Oakton Girls Swim Their Way to Second Consecutive Regional Championship

Written by Katie Pierce, Oakton swim and dive manager.

Oakton High School's girls varsity swim team defeated McLean and Langley to win their second consecutive Virginia AAA Northern Region Championship Saturday. The boys swim team placed third behind James Madison and Robinson.

Junior Janet Hu, 2012 All-Met Swimmer of The Year, broke two regional records at the meet: 100yd Freestyle (48.90) and 100yd Backstroke (52.81). Both swims qualified as Automatic All-American (AAA) times.

Freshman Megan Byrnes broke the record in the 200yd Freestyle (1.50.34) with an AAC qualifying time and in the 500yd Freestyle (4:50.43) with an AAA qualifying time.

The girls’ relays were unstoppable. Hu led the 200yd Medley Relay with Melissa Shebat, Julia Capobianco, and Gillian Crews that placed 1st with an AAC qualifying time. Byrnes was a part of the 200yd Freestyle Relay with Gillian Crews, Elise Bourdelais, and Laura Branton that placed 1st with an AAA qualifying time of 1:36.62. Hu anchored the 400yd Freestyle Relay with Laura Branton, Kendall Lawhorn, and Megan Byrnes that broke the regional record with a time of 3:27.73 and an AAA qualifying time.

Diver, Bennett Fagan, placed 10th overall at the AAA Northern Region Boys 1m Diving Final with 317.05 points.

Numerous Cougar swimmers placed with State qualifying times:

In the Boys 200yd Medley Relay, Oakton’s John Shebat, Michael Pettinichi, Philip Hu, and Michael Ambrose placed 3rd with an AAC qualifying time.

In the Girls 200yd Medley Relay, Janet Hu, Melissa Shebat, Julia Capobianco, and Gillian Crews placed 1st with an AAC qualifying time.

In the Girls 200yd Freestyle, Megan Byrnes placed 1st with a region record and an AAC qualifying time.

In the Boys 200yd Individual Medley, Denny Nguyen and Nathan Pawlowicz placed 2nd and 5th respectively with a state qualifying times.

In the Boys 50yd Freestyle, John Shebat placed 4th with a state qualifying time.

In the Girls 50yd Freestyle, Laura Branton and Gillian Crews places 4th and 8th with state qualifying times.

In the Boys 100yd Butterfly, Philip Hu placed 1st with an AAC qualifying time.

In the Girls 100yd Butterfly, Laura Branton placed 2nd with an AAA qualifying time. Julia Capobianco and Gillian Crews placed 5th and 6th with state qualifying times.

In the Girls 100yd Freestyle, Janet Hu placed 1st with a region record and an AAA qualifying time.

In the Boys 500yd Freestyle, Nathan Pawlowicz placed 4th with a state qualifying time.

In the Girls 500yd Freestyle, Megan Byrnes placed 1st with a region record and an AAA qualifying time.

In the Boys 200yd Freestyle Relay, John Shebat, Cameron Santoro, Michael Ambrose, and Denny Nguyen placed 4th with a state qualifying time.

In the Girls 200yd Freestyle Relay, Gillian Crews, Elise Bourdelais, Megan Byrnes, and Laura Branton placed 1st with an AAA qualifying time.

In the Boys 100yd Backstroke, Philip Hu placed 1st with a region record and an AAA qualifying time.

In the Girls 100yd Backstroke, Janet Hu placed 1st with a region record and an AAA qualifying time.

In the Boys 100yd Breaststroke, Michael Pettinichi placed 14th with a state qualifying time.

In the Boys 400yd Freestyle Relay, Denny Nguyen, Michael Ambrose, Nathan Pawlowicz, and Philip Hu placed 5th with a state qualifying time.

In the Girls 400yd Freestyle Relay, Laura Branton, Kendall Lawhorn, Megan Byrnes, and Janet Hu placed 1st with a region record and an AAA qualifying time.

Complete results from the Virginia AAA Northern Regional Championship Meet can be found at www.vhsl.org/athletics.

Oakton Swim and Dive returns to the pool for the Virginia High School League AAA State Championship Meet at George Mason University on Feb. 15-16.