The high school swim and dive regular season has just one more week remaining and the Westfield High boys’ team is sporting an unbeaten record at 6-0.
This past Friday night Westfield defeated Robinson, 173-142, to remain atop the Concorde District standings.
The Westfield girls (4-2) also won against their Robinson counterparts,171-143. Making the evening extra special for the Westfield teams was that the Bulldogs were celebrating `Senior Night.’
Indeed, it has been the seniors who have led the outstanding Westfield boys’ team, which has victories this season over their following district opponents: Herndon, Chantilly, Oakton, Centreville and Robinson. The team has defeated Robinson twice – the first time in the season opener on Dec. 3 and the second time in Friday’s meeting.
“Our boys have been outstanding, especially our seniors,” said Westfield coach Bruce Andersen. “They came into the season with lofty goals, but they weren't all believers.They beat Robinson to start out the season to give them a big morale boost.”
Just prior to the winter holiday break, the Bulldogs defeated a talented Oakton squad, 161-154. That boys’ team victory came down to the final relay.
Both the Westfield boys’ and girls’ teams will close out the regular season this Friday night with a meet versus local district rival Centreville High. The meet will take place at Oak Marr Recreation Center beginning at 6.
The following weekend will see the Bulldogs competing at the district championships, beginning with the dive championships on Thursday morning, Jan. 27 at 11:45 a.m. at Audrey Moore. The district swim preliminaries will take place Friday evening, Jan. 28 beginning at 5:30, then the finals will be held on Saturday night, Jan. 29, also at 5:30. The preliminaries and finals swim competitions will take place at Cub Run.
“We are excited about the upcoming championship season,” said Andersen, of the upcoming postseason which will consist of districts, followed a week later by the Northern Region Championships (Feb. 1-5) at Oak Marr. This year’s state championships will take place in Virginia Beach the weekend of Feb. 18.
The Westfield boys’ top swimmers this winter have been CJ Fiala, Kurtis Ratcliff, Charlie Keith, Brandon Fiala, Richard Xue, and Matt Glowacki.
“Our divers have also been a big plus, even though we don't have any summer dive programs that feed into Westfield,” said Andersen.
<B>THE WESTFIELD GIRLS</B> are a younger team across the board and have been a little inconsistent. Even so, the Wildcats have gained four wins going into the final week.
“Our girls aren't as deep, but we have some young talent,” said Andersen.
The team’s victories have come over Herndon, Chantilly, Centreville and Robinson. The win over Robinson on Friday avenged an earlier season, week one loss to the Rams on Dec. 3.
The Westfield girls have not had a full squad available for any of their meets this season.
“We haven't had a meet yet where we had everyone, and we have a few girls who are still battling some injuries and aches,” said the coach. “We are hoping to put it all together by district championship time.”
Westfield diver Heather Magill has had a strong season and qualified for regions.
The girls’ team’s top swimmers have been Carli Molano and Seirra Higinbotham, both who have region cuts. Freshmen Zoe Hemmer and Amy Layne have been strong performers, as have sophomores Erin Schulte and Reagan Warrington.
Andersen is optimistic his teams can excel during the postseason meets.
“If both teams continue to work hard and stay healthy they should do well through the championship season,” he said. “They are a fantastic group of student athletes, with infectious enthusiasm.”