The Mt. Vernon Park Gators enjoyed winning so much last week that they took their second A meet 230-190 over long-time NVSL powerhouse Lee-Graham. Coupled with the other results in the division, the Gators are now in sole possession of second place in Division 3.
Prior to the meet, it looked like it was going to be close, but the Gators were spurred onto victory by the questionable sportsmanship of their opponent. Between the pre-meet Zombie skit (which, prior to the season, the division had agreed no one would do) that included tearing off the head of a hanging Gator, the mocking Christmas music during Gator warm-ups, the signs inside the pool area, the attempts to intimidate the MVP swimmers backfired.
Besides all of that, the choice of slow-moving zombies as the theme for a swim meet didn't evoke speed in the Dolphins, as the Gators took what was supposed to be a tight meet and blew it open.
It was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV*. It was back before Mark Spitz. Back before Post-It Notes were invented. It was back before the original "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" movie -- you know, the good one starring Gene Wilder, not the weird one with Johnny Depp. It was back before "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was an iconic hit. It was the same year the Beatles broke up, and slightly less newsworthy. It was also just another year the Cubs did not win the World Series.
"It," of course, was the last time the Gators won two meets in Division 3 -- 1970. It's been 43 years since MVP has multiple victories in a season in one of the top three divisions of the NVSL. While 43 years may sound like a long time to you, it actually is a long time too!
*For those concerned that my Nixon reference is a partisan cheap shot, it's awfully given that I'm a Republican. First of all, he did lie to us all on TV. Secondly, and the main reason for that line, is it is from a classic Merle Haggard song, and anytime you can use a Merle Haggard reference in your writing, you pretty much have to do it. Now I just need to use a Dwight Yoakam and a Waylon Jennings reference, and my writing life is complete. But. . .I digress. . .back to the Gators.
MVP jumped out to a lead it would never relinquish by capturing the first four races, and seven of the ten freestyle events. Taking the 55-35 lead provided half of the margin of victory. The lead stayed the same during backstroke, as the two teams split the 90 points down the middle -- 45 each. The Gators won six of the ten backstroke events.
Breaststroke went the Gators way by a 51-39 margin, as MVPers won six of those as well. While fly was close, the 49-41 advantage in that stroke pushed the Gator lead out to 40 points -- meaning only three relay wins were needed for victory. MVP followed their six fly wins with splitting the relays at six each with Lee-Graham.
The race of the week was swum by Jessie Bricker, who beat her Lee-Graham opponent by a razor-thin 0.05 margin. Race of the week is based on the closest margin of victory for a Gator swimmer beating an opponent.
There were two Gator heroes this week. Nine year old Charlie Ruppe swam up as an 11-12 boys breaststrokers, and TJ Heck deserves special mention. Not only did the ten year old swim up in an 11-12 boys event, but he did the butterfly. Which means that instead of the 25 meters he's used to doing as a 9-10 swimmer, he did the whole 50 meter thing. Thanks to both for swimming above your age group (in swimming lingo -- or "swimgo" as no one other than me calls it -- that's known as "swimming up").
There were four Gator sweeps. The first came from the 11-12 girls freestylers, led by Emma Jones, with Claudia Theriot and Sheridan Phalen touching next for the whole nine points. The 15-18 girls backstrokers were the next to finish one-two-three. Maddy Bolger, Torie Bolger, and Anna Fracasso put the nine points on the scoreboard (note: there is no scoreboard, it's a figure of speech!). The 9-10 boys joined the broom party, as Parker Blondin, Will Friedman, and TJ Heck took the nine points for MVP. The 11-12 girls weren't done yet, as the butterfliers of Emma Jones, Natalie Terwilliger, and Mac Brotherton went one-two-three.
Of note were just how many Gators outperformed their seeds to turn a potential nail biter of a close meet (Editor's Note: Um, "nail biter" and "close" mean the same thing. Reporter's Note: Just want to reinforce the point!) into a healthy, good-sized win (Editor's Note: "healthy" and "good-sized" -- you are doing it again. Reporter's Note: Yes, as a matter of fact, I am). Many Gators swam as hoped -- taking firsts when expected, or seconds when projected, or thirds as conflected (Editor's Note: Now you are just making up words to rhyme. Reporter's Note: crickets chirping.).
But, given how many Gators garnered more points than projected, it's noteworthy highlighting them before breaking down the tape of five point/three point/one point earners. So, in no particular order, other than event number, here's the Gators who outdid themselves in the meet, along with how many more points they earned than "expected": Joseph Humphreys (one point), Clark Bayer (six points), Sara Bertram (two points), Maddy Bolger (one point), Lily Palmerino (two points) Katya Zaitsev (one point), Abigail Dittman (one point), Gus Leyden (two points), Will Friedman (two points), TJ Heck (one point), Brian McNamara (two points), Ian Baker (two points), Sam McBroom (one point), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (two points), and Torie Bolger (four points).
(For further explanation -- for example, Gus Leyden was projected to finish second in his backstroke to a Lee-Graham swimmer, but instead Gus won his race, earning five points instead of three. That, my loyal readers -- and folks who stumble on this blog post by mistake and are currently regretting it -- is why we actually swim the meets instead of just compare times!)
(By the way, in breaking the numbers down in this fashion, I may have gone to the next level of stat geekdom, for which I am both excited -- for me -- and apologetic -- to you! Admit it -- it's kind of a cool way to look at data.)
But, I digress. . .
Gator double winners include Andrei Zaitsev (free and back), Cage Theriot (free and fly), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free and breaststroke), Emma Jones (free and fly), Cassidy Bayer (free and fly), Sara Bertram (free and back), and Colby Webber (back and breaststroke).
(Stat Boy observation -- six of the seven Gators who won freestyle also won another race. File that under "things that make someone go hmmm. . .")
MVP swimmers who also won races were James Piland (free), Claudia Theriot (back), Gus Leyden (back), Jessie Bricker (back), Maddy Bolger (back), Parker Blondin (breaststroke), Sheridan Phalen (breaststroke), Ian Baker (breaststroke), Torie Bolger (breaststroke), Clark Bayer (fly), and Olivia Blondin (fly). So, out of the 40 individual events, Gators won 25.
Picking up three points for the team by finishing second were Clark Bayer (free), Nick Dupuis (free and fly), Claudia Theriot (free), Cameron Morey (free and fly), Jessie Bricker (free), Maddy Bolger (free), Lily Palmerino (back), Emily Makin (back and fly), Taylor Makin (back), Torie Bolger (back), Will Friedman (breaststroke), Olivia Blondin (breaststroke), Brian McNamara (breaststroke), Kaila Stein (breaststroke), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (fly), and Natalie Terwilliger (fly). The Gators took 20 of the 40 second place finishes.
Third place points were garnered by Joseph Humphreys (free), Annie Terwilliger (free), Sheridan Phalen (free), Katya Zaitsev (back), Abigail Dittman (back), Anna Fracasso (back), Jack Klopson (breaststroke), Caroline Baker (breaststroke), TJ Heck (breaststroke), Lily Penn (breaststroke), Sam McBroom (breaststroke), Jayne Orleans (breaststroke), James Piland (fly), Mac Brotherton (fly), Elaina Phalen (fly), and Emily Walzl (fly).
Oddly, there were no team records set this week. Back in the day, when this grizzled old blogger didn't have gray hair, new team records were unusual happenings. Now, this is the first time in a long time I'm not adding an article with new records. In fact, in a way this is probably a new team record for most consecutive weeks setting new team records. Maybe that's too obscure to be a record.
The Gators take on 3-0 Wakefield Chapel next Saturday at MVP.
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