Villa Maria wins 13th consecutive AACA swimming championship

Villa Maria Academy, competing in the 15th AACA swimming championships Feb. 11 at Upper Dublin High School, finished in first place for the 13th consecutive year. After finishing in a first-place tie with Mount Saint Joseph’s last year, Villa Maria finished first this year, with Mount Saint Josephs second and Nazareth Academy third. Villa Maria earned five gold medals, six silver medals and a bronze medal in the individual events, and 20 swimmers scored points for the Hurricanes.
Hurricane head coach Cathy Hay sent out an all-senior relay to start the meet. Villa’s Hope Reynolds, Katelyn Chick, Olivia Giampietro, and Maura McManus won the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:50.85, with Gwynedd finishing second. McManus swam a fine freestyle anchor (24.62) to secure the victory.
Next up, sophomore Alexa Turco kept the medals going with a third-place finish in the 200 free, followed closely by freshmen Caitlin Hamill (fourth) and Kyra Kowalewski (eighth). In the 200 IM, Villa Maria stayed close with Chick (fourth), Reynolds (fifth), Katherine Fronczak (seventh) and Mary Katherine Clark (12th) all earning points for the team.
In the final event of the first session, the 50 free, Villa showed its depth with seniors Giampietro and McManus finishing in a tie for second (25.14), and junior Nina Smith (fourth) and senior Amy McHale (16th) all scoring for the team. At the first break Villa had jumped out to a 30 point lead over Mount Saint Josephs.
As the meet switched over to diving, coach Steve Curlee’s girls earned some very important points. MSJ diver Charlottte Whipple took first place, but with Villa’s Riley Miller taking second and Alexa Fowler capturing fourth, Villa increased its point lead.
Villa Maria junior Kaitlyn Agger got the second session off to a flying start with a first-place finish in the 100 fly (58.53) just touching out Maddie McSorely from Nazareth (58.76) and Villa’s Clark (fourth) and Magness (fifth). In the 100 free, Villa started to put the meet away as McManus and Giampietro finished first and second, followed by Nina Smith (fifth). In the 500 free, Villa showed they could not only sprint but handle the distance as well with Agger taking second in 5:09.22, Turco fifth and Fronczak sixth. In the final event of the second session, Villa’s 200 free relay took second place behind Mount Saint Josephs. Villa had opened up a commanding 100 point lead in overall points.
As the final session started, Kira Buchler took home the gold medal in the 100 back (59.98), followed by Reynolds (fourth), Magness (sixth) and Kyra Kowalewksi (ninth). In the 100 breast, Kaitlyn Chick led the way with a fifth-place finish. The final event of the day was the 400 free relay, where Villa’s Smith, Agger, Giampietro and McManus brought home the victory once again in 3:39.97.