A new season began for three Hanover County swim teams Saturday and Atlee came out the big winner. The meet set off a new era for local swimming competition – rather than being held at a local swim club, it was held at the Estes Aquatic Center on the campus of Randolph-Macon College.

  In a tri-meet with Hanover and Lee-Davis, the Raiders won both the boys’ and girls’ competitions against their Capital District neighbors.

  In the boys’ competition, Atlee defeated Hanover 61-32 and Lee-Davis 56-38. The Confederates defeated the Hawks 57-34. The Raider girls defeated the Hawks 66-28 and the Confederates 54-40. Lee-Davis defeated Hanover 57-37.

  “I am ecstatic. I am very excited with the team results,” said Atlee coach Karen Seeber. “We have a lot of new swimmers this year. They did a great job. They really came out, worked really hard. … We started the second week of November and they’ve been chugging along ever since.”

  Ben Gastrock and Jack Stockhausen led Atlee’s boys. Both were on the Raiders’ winning 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams with times of 1:54.92 and 3:43.69, respectively. Gastrock also won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events with times of 1:48.55 and 4:58.38, respectively. Stockhausen won 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly with times of 2:16.84 and 1:01.04.

  Taylor Carr led the Raiders’ girls team by winning the 200-yard individual medley (2:30.96), the 100-yard backstroke (1:10.60), and being part of Atlee’s winning 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:56.28) and 400-yard freestyle relay team (4:14.66).

  Sean Cronley was the big winner for Lee-Davis’ boys team. Cronley won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.29 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:04.59. Naveed Quarterman won one event as an individual, the 100-yard freestyle (1:01.88) and was part of the Confederates’ winning 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:49.59).

  Savanna Dotson was the only double-winner on Lee-Davis’ girls team, with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 27.22 and as part of the Confederates’ victorious 200-yard medley relay team with a time of 2:11.68.

  “I think we performed better than I actually expected,” said Lee-Davis coach Matt Barker. “We’ve only really had a full week of practice with the team this year, so I really think they swam their best.”

  Hanover’s girls team featured two winners, Ashley Dustin in the 100-yard butterfly (1:14.06) and Sarah Grammer in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:17.29).

  “I was very enthusiastic,” said Hanover coach Stuart Bernstein of his first meet with the team. “It was more of a learning experience … just trying to see their strengths and weaknesses, what we need to improve.”

  As the teams look forward to the rest of the season, Seeber is appreciating one advantage her Raiders have: depth. Atlee has a combined total of nearly 60 swimmers, and many of those are well prepared for competition.

  “They knew their strokes. Their turns looked good. Their starts looked good,” Seeber said. “Everybody really just stepped up and worked hard for the team.”

  Nevertheless, she has a lot of relatively inexperienced swimmers to deal with. She is not alone. All three teams have a number of swimmers new to high school competition. But experience is not the only thing that makes for a successful season.

  “They’re very close as a team,” Bernstein said of his Hawks. “They support each other very well. They’re also very disciplined. They listen to the instructions very well—very coachable.

  The coaches expect Atlee and Maggie Walker to fight as usual for dominance in the Central Region. But there will be a scrap for the next rung of the ladder.
  “This year, I think, and really every year with us, it comes down to Lee-Davis, Hanover and Patrick Henry,” Barker said. “Those three schools kind of duke it out every year, so it will be a good year to see what happens with them.”

BOYS TEAM RESULTS:
Atlee 56, Lee-Davis 38
Atlee 61, Hanover 32
Lee-Davis 57, Hanover 34

Individual results

200 medley relay: 1. Atlee A (ESmith, Stockhausen, Gastrock, Moore) 1:54.92; 2. Hanover A (Tillar, CHenry, Richardson, Holl) 1:59.61; 3. Lee-Davis (Cronley, McGuckin, Perkins, Ebert) 2:01.57; 4. Atlee B (Ercelebi, Curley, Ford, Schroeder) 2:08.10; 5. Hanover B (Wilson, Blaser, SHenry, McLear) 2:11.87.

200 free: 1. Gastrock, (A) 1:48.55; 2. Holl (H) 2:09.45; 3. Durbin (L-D) 2:19.65; 4. Moore, Jake (A) 2:35.94; 5. Courter (L-D) 2:45.78; 6. Tillar (H) 2:48.46.

200 medley: 1. Stockhausen (A) 2:16.84; 2. CSmith (A) 2:22.19; 3. Quarterman (L-D) 2:37.50; 4. Ebert (L-D) 2:42.94; 5. Richardson (H) 2:43.11; 6. Blaser (H) 2:47.69.

50 free: 1. Cronley (L-D) 24.29; 2. CHenry (H) 25.22; 3. ESmith (A) 25.88; 4. SHenry (H) 26.53; 5. McGuckin (L-D) 27.53; 6. Moore (A) 27.56.

100 fly: 1. Stockhausen (A) 1:01.04; 2. Perkins (L-D) 1:08.63; 3. Durvin (L-D) 1:13.61; 4. Mackey (A) 1:14.65.

100 free: 1. Quarterman (L-D) 1:01.88; 2. Jones (A) 1:01.94; 3. ESmith (A) 1:02.35; 4. Ebert (L-D) 1:04.00; 5. SHenry (H) 1:05.78; 6. Wilson (H) 1:09.63.

