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Meet Reports:

Feb. 9, 2008: MCPS Division II Championships

The B-CC girls swimming and diving team clinched the MCPS Division II championship and the combined boys and girls teams earned a place in the county's elite Division I next year with a strong performance at the divisional meet Saturday at the Germantown swim center.

Both teams placed second in the six-team competition, and the combined score of the teams put B-CC in first overall, ensuring that Baron swimmers and divers will be placed among the top six teams of the county during 2008-09.

For the second time this season the girls' triumph depended on a single point, meaning that each of the 16 swimmers and divers who competed made a vital contribution. Quince Orchard won the girls' meet with 392 points, while B-CC took second by a single point over Blake, 360-359. In the contest for the division championship, B-CC and Quince Orchard tied in total points—but because the Barons' won the Jan. 19 dual meet between the two teams by the margin of 86-85, B-CC will take home the division trophy.

The boys' division meet and divisional title were won by Montgomery Blair. The Baron boys took second in the meet and in the division. But B-CC's combined team score in the divisional meet bested Blair by 787-774, and B-CC also had the best overall dual meet record of 9-1. That means the girls and boys teams will join traditional swimming powerhouses Walter Johnson, Churchill and Whitman in Division I next season.

The Barons' success all season was based on superior team depth, and the division meet was no exception. B-CC swimmers and divers won five of the 24 events and took second or third in nine others. Senior captain Hannah Center won both the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, and All-American senior Robert Coe won the 100 backstroke and took second in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Alex Rigaux easily won the boys' diving, while sophomore Nicole Glazer took second in the girls event. The boys 200 freestyle relay of Coe, junior captain Erik Klontz, and sophomores Frederik Tjonneland and Michael Center cruised to a satisfying victory over Blair.

Klontz had a brilliant day overall, sharply dropping his personal best times in both the 50 and 100 freestyle to pick up two fifth places. Michael Center recorded his fastest time of the year in the 100 freestyle to take second, and also finished fourth in the 100 backstroke. Sophomore Stefania D'Ambrosio finished third behind Hannah Center in the 50 free, then took a second off her best time of the year in the 100 breaststroke to take fifth. Sophomore Michelle Szymczak, a stalwart in the distance freestyle events all season, finished third in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.

Though their divisional season is over, B-CC swimmers and divers still have two more meets remaining: the Montgomery County championship this weekend, and the Metros Swimming championship the following weekend. So far 18 boy and girl Baron swimmers and divers have qualified to compete in individual events at Metros, the premier high school swimming competition in the Washington region.

- Reported by Jackson Diehl

Girls’ Swimming/Diving Team Records