McDonogh looks to extend five-season reign in A Conference swimming
St. Mary’s is eager to defend B Conference crown
by Nelson Coffin
When McDonogh snapped Loyola Blakefield’s streak of claiming five consecutive championships in 2016, the Eagles were hoping to end that sturdy run with one of their own.
Last February, they did just that by overwhelming the Dons in the championship meet.
McDonogh (556 points) proved that it was just that much better than Loyola (400) and every other A Conference rival while earning its fifth straight banner.
If the Eagles are able to nab another crown this winter, they will have to overcome the loss of last season’s senior standouts — Kyle Bitz (New York University), Drew Green (Bucknell), William Cussimanio (Cal-Santa Barbara), Connor Cashman (Navy) and Ryan Callahan — who combined to score 184 points in the 2023 finale.
“We have a solid team returning and will be looking to returning members, (such as) Caiden Bowers (100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke), Brandon Richter (runner-up 500 free) Max Mislow (200 individual medley) and Langston Duncan (50 free).
“Captains Leo Guan, Alex North and Tony Liu will try to lead our underclassmen to strong performances at MIAAs,” McDonogh coach Scott Ward said.
Loyola, though, hopes to at least make some inroads against McDonogh this season — if not end the Eagles’ reign.
The Dons are young and hungry, featuring a slew of underclassmen in key roles, to complement senior Teddy McQuaid (backstroke/fly).
Included in that group are juniors Alex Dillon (sprint free), Drew Turk (back), Lucas Wright (distance free) and Harry Belbot (200 free) and freshmen Spencer Belbot (breast/free) and Daniel Branon (IM/distance free).
“The exciting thing is that we have a strong eighth-grade class and have some younger guys, too,” Loyola coach Gordon Amato said.
Although the Dons finished three-points shy of winning a tri-meet with Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep, they are focused on topping those Washington-area schools to earn their third straight National Catholic championship next month.
“We’re looking forward to a great season,” Amato said.
Loyola is also looking forward to its annual 100-mile swimathon, a fund-raiser for the Anita Logue, Aimee Turrall, and Lynn Hoelting Memorial Scholarship Fund, “created in honor of three Loyola moms who have passed away and are now our Angels from Above,” according to the school’s website.
The event starts on the final day of classes before the Christmas holidays on Dec.20 and proceeds through night and into the following morning. Only one lane is used by the 18 varsity and 24 junior varsity swimmers until the distance is covered.
“It’s a really cool event,” said Amato, who swam and played water polo at Mount St. Joseph before swimming for Towson University. “I wish I had that opportunity when I was a kid.”
Harry Belbot said "It's great to be a part of tradition and history. The 100-mile swim has been a big part of Loyola aquatics, and I am honored to carry on the legacy with my teammates."
Balance and depth should serve Gilman well this season, according to coach Vaughn Smith.
“I am expecting us to have a good dual meet record, and then, the goal is to have swimmers in most of the finals at MIAA Championships in February,” Smith added.
Captains Peter and Paul Shkolnik, Mason Murphy-Lenk and Yaros Mytsak are charged with keeping the Greyhounds motivated..
“In particular, we are looking for junior sprinter Jackson Heether to improve on his second in the 50 and fifth-place finish in the 100 freestyle at last years' championship,” Smith continued. “Mytsak is showing early season consistency in the 200 and 500 freestyle, so expect him to feature well in those events throughout the season and at champs. Junior all-rounder Max Kunisaki will help 'fill in the gaps' during our dual meet season, and should put up solid performances in whatever events he swims in at champs.”
Archbishop Spalding coach Chip Helferstay said that “this year should be the strongest season we have had as a program.”
Led by senior captains captains Luke Bulger (breast/free) and Billy Jaeger (breast/free), the Cavaliers also feature juniors Billy Connor (IM/back/free, Lawson Cate (IM/back/breast), Josh Mundy (fly) and sophomores: Will Rosenthal (free/back), Carter Williams (free), Tim Williams (free), Cody Winn (fly/breast), Bennett Reed (breast/IM) and David Stanley (free).
“We are hoping for our best performance at MIAA Championships this year and getting many swimmers to finals,” Helferstay said. “We are hoping our swimmers will make that next step from progressing from outside the top-16 to inside the top-16, the swimmer in the top-16 making it in the top-8 and the swimmers in the top-8 to getting medals. Our goal this year is to continue the progression of our program and keep taking next steps."
For St. Mary’s to repeat in the B Conference, it will take another strong effort to take down Severn, which was unbeaten heading into last season’s championship showdown before the Saints prevailed by winning the final event.
St. Mary’s coach Allyson Reiter noted that the few upperclassmen returning for the 2023 champs had “a memorable experience” which “has been motivating. These swimmers recognize the depth needed to once again be in contention.
We’ve added a few freshmen who are athletic and ready to contribute. With nine teams in the B, we have a lot of competitions ahead of us to sort out our strengths and weaknesses.”
Severn, though, will be hungry to make a title run of its own following last year’s near-miss by 10 points to the Saints.
Severn coach Erin Domenech, who said that her team of 15 swimmers includes just a pair of seniors, is already off to a record-setting start.
“Our first meet vs. John Carroll, sophomore Court Barrett broke the 100-backstroke record that was on the books since 2011, which was a 55.49,” she said. “He touched the wall at 54.36. The second meet vs. Archbishop Curley, our 200 freestyle relay with junior Harlen Erskine, freshman Rhett Walker) and sophomore Cal Olenec and Court Barrett finished with a time of 1:38.62, which broke the record of 1:43.29 set in 2014.”
She concluded by saying “we hope to continue with strong swims throughout the season and culminate with a MIAA Championship.”
St. Vincent Pallotti coach Oriana Myers said that her team is a mixture of talent and heart.
“From ‘trying a new sport,’ to year-round swimmers, we have been gearing up for a strong season,” Myers continued. “This will be a transformative season with me as the new head coach and having a number of seniors. I am leading the seniors into the next steps in their journey and ushering in freshmen at the same time. Overall, we are focused on improvement.”
To that end, sophomore captain Nathanael Songu-Mbriwa and freshmen Angelo Brantley and Arkin Kukadia will pace the Panthers this winter.
Sophomore Camille Smith and freshman Jack Janes will lead Annapolis Area Christian School’s freestylers while senior Sara Martin and junior Lance Overstreet are team’s top breaststrokers.
“Our team saying is that ‘Every individual member makes up the team's strength — the team is made up of each member's strength,’” she said.