500 free: 1. Gastrock (A) 4:58.38; 2. Holl (H) 5:53.69; 3. Perkins (L-D) 6:40.94; 4. Ford (A) 6:41.04.

200 free relay: 1. Lee-Davis (Ebert, Courter, Durbin, Quarterman) 1:49.59; 2. Hanover (SHenry, Wilson, McLear, CHenry) 1:51.09; 3. Atlee A (CSmith, Schwartz, Curley, Moore) 1:51.25; 4. Atlee B Donahue, Ercelebi, Jones, Barney) 1:51.37.

100 back: 1. Cronley (L-D) 1:04.59; 2. CSmith (A) 1:05.60; 3. Blaser (H) 1:13.75; 4. Anthony (L-D) 1:13.81; 5. Tillar (H) 1:19.15; 6. Ercelebi (A) 1:20.38.

100 breast: 1. Curley (A) 1:15.00; 2 CHenry (H) 1:15.28; 3. Ford (A) 1:16.32; 4. Durvin (L-D) 1:22.56; 5. Courter (L-D) 1:29.89; 6. Wilson (H) 1:41.75.

400 free relay: 1. Atlee A (Gastrock, CSmith, ESmith, Stockhausen) 3:43.69; 2. Lee-Davis A (Perkins, Quaterman, McGuckin, Cronley) 4:03.28; 3. Hanover (Richardson, Blaser, Tillar, Holl) 4:06.82; 4. Atlee B (Ford, Schwartz, Schroeder, Barney) 4:16.03; 5. Lee-Davis B (Anthony, Durvin, Durbin, Courter) 4:36.49.

GIRLS TEAM RESULTS:
Atlee 54, Lee-Davis 40
Atlee 66, Hanover 28
Lee-Davis 57, Hanover 37

Individual results
200 medley relay: 1. Lee-Davis (Blade, Bowman, Turnage, Dotson) 2:11.68; 2. Atlee (Steiner, Henley, Bragg, Smith) 2:12.90; 3. Hanover (Black, Grammer, Blackburn, Tillar) 2:15.43; 4. Atlee (Judson, Benson, Jones, Partridge) 2:30.25; 5. Hanover (Koresmaros, Loving, Snare, Potts) 2:30.50.

200 free: 1. Steiner (A) 2:18.39; 2. Cronley (L-D) 2:18.40; 3. Tarbox (A) 2:23.79; 4. Shrull (L-D) 2:35.50; 5. Koresmaros (H) 2:45.25; 6. Potts (H) 2:56.04.

200 medley: 1. Carr (A) 2:30.96; 2. Partridge (A) 2:38.12; 3. Bowman (L-D) 2:44.62; 4. Blade (L-D) 2:50.95; 5. Tillar (H) 2:52.16; 6. Snare (H) 2:59.75.
50 free: 1. Dotson (L-D) 27.22; 2. Smalara (A) 27.93; 3. Grammer (H) 28.08; 4. Isabelle (A) 29.23; 5. Turnage (L-D) 29.30; 6. Koresmaros (H) 32.54.

100 fly: 1. Dustin (H) 1:14.06; 2. Smith (A) 1:22.94; 3. Miller (L-D) 1:26.31; 4. Jones (A) 1:26.57; 5. Wright (L-D) 1:29.68.

100 free: 1. Cronley (L-D) 1:02.64; 2. Smalara (A) 1:03.94; 3. Blade (L-D) 1:05.98; 4. Watson (A) 1:08.05; 5. Blackburn (H) 1:11.54; 6. Kinser (H) 1:14.59.

500 free: 1. Partridge (A) 6:22.65; 2. Dustin (H) 6:33.69; 3. Dotson (L-D) 6:37.12; 4. Tarbox (A) 6:45.90; 5. Black (H) 7:46.17; 6. Reed (L-D) 8:00.80.

200 free relay: 1. Atlee A (Smalara, Watson, Isabelle, Carr) 1:56.28; 2. Hanover A (Dustin, Snare, Blackburn, Tillar) 2:00.57; 3. Lee-Davis (Carlton, Shrull, Miller, Cronley) 2:01.66; 4. Atlee B (Tarbox, Smith, Mitchell, Steiner) 2:05.14; 5. Hanover B (McClure, Piccolomini, Swindells, Kinser) 2:10.40.

100 back: 1. Carr (A) 1:10.60; 2. Steiner (A) 1:11.18; 3. Bowman (L-D) 1:17.06; 4. Snare (H) 1:21.75; 5. Blackburn (H) 1:24.27; 6. Miller (L-D) 1:24.94.

100 breast: 1. Grammer (H) 1:17.29; 2. SReed (L-D) 1:27.74; 3. AReed (L-D) 1:28.03; 4. Watson (A) 1:28.12; 5. Black (H) 1:29.06; 6. Judson (A) 1:35.05.

400 free relay: 1. Atlee A (Isabelle, Watson, Smalara, Carr) 4:14.66; 2. Lee-Davis A (Dotson, Blade, Cronley, Bowman) 4:15.53; 3. Hanover A (Black, Koresmaros, Grammer, Dustin) 4:36.34; 4. Lee-Davis-B ( Miller, SReed, Shrull, Turnage) 4:37.87; 5. Atlee B (Partridge, Robey, Mitchell, Tarbox) 4:41.34; 6. Hanover B (Kinser, Neas, Piccolomini, Potts) 5:27.03.