Blazers win swim meet!

JAN. 31, OLNEY SWIM CENTER—

Both Blair's boys and girls swim teams recorded their first wins this season, easily defeating Watkins Mill. The boys won 118-53, the girls 97-74. Saturday's meet brought an end to the swim team's division dual meets with a 1-4 record.

The boys consistently dominated Watkins Mill, sweeping the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, as well as the 100-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Tyler Wilcheck (1:07:29 in the 100-yard breaststroke) and junior captain Patrick Detzner (53:77 in the 100-yard freestyle) led the Blazers, placing first in each of their events. Sophomore diver Sam Silsbee also performed capably, placing first with a score of 112.65.

Sophomore Kelsey Dean (2:08:57 in the 200 yards freestyle) mirrored Detzner and Wilcheck's feat of twice placing first for the girls. Senior captain Elizabeth Finn achieved first place in diving for an estimable 142.8 after four dives, though she thought her performance was "a little flat." While the boys dominated, the girls won by placing consistently high, if not blowing away their competition. These mostly second, third and fourth place showings may be the start of a trend, as similar placings were remarked on by senior captain Robin Hernandez after the Whitman meet.

The always-spirited Blazers seemed somewhat surprised at their victory, as Detzner summed up the teams' thoughts. "We finally won," Detzner put it succinctly.

Coach Swaney echoed Detzner's sentiments and concluded that Blair had met their expectations for the season. "We're happy to stay up in Division I because we're not losing too many people this year. Our goal was to stay in Division I and I think this did it," Swaney said.

The Blazers will swim against Blake, a Division II team, next Saturday at Martin Luther King Swim Center at 9:15 a.m.