Two years without a team crown from states may not seem like a big deal for most high schools, but for Brentsville District, it was the longest drought in 15 years.

This past weekend though, the boys swimming team brought the rain back to Brentsville by defeating second-place Hidden Valley 206-201 at the Group AA state championship at the Williamsburg Aquatic Club. The state win marked the first for BDHS since women’s track team won it all in 2008.

“I’m really excited, I knew the team was good,” said coach Ashleigh Krzywicki. “It was all about event placement.”

The win came under a plethora of abnormalities. For starters, Brentsville does not have a diving team, which significantly reduces point potential for the Tigers. Second, none of the boys won an individual or relay gold. In fact, only junior Nicole Haynes managed to grab any first-place glory for the Tigers as she clocked a meet-best time of 58.12 seconds in the 100 yard backstroke.

Third, Krzywicki is only in her rookie year as head coach. Fourth, of the 10 boys to make states, only two were seniors, yet they managed to fill at least two swimmers or relay teams in each non-diving event. Fifth, the team was forced to compete without one of their veteran state contenders, Chuckie Zambaugh. Sixth, the boys and girls teams alike were snowed out of regions the prior week.

To Krzywicki, all of that is a testimony to just how strong the Tigers’ roster really is up and down the line up.

“They were already good swimmers and I just wanted to make sure I put them in the right events,” she said.

Ryan Dunne (KBST) took two top-three finishes with a silver in the 50 yard freestyle and bronze in the 200 yard freestyle. He also combined with Nathan Brown (KBST), Ben Cumberland, Tim Rackowski for a third-place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay too and grabbed second in the 400 yard freestyle relay with Brown, Jacob Katuin and Michael Hughes.

Hughes, Rackowski, Katuin and Jules Coy also snagged third in the 200 yard medley relay. As for the girls, Haynes, Annalee Gallagher (KBST), Britany Higdon (KBST) and Emily Goodrich set a team-best with an eighth place finish 200 yard freestyle. No Tiger girls team ever placed that high at states in the event. The Brentsville girls finished in eleventh place overall with 64 points, a six-spot improvement over last year.

For Hughes and Coy, they exit their careers on top as the two seniors are due to graduate this June.

However, that also means Brentsville can realistically expect to defend its first-ever first-place title next year as there will likely be stacked with veterans.

“We just have to fill out” the spots we lost, said Krzywicki. “I still think we’re going to be a very strong team next year and I hope for a repeat.”

By Dan Roem Source: Gainesville Times, Tuesday, February 23, 2010