By Brian Savard<\/p>\n
CHATHAM, Virginia, March 12. HIGH school teams comprised of seven girls certainly have the deck stacked against them from day one in a sport where most dual meet events require three swimmers per event. <\/p>\n
However, the Stonebridge High School women disproved notions that a small team cannot prosper with its initial Division 2 team title at the Virginia Independent Schools championship.<\/p>\n
Stonebridge led the way with 112 points, while Walsingham Academy (79) and Chatham Hall (69) placed second and third, respectively, within the Division 2 women's competition.<\/p>\n
The team came to the meet as the seventh-smallest qualifying school. To boot, none of the swimmers swim year round.<\/p>\n
According to Stonebridge coach, Tricia Stall, the team excels in both the pool and the classroom. The seven-girl team possesses a 96 percent cumulative GPA, she said.<\/p>\n
Stall said that she hopes Stonebridge's story can inspire others. <\/p>\n
"I hope this will serve as an impetus to get others involved in swimming who may not be able to afford year round swimming programs," she said. <\/p>\n
The St. Catherine's School women took top honors overall in the meet with 316 points, while the Collegiate School (237) and Paul VI Catholic High School (231) ranked second and third overall. <\/p>\n
Collegiate School quartet of Melinda Sisk, Katie Wiltshire, Rachel Naurath and Carter Stephens kicked off the meet by winning the 200 medley relay, clocking 1:53.10. Naurath, Kate Byron, Sisk and Stephens joined up in the 200 freestyle relay to edge St. Catherine School's relay in a first-place time of 1:40.69.<\/p>\n
Naurath racked up two individual event victories as well. She edged the competition in the 200 freestyle (1:52.80) before crushing the field in the 500 freestyle (5:00.89) later on in the meet.<\/p>\n
Trinity Episcopal School's Carolyn Royce used her breaststroke talents to her advantage in both of her individual wins. She pulled ahead in the 200 IM during the breaststroke leg en route to winning the event in 2:09.97. Royce swam a 1:08.04 in finals, despite adding over half a second from her preliminary swim, earning a second title. <\/p>\n
St. Catherine's Annie Moore bested the diving field with a final score of 293.15. Collegiate snatched up the second and third place diving spots. Kenley Archer took second (281.30) while Neena Maizels placed third with a score of 275.65.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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