Hanover County’s local swim programs turned in a collection of state titles and podium finishes at the Class 4 state swimming championships at SwimRVA this past weekend, highlighted by multiple event wins from Atlee and Hanover on the boys side and a terrific performance from Atlee’s Sierra Durrette in the girls competition.
In the girls team standings, Monacan captured the state title with 326 points, followed by Blacksburg (312) and Jamestown (302). Atlee placed sixth with 160 points, Mechanicsville was seventh with 129 and Hanover finished 13th with 40.
Durrette led the way for the Atlee girls, claiming the state championship in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.78. She added a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle, touching in 51.11 seconds, and helped power Atlee to second in the 200 freestyle relay. Ashlyn Keith, Juliann Ellington, Chloe Lutton and Durrette combined for a 1:38.39 time, finishing just behind Jamestown (1:37.61).
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Mechanicsville’s Reagan Strohhacker also reached the podium, placing second in the 100 butterfly in 55.94 seconds, narrowly behind Jamestown’s Campbell Daniel (55.72). In the 100 freestyle that Durrette placed second in, Strohhacker was close behind in third with a time of 52.23.
On the boys side, Lafayette edged Blacksburg and Jamestown for the team title with 245 points. Atlee finished fourth with 225, Hanover was fifth with 187, Mechanicsville placed eighth with 120 and Patrick Henry rounded out the local group in ninth with 115.
Hanover claimed a pair of state titles, starting with the 200 freestyle relay. Douglas Welsh, Briggs Zyglocke, Callan Cotton and Colin Eliason posted a winning time of 1:25.24, holding off Atlee’s runner-up squad (1:26.17). Eliason added an individual championship in the 100 backstroke, winning in 48.60 seconds, while Atlee’s Michael Sabo was second at 50.08.
Hanover also secured a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as Eliason, Dylan Croxton, Carson Sims and Zyglocke combined for a 1:34.01 result, just behind Lafayette (1:33.50).
Atlee’s Chandler Rose delivered a standout meet with two individual state titles. Rose edged Hanover’s Eliason in the 50 freestyle, winning in 21.09 seconds to Eliason’s 21.15, and later pulled away in the 100 butterfly, capturing first in 49.21 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of second-place Cameron Roy (Blacksburg) and his 50.23-second time
Rose also played a role in Atlee’s state championship 400 freestyle relay win. Rose, Nolan Feighner, William Cope and Michael Sabo finished in 3:12.43 to secure another title for the Raiders.
Sabo added an individual runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley, clocking a 1:51.70, just behind Jefferson Forest’s Hudson Rice (1:50.90).
Patrick Henry’s Thomas Senfield turned in a strong swim in the 500 freestyle, placing second in 4:32.89, narrowly behind Jefferson Forest’s Rice at 4:32.45.
Between them, Hanover and Atlee combined for five state titles on the boys side, while Durrette’s individual championship paced the Atlee girls, capping a productive weekend for local programs at the Class 4 meet.
