Crozet Gators Defend Their JSL Championship Title

The Crozet Gators secured another Jefferson Swim League championship after sweeping in various events during the two-day swim meet held at the Brooks Family YMCA July 29 and 30, securing 2,424 points to claim the title.

The Gators amassed points in a wide variety of events to win against Boar’s Head Swim Club, Hollymead, Fry’s Spring, and Glenmore, the teams that made up the remainder of the top five finishing spots, respectively.

The Gators claimed victory in many different JSL events. In terms of individual accomplishments, Connor Finan won the boys 6-and-under 25 yard freestyle title with a time of 22.74; Tommy Rockwell won the boys 11-12 50 butterfly with a time of 27.89; and Richard Wang took home the boys 15-18 50 freestyle with a time of 21.78. Anthony Garono also brought home wins in both the boys 15-18 backstroke and 100 freestyle with respective times of 24.40 and 48.10.

Diyln Carter took home both the girls 11-12 50 and 100 freestyle events with respective times of 26.84 and 57.96, while Meghan Ayres boasted gold in three different races: 50 breaststroke, 50 butterfly, and 100 freestyle. Sedona King brought home the win for the girls in the 11-12 50 backstroke with a time of 29.31 and the 100 IM with an impressive finish of 1:02.31.

The Gators also swept the 13-14, 9-10, and 12-18 200 freestyle relays. Charlie Alexander, Owen Frank, Jackson Hankins and Ben Tungate won the boys race with a time of 1:35:55. The corresponding girls team made up of Sophie Wang, Allison Ma, Doroty Streit, and Sammy Micholson was also triumphant with a time of 1:47.97. The girls 9-10 teams consisted of Emily Centofante, Caroline Carter, Leah Kagarise, and June Diggans with a time of 2.20.68. The boys 15-18 relay team—Jonathan Alexander, Henry Addison, Richard Wang, and Anthony Garano— finished with a time of 1:27.18.

The boys 8-and-under team of Kannon Koser, Mitchell Finan, Myles Blume, and Collin Burt took home the 100-yard freestyle relay (1.14.06). The 8-and-under boys 100 medley relay of Kannon Koser, Sam Sallans, Grady Santiuste, and Collin Burt also took first place in 1:23.93.

Additionally, the Crozet Gators won the 13-14 100 IM races with Amelie Meyer (1:02.12) and Charlie Alexander (56.98) securing titles for the girls and boys teams. Collin Burt won the boys 8-and-under 25 freestyle race with an impressive finish of 16.12.

Crozet’s team of Willow Phillips, Madeleine Bowman, Dilyn Carter and Taylor Kagarise swam to victory in the girls 11-12 200 medley relay in 2:08.52, while the group of Allison Ma, Meghan Ayres, Amelie Meyer and Sophie Wang earned the blue ribbon in the girls 13-14 200 medley relay in 1:52.46.

These JSL championship wins follow an outstanding overall season for the Gators. The Gators were led by Head Coach Tasha Congdon and assistant coaches Megan Life, Katie Jordan, John Noffsinger, and Anthony Garono. The team also added Adam Reinhard, Henry Addison and Lucy Nicholson to their staff. Notably, six out of eight of the coaches have competed for Crozet Gators themselves!

The Gators also have a junior coaching team of 13 CGST swimmers this season. Our junior coaches include Charlie Alexander, Meghan Ayres, Dilyn Carter, Maeve Driscoll, Jackson Hankins, Taylor Kagarise, Sammy Nicholson, Cate Pearson, Lily Phillips, Lexie Pullen, Emily Sachno, Shayla Sterner, and Ben Tungate. Throughout the season, the junior coaches help support the coaching staff with daily technique work at practice, managing equipment, swim meet set-up and clean-up, and leading younger swimmers at swim meets.

Among other accomplishments, the Gators team introduced a new ‘Hatchlings’ program this summer.

Hatchlings is a program best suited for swimmers ages 5-8 who are not yet ready for the full, competitive swim team experience. This program aims at training swimmers who will be prepared to join the competitive team the following summer and is primarily focused on the fundamentals of the competitive swim strokes. The team participates in a mini-meet at Crozet Pool to cap off their season.

The Gators also took home the Division 1 Championship and many swimmers took home High Point awards throughout the regular season, which spotlight accomplished swimmers. The winners of the awards were Collin Burt, Audrey Kagarise, Ben Bowman, M.L. Jamme, Tommy Rockwell, Dilyn Carter, Ben Tungate, Amelie Meyer, Anthony Garono, and Lilly Phillip.

Taken as a whole, the Gators have experienced an outstanding season with an incredibly fleshed-out program headed by a brilliant coaching staff and amazing parent volunteers. The Gators plan to defend their title once more next season.