Cougar Swim Team Competes Against District Opponents

The Manassas Park High Swim Team suffered a loss to two district opponents on Saturday, but coaches said the meet wasn't without many personal gains.

No one was disqualified from the meet and majority of the team logged personal best swimming times, Sam Olbes, head coach of the Cougar team said on Sunday.

 The Cougars competed against George Mason High and William Monroe High Schools.

 In the Boys 200-yard Medley Relay, freshman Thomas Smith, sophomore Justin Sheard, junior Daniel Smith and senior Michael McFarland placed fourth with a time of 2:13.47. 

Sophomores Faysal Shaikh and Anthony Towns, eighth grader Lorenzo May and freshman Kevin Quick swam exhibition and finished in 3:01.30. 

 Freshman Shaina Williams and sophomores Olivia Carros, Taylor Geer and Karen Xu placed fifth in the Girls 200-yard Medley Relay with a time of 2:22.94—a team best.

 For the Boys 200-yard Freestyle, Freshman Matthew Min and Towns placed fifth and sixth, respectively.  Min finished in 3:00.07 and Towns in 3:16.93.

 Geer swam in the Girls 200-yard freestyle and finished in 3:43.34 for fifth place.

 The Boys 200-yard Individual Medley was swam by D. Smith and freshman Austin Ponsart.  D. Smith finished in fourth with a time of 2:35.69.  Ponsart placed sixth with a time of 3:03.91.

 Williams competed in the Girls 200-yard IM and placed fifth.  She finished in 2:53.10.

 Six boys swam in the 50-yard Freestyle.  Sheard and Min placed fourth and sixth, respectively.  Sheard had a time of 27.56 seconds, a personal best, and Min finished in 31.82, which is also a personal best. 

Sophomore Nick Gonzalez, Shaikh, Quick and May swam exhibition.  Gonzalez had a personal best at 33.97 seconds.  Shaikh finished in 39.44 seconds.  Quick had a personal best of 46.85 seconds.  May swam the 50-yard Freestyle in 34.52 seconds.

 For the Girls 50-yard Freestyle, Freshmen Niecy Lindsay and freshman Kaylynn Semple competed for Manassas Park High.  Lindsay finished third with a personal best of 29.46 seconds.  Semple also swam a personal best of 37.84 and placed sixth.

 McFarland and Gonzalez swam the Boys 100-yard Butterfly.  McFarland finished fifth in 1:20.79.  Gonzalez swam a personal best time of 1:44.57 and placed sixth.

 Xu competed in the Girls 100 yard Butterfly placing fifth.  She had a personal best time of 1:35.88.

 In the Boys 100 -yard Freestyle, seven boys competed with six finishing with personal best times.  Sheard placed fourth with a time of 1:03.93, a personal best, and freshman Matthew Gillespie placed sixth with a time of 1:24.28, also a personal best. 

 Ponsart (1:16.94), Towns (1:23.94), Shaikh (1:29.97) and Quick (1:55.16) swam exhibition and finished with personal bests.  May also swam exhibition and finished with a time of 1:20.78.

 Lindsay and Williams placed fourth and fifth, respectively in the Girls 100-yard Freestyle.  Lindsay swam a personal best of 1:06.75.  Williams swam the event in 1:07.90, also a personal best.  Eighth grader Alexi Kerey and Semple swam exhibition and both finished with personal bests.  Kerey swam a 1:27.56, while Semple finished in 1:31.12.

 The next event was the Boys 500 -yard Freestyle.  McFarland finished fifth and swam a personal best of 7:44.56.  T. Smith finished sixth with a time of 8:03.31.

 Geer swam a personal best in the Girls 500- yard Freestyle.  She placed fourth with a time of 7:39.51.

 Ponsart, Towns, Gonzalez and Min swam the Boys 200- yard Freestyle Relay.  They placed fourth with a time of 2:16.57.

 T. Smith competed in the Boys 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 1:27.00, for a fifth place finish.

 Carros placed fifth in the Girls 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 1:26.32.  Kerey swam exhibition and finished in 1:50.32.

 For the Boys 100-yard Breaststroke, D. Smith and Shaikh finished with personal bests.  D. Smith came in fourth place with a time of 1:23.44.  Shaikh placed sixth in 1:44.78.

 Xu and Carros swam the Girls 100-yard Breaststroke.  Xu swam a personal best time of 1:30.09 for a fifth-place finish.  Carros placed sixth with a time of 1:40.19.

 Two Manassas Park teams competed in the Boys 400-yard Freestyle Relay.  The first team consisted of Sheard, McFarland, T. Smith and D. Smith.  They swam a team best time of 4:44.20 and placed fourth.  The second team swam exhibition and had a time of 5:20.29.  Those swimmers were Min, Ponsart, Gonzalez and May.

 The last event on Saturday was the Girls 400-yard Freestyle Relay.  Geer, Lindsay, Xu and Williams finished in third place with a team best time of 4:49.37.

 Combined scores: William Monroe High School 141 to MPHS 44; George Mason High School 162 to MPHS 25.

 Men’s Scores: William Monroe High 67 to Manassas Park 25; George Mason High 67 to Manassas Park High 27

 Women’s Scores: William Monroe High 74 to Manassas Park High 19; George Mason High 79 to Manassas Park High 14

 The Cougars will have their next meet on Saturday when they face Central (Woodstock) High School and Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School.

 The MPHS Cougars are in their inaugural season and coached by Head Coach Samantha (Sam) Olbes and Assistant Coach Kim O’Brien.