I probably should have put an asterisk in the title of this blog, but asterisks behave strangely in the URL since its a reserved character, and the title goes in the URL. So, I left it out. But I'll put it here: ... Mascots of D1 Lite*. And apparently we're starting out the blog with a technical discussion this week. You are welcome. ;-)
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| Aloha. Everybody loves Hawaiian day. |
But anyway, about that asterisk *... My reason for bringing it into the discussion is the characterization of our division this year (D2) as "D1 Lite." In case you haven't noticed through the first two weeks, we are stacked up against some pretty stiff competition. As a matter of fact, nearly every team (other than MVP and Crosspointe) has spent significant time in D1 lately. This is a normal part of the promotion and relegation system of the NVSL. It just so happens that this season, MVP, who is normally strongly anchored in D3 is "meeting in the middle" versus a number of teams that are normally anchored in D1. And so goes D2 (D1 Lite*) this year. And with that as the background, it sets up for a few long shot challenges in our dual meets this year. That doesn't mean we can't or won't win. It just means we are coming into each of these meets as the underdogs.
Our opponent this week, McLean, is very much one of those "usually D1" teams. As a matter of fact, this is the first time McLean has not been in D1 since 2010.
So, that's the background on the "D1 Lite*" thing. But we do have more important things to talk about here. Namely, (1) the AWESOME group of mascots in D2 this year (Unlike 2017, when we battled against three different versions of Dolphins, this year we see a very eclectic mix of mascots... try saying that three times fast), and (2) the results of that swim meet in McLean on Saturday.
First up, the mascots. McLean is the Marlins. Admittedly, it is not the most unique of names, but it is a very appropriate one. Marlins are considered to be one of the fastest fish in the sea (if not the fastest of all...). And based on the meet results, these Marlins are pretty fast. But more on that later.
We already discussed the mascot of last week's opponent briefly in that blog. The "Green Feet" of Hamlet is definitely one of my favorite names in all of the NVSL. It makes for a fun logo and lots of interesting stories and lore surround the name.
Our opponent next weekend is the Wakefield Chapel Wahoos. Another fun name. Yes, it is the unofficial mascot of UVA, and at one point in time the unofficial name of the Cleveland Indians mascot, but nonetheless it is relatively unique and a fun one to use in cheers and such.
While the Green Feet are one of my favs in NVSL, the Langley Wild Things have the best mascot of the lot in my very unofficial opinion. The mascot is derived from the classic Maurice Sendak children's book and gets points for both cool appearance AND literary reference. And in an amazing alignment of anecdotes in the blog, Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn was the lead character in the old movie Major League, which was based on the Cleveland Indians, whose mascot used to be Chief Wahoo (as described above). Spooky how these things are connected.
Our final opponent of the season will be the Crosspointe Cruisers. I'll be honest, it doesn't carry the promise of speed like the Marlins, nor playfulness of the Wahoos, Green Feet, or Wild Things... but it is definitely a unique name and bonus points for the alliteration. And don't be fooled by the laid back connotation of the "Cruisers" name... we're sure to see plenty of speed from this team when we travel to their pool in a few weeks.
I would be remiss if I didn't give the old shout out to our own MVP Gators. A pretty cool mascot in its own right, and on top of that the whole package works together very nicely: we have a pond, we swim in the swamp, and using the MVP initials of Mount Vernon Park is cool on so many levels... cheers, logos, casual reference. And the alliteration of "Go Gators" just adds to the fun.
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| Go Gators! |
And that's all the teams and mascots of D1 Lite. Definitely a fun assortment of characters.
On to this week's meet itself!
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| Six years old. Legal Breaststroke in the "A" meet. That's a blog-worthy accomplishment. |
As previously mentioned, this is McLean's first time NOT being in D1 in over 10 years. Those Marlins are pretty fast. But notably, if you weren't paying attention last week, MVP likes to "announce our presence with authority!" And once again we took the early lead in the meet as Owen Prible earned the victory in the 8 & under Free.
While the early lead was short-lived, and McLean ultimately was able to win every stroke and the meet, we definitely had some great performances in there. Two of our age groups were locked-on and had stellar weeks.
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| Rally time. |
The 9-10 Boys won 3 out of 4 events, took their relay, finished 2-3 in the one event that they didn't win, and had the Gators' only "clean sweep" of the week with Jackson Saloom, Andrew Wiggers, and Jacob Milito going 1-2-3 in the Fly. While I usually wait until the end of the blog to announce the weekly group and stroke winners, I'm just going to deliver those accolades right here, right now. With that great set of races, the 9-10 boys earned the "Age Group of the Week" and Lincoln Jetton was our swimmer of the week winning both the Free and Breast.
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| "Lincoln" together a couple of victories on the day. |
Having a similarly excellent week, and finishing as runners up in the "AGOTW" contest, were the 13-14 Boys. Alex North won the Free, George Schulte took the back, and Matthew Makin touched the wall first in the Breast. And then that trio, joined by Jack Alzona, won their Medley Relay, too. In most weeks, that probably would have earned them the AGOTW title, but the 9-10 Boys just barely squeezed them out this week.
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| So good, he won the race swimming backwards. |
Over on the girls side of the event, there were several quality victories, too. Elizabeth Miller won the 8 & under Backstroke by fingertips and Alex Kellogg earned the victory in the Fly in a great race. Emily Makin took care of business and won the 15-18 Breaststroke.
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| That photo finish... |
And following up on her outstanding debut performance in the 15-18 Backstroke last week, Lily Palmerino provided an encore by winning the event again this week with what ended up as the Race of the Week! In a tight battle from start to finish, Lily found the wall first and came away with the blue ribbon with a 0.05 second margin. Adding even more drama to that particular race, the difference between 1st and 3rd place (Olivia Blondin) was only 0.11 seconds! Three swimmers all finishing together in the blink of an eye. Whew. That was a close one. (If you want to appreciate how close of a three-way finish that race was, just try to start and stop a watch in that amount of time... you probably can't.)
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| Today's lesson in "life isn't fair"... you win the 8u Fly but your sister gets the picture in the blog because it is such a great fly photo. |
McLean proved to be gracious hosts, and it was a fun meet all around, even if the Gators came up a little short when the final score was tallied.
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| Good meet. Good sportsmanship. |
Next up on the "A" meet schedule is a trip to Wakefield Chapel. The last time we met head-to-head was an epic battle for the D3 title in the Swamp back in 2013. I'm looking forward to the matchup and I'm sure we'll see some similar excitement in the races on Saturday.
Go Gators!
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