 57.17 in the 100. Woodall-Gainey also set the 100 freestyle record in 2003 with a 57.41 time.

Lauren Kranz from Robinson took home a national high school record as a consolation prize for not winning the gold medal. Her preliminary performance in the 500 meter freestyle broke the former mark held by Mainland Regional High School's (Linwood, N.J.) Joanna Thomas (5:29.07), which she set back in 2005.

Meredith Cavalier of Brooke Point took home the 100 meter backstroke title and a new state record as well. Her 1:03.42 time bested the former mark held by Westfield's Yeng Lan Beller set in 2003.

Rebecca Jones of First Colonial broke the 200 meter freestyle record. Her 2:03.12 time bettered the 2003 mark set by Jenny Basel from Thomas Jefferson.

Ellyn Baumgardner of Fairfax rounded out the record-breaking swims for the women by recording a gold medal and a national high school standard. Her 1:10.31 standard crushed the former 1:11.12 standard formerly held by Jenny Steiner of Lawrenceville High School (Lawrenceville, N.J.) set back in 2002.

Additionally, the Robinson High foursome of Allison Baker, Hailey Hewitt, Lauren Kranz and Amanda Kendall set the state and national record in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:55.88.

Yorktown, despite not winning a single individual event, walked out of the competition with the women's team title (249.5). Fairfax High School took second place with 218 points.

Robinson's men's team dominated their competition en route to a fifth-consecutive state championship. Their 274 points stood well ahead of the second place Fairfax team (158).

Robinson swept all three relays, taking with them a total of three state records and one national record. The quartet of Geoff Bobsin, Derek Bui, Jonathan Dee and Joe Zanellato snuck under the previous state mark in the 200 meter medley relay set by Menchville High School in 2003. Dee, Cody Kendall, Tim Wingart and Zach Holmes combined forces in the 200 meter freestyle relay (1:37.08) to break another state record.

Finally, at the close of the meet, the 400 meter freestyle relay dazzled the crowd with a 3:32.98 finish. The record-setting grouping included Wingart, John Fields, Matt Krebs and Holmes. That time put them both under the state and national record. Monarch High School's (Louisville, Colo.) 2004 relay, which includes several current NCAA Division 1 swimmers, held the previous mark of 3:33.35.

Holmes added to his two relay victories with two individual wins. His 50 meter freestyle win (23.84) eclipsed the former state mark held by Michael Balint of Thomas Jefferson set in 2003 with a 24.10 time. Holmes added another state record performance with a 51.76 performance in the 100 meter freestyle. Mike Ott of Oakton set the previous record of 52.68 in 2003.

Bryan Uncur of Hickory High School added a national high school record in the 500 meter freestyle. His 5:05.34 time broke the former mark of 5:06.04 set by Scott Claypool of Hudson High School (Hudson, Ohio) back in 1994.

Derek Bui won the 100 meter breaststroke in a record time of 1:04.03. His record-setting performance trumped the former record of … set by … of … .

Sean Fletcher of Madison erased the former 100 meter butterfly record of 56.54 set by JB Walsh of Ocean Lakes in 2003 with a time of 56.13.

Andy Brake from Lake Braddock took the 200 IM (2:05.53) record away from Brett MacLennan of Gar-Field. MacLennan set his 2:05.62 standard in 2003.

Daniel Martin of W.T. Woodson captured the gold medal in diving with a final score of 481.05.

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