Announcement
GRAL Champs Meet Recap
What a way to end the season! The Stingrays finished 17th out of 28 teams on Sunday afternoon, totaling 280.5 points. Furthermore, our team placed second out of the six teams in Division III.
GRAL announced its annual awards on Sunday morning, and I am proud to share that our team has won the 2024 Len Everett Sportsmanship Award. This is the third consecutive year that our team has won the award, and it certainly would not have been possible without the holistic effort of our swimmers, parents, and volunteers. Award or not, I am proud of our team’s positive and healthy culture this season, and I hope it continues for many years to come. Our team was also recognized on Saturday for finishing second place in total Varsity points across Division III throughout the regular season.
The Saturday sessions saw a multitude of team records fall. Nate Doran highlighted this surge by demolishing records in the Boys’ 11-12 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 50 Yard Backstroke, and 100 Yard IM. Owen Merritt etched his name into the team records with his monster swim in the Boys’ 9-10 50 Yard Backstroke, erasing a 2-year-old record held by fellow teammate Nate. Harper Grace Johnson paved her way into the history books in the Girls’ 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle, resetting the mark previously held by CORA legend Rebecca Harper in 1992. Carter Rettig also earned her first individual team records in the Girls’ 11-12 50 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Freestyle, rewriting the standards previously held by Lindsey Winston. Last but certainly not least, Paolo Tique unleashed an onslaught on the Boys’ 13-14 records on Sunday – crushing the 50 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Backstroke, 50 Yard Breaststroke, 100 Yard Breaststroke, and 100 Yard IM. Phew!
Our relays were firing on all cylinders as well – the quartet of Owen Merritt, Reid Jiancristoforo, Harper Grace Johnson, and Carter Nielsen took almost seven seconds off of the existing Mixed 9-10 200 Yard Medley Relay record from 2022. The fearsome foursome of Nate Doran, Holly Alligood, Rebecca Crady, and Carter Rettig took down both Mixed 11-12 Relay records from 2016, with the Medley Relay being smashed by nearly 13 seconds.
The following information breaks down our overall team results, highlighted by our scoring swims (Top 8 finishes):
13 – New Individual Team Records
3 – New Mixed Relay Records
5 – GRAL Champions (1st Place in SV), Nate Doran 3x, Owen Merritt 2x
50 – New Personal Bests (50/77 swims, 65% of swims were faster than their seed time, including relays)
1st Place – Nate Doran (SV 50 Back, 100 IM, 100 Free), Owen Merritt (SV 50 Back, 100 Free), Aiden Montgomery (V 25 Free), Mixed 13-14 JV Medley Relay (Maren Minor, Diego Salinas, Paolo Tique, Jude Yaktin)
2nd Place – Rebecca Crady (JV 50 Back, V 50 Fly), Charlie Doran (SV 25 Back), Nate Doran (SV 50 Free), Harper Grace Johnson (SV 50 Free), Owen Merritt (SV 50 Free, 50 Breast), Aiden Montgomery (V 50 Free), Mixed 11-12 SV 200 Medley Relay (Nate Doran, Holly Alligood, Rebecca Crady, Carter Rettig), Mixed 11-12 SV 200 Freestyle Relay (Carter Rettig, Holly Alligood, Rebecca Crady, Nate Doran)
3rd Place – Holly Alligood (V 50 Breast), Rebecca Crady (JV 100 IM), Reid Jiancristoforo (V 50 Breast), Harper Grace Johnson (SV 50 Breast), Carter Rettig (SV 50 Free)
4th Place – Charlie Doran (SV 100 IM), Harper Grace Johnson (SV 100 IM, 100 Free), Carter Rettig (SV 50 Fly), Sean Rettig (JV 50 Free), Avery Roberts (JV 100 Free), Paolo Tique (SV 100 Back)
5th Place – Aiden Montgomery (V 25 Breast), Sean Rettig (V 50 Fly, 100 Fly), Layne Smith (V 25 Back), Mixed 9-10 SV 200 Medley Relay (Owen Merritt, Reid Jiancristoforo, Harper Grace Johnson, Carter Nielsen)
6th Place – Eric Blandford (JV 50 Breast), Rebecca Crady (JV 100 Free), Carter Rettig (SV 100 Free), Layne Smith (JV 50 Free), Cecilia Thorne (V 25 Breast), Paolo Tique (SV 100 IM), Mixed 8/u JV 100 Medley Relay (Oliver Merritt, Fleet Nystrom, Cecilia Thorne, Isaiah Boggs)
7th Place – Holly Alligood (V 50 Free), Eric Blandford (V 100 Breast), Carter Rettig (SV 50 Back), Sean Rettig (JV 100 Free), Avery Roberts (JV 100 IM)
8th Place – Charlie Doran (SV 25 Breast), Fleet Nystrom (JV 100 IM)
One final note, thank you to all of our Stingray families for making my first season as a head coach so special. The outpouring of love and support you all have shown is not lost on me, and my entire experience at CORA this summer has been a joy. While I don’t know what my future holds after I graduate from the University of Mary Washington in the spring, it would be an honor to coach this team again next summer. The future is undeniably promising for all of our Stingrays.
Swimmers, enjoy the rest of your summer, and have a great school year!
- Coach Paul
