By Steven Witkin ’16

The Warrior Swim and Dive team brought out its best last Saturday against area public and private schools at the Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships. Both the boys and girls teams improved on their placing from last year, with the girls coming in fourth overall out of 38 scoring teams and the boys tying for sixteenth out of 32 scoring teams, as compared to seventh and twenty-ninth last year, respectively.

The meet kicked off with diving, where sophomore Cody Carlson won seventh, freshman Colin Graves came in eighteenth and senior Caroline Graves came in nineteenth. As the top 20 score points, including divers, both teams started the swim meet with points.

Although only the top 20 in each event make the finals, Sherwood had several swimmers go on to race against the fastest high-schoolers in the region. All three girls’ relays made finals. The 200 yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay both achieved fourth, with the medley a close two seconds off of first place. Junior Morgan Hill led the Warriors’ effort, coming in second in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. Although her previous Metros record in the 50 was broken by the winner, Hill brought the MCPS record in the 100 down to an even 50 seconds, breaking a record set 12 years ago by another Sherwood swimmer. Hill also contributed by holding off Olympic gold-medalist Katie Ledecky and her team to secure fourth in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Freshman Grace Giddings also swam fast, coming in fifth in the 500 yard freestyle, and junior Margarita Ryan swam a close third in the 100 yard backstroke. On the boys side, senior Jake Ryan scored points with an eighth place in the 500 yard freestyle.

Not only was Metros the most competitive meet of the year, it was also the most loud, energetic and crowded meet. Entire teams were leaning over the ends of the lanes, screaming deafening cheers and waving signs at their teammates. When the spectator seating at Germantown Indoor Swim Center filled up and the doors were closed, it was reported that people lined the windows outside to watch the action.

“It was fun cheering on Sherwood at finals and it was exciting to see all the fast competition,” said freshman Andrew Martinez, who swam the 100 yard backstroke and 200 yard individual medley at the  meet.

What is most promising about the Warriors’ performance at Metros is that only one scoring girl and one scoring boy is a senior, which means that the team can only get better  next year.

On Saturday, the girls team claimed their fourth consecutive 4A-North region title and the boys followed up with a fourth place. Many athletes and relays secured a spot at the state championship meet, where the team will have a strong chance at top three, or even state champions.