Just falling short to Wootton and WJ, swim and dive scored a total of 549 points in the 3A/4A West Regionals Feb. 16, giving them a third place win overall.  The girls placed second overall, winning 310 points, while the boys placed third overall, winning 239 points.

“Everyone had a lot of spirit and pumped each other up,” sophomore Grace Pereles said.

One week prior, swim and dive placed ninth in the boys events and second in the girls events at Metros Feb. 9, just falling short to Wootton.

Divers junior Mashal Hashem, sophomore Kali Becker, and freshmen Elaina Faeber and Bridgid Dunn placed second, first, fifth and ninth respectively, to give the team a short-lived 70 point lead over Wootton.

“Boys did well,” senior captain Austin Cole said.  “Our girls placed extremely well with second place.  The diving really got the girls off to a good start.”

The girls finished with a 4-1 record overall this season, with their only loss coming against Wootton. The boy’s team had a record of two losses: one tie and two wins.

“The boys team went undefeated last year, but for them it’s been a building season,” coach Brendan Roddy said.  “The team has shifted but they are still very strong.”

At divisionals, the girls scored a total of 53 points for diving with strong performances from Hashem, Becker and Faerber. The Lady Bulldog swimmers were led by senior captain Michelle Illig and freshman Hannah Lindsey. Sophomores Kyle Zonghetti and Andrew Marders helped the Bulldogs finish third place and fourth place in diving, respectively.  Senior Austin Cole and Juniors Steve Ge, Harrison Gu and Kevin Gu won the 200 free relay.

“I am happy with the results,” Roddy said.  “During my talk at divisionals, I said to leave it all in the water, and we had over 87 percent best times.”

The girls lost their only meet to Wootton Jan. 19.  Illig, sophomore Elaina Gu and freshmen Fiona Asbury and Lindsey won the 400 freestyle relay.  The boys also fell to Wootton, losing 99-72.  However, they won all four freestyle events and won six out of eight individual swimming events.

“Wootton is for sure our toughest opponent on both the girls and boys side,” Lopaczynski said.  “We can’t ever count out a team because the swimming in this area is so unbelievably fast.  Any team could become a threat.”

Swim and dive will compete in states Feb. 23.