Records Fall As Germantown Girls, Andover Boys Repeat As Eastern Interscholastic HS Champs

19/02/2024 22:36

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2024 Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships

• February 15-17, 2024
• Lancaster, PA
• Kunkel Aquatic Center – Franklin and Marshall College
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Full Results (PDF)
• Team Scores (PDF)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Easterns 2024”

The Germantown Academy girls and Phillips Academy (Andover) boys successfully defended their Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championship titles over the weekend in what was a blistering meet that saw multiple pool and meet records go down.

The meet is regarded as the premier prep school meet in the country.

GIRLS RECAP

The Germantown girls put up 684 points to pace Mercersburg Academy (622) and Phillips Exeter Academy (480), with junior Emily Hamill leading the way with a pair of individual victories.

Hamill, a UGA commit, picked up wins in the 200 free (1:47.75) and 500 free (4:48.98), both lifetime bests. The 16-year-old also set a personal best of 23.37 in the 50 free leading off the Germantown 200 free relay that won the title, with Sarah Freeman (23.24), Arden Keitel (23.63) and Karly Boles (23.14) joining her for a final time of 1:33.38.

Perhaps the top performer of the entire meet, Phillips Exter sophomore Mena Boardman put on a show with two individual wins and two critical relay splits that resulted in victories.

The 15-year-old blasted her way to a new meet record in the 50 free, clocking 22.62 to crack the previous mark of 22.87 set by Greenwich’s Kate Hazlett in 2019.

Boardman also topped the field in the 100 back in a time of 52.93, nearing the meet record of 52.80 established by Emma Atkinson in 2019.

Coming into the meet, Boardman held PBs of 22.67 in the 50 free and 53.72 in the 100 back.

In the 200 medley relay, Boardman led off in a blazing 24.41 for the 50 back to propel Phillips Exeter to a win and a new meet record of 1:40.90, with Audrey Zheng (29.21), Brianna Cong (23.85) and Sophie Phelps (23.43) combining to take out the previous mark of 1:43.24 set by Germantown in 2022. The Academy of Notre Dame also went under the old record in 1:42.62.

In the 400 free relay, Boardman dropped a blistering 48.86 anchor leg as Phillips Exeter (3:23.54) edged out Germantown (3:23.75) in a razor-thin battle.

In the 200 IM, Notre Dame achieved a feat that has only happened one other time in meet history, as teammates Tori Abruzzo (2:00.38), Devyn Sargent (2:01.82) and Kaitlyn Kolessar (2:02.89) swept the podium.

Other Winners

• Crystal Yuen, Mercersburg, 100 free – 49.91
• Mackenzie Headley, Suffield Academy, 100 breast – 1:01.79
• Ariana Zhao, Andover, 100 fly – 53.58
• Laurel DePolo, Germantown, 1 meter diving – 468.80

Final Team Standings – Top 5

1. Germantown Academy, 684
2. Mercersburg Academy, 622
3. Phillips Exeter Academy, 480
4. William Penn Charter School, 456
5. Peddie School, 407

BOYS RECAP

The Andover boys ran away with the team title by more than 100 points, putting up 599 to lead The Haverford School (480) and Germantown (450) behind elite team depth.

Leading the way for Andover was senior Raphael Sibuet, who swept the 200 and 500 free, setting a new meet record in the former.

Sibuet blasted his way to a time of 1:36.44 in the prelims of the 200 free, lowering the 11-year-old meet record of 1:36.56 set by Michael Nunan in 2013.

Sibuet went on to win the final in 1:37.05 in a tight race with Phillips Exter’s Ethan Guo (1:37.16), and in the 500 free, hit a best time of 4:24.74 in the prelims before touching first in the final in 4:30.71.

Sibuet’s previous best times stood at 1:38.50 and 4:30.62, set last year.

A second meet record fell at the hands of Haverford’s Zack Oswald, who put up a time of 46.82 to obliterate the previous mark of 48.01 set by Haverford alum Alex Boratto in 2018.

A junior and Notre Dame commit, Oswald tied Boratto’s record with a PB in the prelims, having come in with his fastest time ever being 48.06 from earlier this month.

In the 200 medley relay, Oswald led off in 21.68 to combine with Henry Newhall (26.06), Max Marr (22.26) and Evan Boratto (20.93) to win by well over a second in 1:30.93.

Another highlight on the boys’ side was the performance from Indiana commit Brandon Fleck, who swept the 50 free (20.27) and 100 free (43.87) while nearing the 43.31 meet record with a 43.80 lead-off split on Germantown’s winning 400 free relay.

Fleck broke a 44-year-old school record in the 100 free on the opening leg—a record of 44.30 set by Bart Schneider in 1980—and was followed by Landon D’Ariano (44.65), Andy Zhou (44.96) and Andrew Thompson (49.20) for a time of 3:02.61, topping Andover (3:03.85).

In the 200 free relay, Fleck led off in 20.34 as he, D’Ariano (20.59), Zhou (20.92) and Matthew Truong (22.34) combined for a winning time of 1:24.19, edging out Brunswick (1:24.24).

D’Ariano had a win of his own in the 200 IM, clocking 1:46.29 to down his previous PB of 1:46.85, while Zhou won the 100 breast (56.23).

Other Winners

• Ben Wu, Brunswick, 100 fly – 47.93
• AJ Rosenberger, The Haverford School, 495.95

Final Team Standings – Top 5

1. Andover, 599
2. The Haverford School, 480
3. Germantown Academy, 450
4. Mercersburg Academy, 430.5
5. Phillips Exeter Academy, 404.5

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