Meatloaf Underestimated Two Out Of Three

The Mount Vernon Park Gators won their second trophy of the year on Monday night, scoring their seventh IM Invitational victory in the last eight years, and their sixth in a row.

Celebrate good times, c'mon!  (Let's celebrate!)

Along with sharing the Division 3 Relay Carnival championship, this means MVP won two of the three trophies they competed for this season.  That's better than Meatloaf claims, when he sings "two out of three ain't bad."  Instead, two out of three is pretty darn good!

The come-from-behind victory was turned into a blowout in the last few events.  The Gators won with 123.5 points, with Mansion House (97), Hollin Meadows (92) and Riverside Gardens (77.5) rounding out the Colonial Division.  Highland Park won the Minuteman Division, while Little Hunting Park took the title in the Patriot Division.

MVP did not take over the lead until event 6, the girls 11-12 individual medley, when the team had eight of the top nine finishers.  The 15-18 girls had a similar dominance, taking four of the top five Colonial Division spots, opening the lead from 12.5 points to the final 26.5 point win.

As noted above, the 13 teams are divided into three divisions based on size.  Points are awarded to the top eight finishers per division -- 10 points for first, eight for second, six for third, and then a one point drop per place -- so eighth place scores one point.  Only three swimmers per team can score points (known as the "Waynewood rule" from back in the day when they dominated the IMI).

When the Waynewood rule comes into effect, it is an impressive sign of the depth of the affected team.

Just like last year, Emily Makin and Cassidy Bayer were overall event winners.

Other Gator notables:

• 8 points were scored by: Matthew Makin, Samantha Cowen, James Piland, Sheridan Phalen, Kevin Adams-Mardi
• 6 points were scored by: Isabelle Van Damme, Andrew Baker, Jessie Bricker
• 5 points were scored by: TJ Heck, Gabrielle Greszler, Taylor Makin, Parker Fulghum
• 4 points were scored by: Parker Blondin, Brian McNamara
• 3 points were scored by: Cameron Morey
• 2 points were scored by: George Schulte, Donovan Kovalsky, Lily Palmerino, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Zoe Greszler, Gus Leyden
• 1 point was scored by: Cassidy Crowther (actually 1.5 points!), Jack Klopson
• Finishing top eight, but not scoring because of the Waynewood Rule were: Andrei Zaitsev, Olivia Blondin, Emma Jones, and Torie Bolger. 

Congratulations to Coach Paul, Coach Emily, and the entire Gator team for winning this always exciting event!