Malvern Prep, Villa Maria swim teams down Hill School in season opener

Malvern >> The Malvern Prep and Villa Maria Academy swim teams each opened its respective seasons Tuesday with a solid victory against The Hill School.
The host Friars enjoyed winning performances from a variety of swimmers for a 108-63 win, while the Hurricanes used their depth and some fine diving performances en route to a 106-77 victory.
“I was impressed with how our whole team was able to come together today, with it being our first meet of the season,” said Malvern Prep coach Bethany Dewitt. “It’s great to see where we are in mid-December, after training for a couple of weeks.”
Malvern Prep first-place finishes in the individual boys events included junior Davis Woerner in the 200 IM (2:05.98), senior Ben Kutufaris in the 50 free (21.78) and 100 free (48.41), senior Tom Moul in the 100 fly (52.99) and 100 back (54.53), senior Brady Tierney in the 500 free (4:56.63) and Louis DeFra in 1-meter diving (129.60). Davis also swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.48 (exhibition).
“Louis (DeFra) was our second diver last winter behind (senior standout) Nick Harris, and this season he’s been working really, really hard knowing that he’s our No. 1 diver, and he really stepped up and did a great job today,” said Dewitt. “I’m really proud of how everyone on our team did today.”
Malvern finished first in the 200 medley relay (Moul, Woerner, Tierney and Kutufaris) with a clocking of 1:40.81, and placed first in the 200 free relay with a quartet of Woerner, Alex deVries, Tierney and Kutufaris (1:30.98). The Friars foursome of deVries, Moul, Will Bentley and Tierney swam the 400 free relay in 3:31.52 (exhibition).
Villa Maria got first-place finishes in individual girls events from Keriann Collison in the 100 fly (1:06.22), Brinley Beck in the 50 free (27.76) and 100 free (1:00.85), senior Mary Cate Doughty in 1-meter diving (242.78) and Ainsley Ingram in the 100 back (1:10.40).
“Keriann, Brinley and Ainsley are strong swimmers and did a great job today,” said Villa Maria coach Fritz Schumann. “We won primarily because of our depth and our diving. Our swimmers did great, but our divers did fantastic. All four of our divers reached the district cut (150.00) today.”
Those four Hurricane divers were Doughty, junior Charlotte Bohnenberger (171.38), Lila Traynor (158.25) and Kaleigh Wagner (162.60, exhibition).
“I was focusing, having fun today, doing what I did in practice,” said a smiling Doughty. “I thought I did well in my back dives.”
Bohnenberger said, “I did the dives (today) that I’ve been working on for a really long time. I think my best dives today were the inwards.”
The Hurricanes also finished first in the girls 400 free relay (4:14.92), with a quartet of Ingram, Graciella Schofield, Beck and Collison.
“Reilly Meriwether swam a great 100 breaststroke (second place, 1:21.71) today,” said Schumann. “Overall, we’ve got some good depth on our team. We’re really happy with what we’ve got going so far. We’re going to improve as the season goes along, and we’re off to a good start.”
The Hill School boys’ and girls’ teams each dropped to 0-3 with their respective losses, but they’ve faced a tough schedule to date, having started their season with Episcopal Academy and Mercersburg.
For the Hill girls in the individual events Tuesday, Annabelle Lombardi finished first in the 200 IM (2:25.50) and 500 free (5:44.91), while Summer Lam won the 100 breast (1:12.20) and 200 free (2:02.65).
“We weren’t even sure we were coming to the meet today, we have so many swimmers who are ill and injured,” said Hill coach Jay Spencer. “But we rallied today, and I really appreciate all the effort that our swimmers put in, and we had some great swims.”
The Hill girls also finished first in the 200 medley relay with a quartet of Paige Barnhart, Lam, Lombardi and Ella Grindle (2:03.24), and placed first in the 200 free relay with a foursome of Lam, Grindle, Elisa Bartolini and Lombardi (1:50.56).
Spencer added, “Elisa (Bartolini) did a terrific job in her 500 free (second place). She came back in the last 100 with a surprising out-touch of her opponent (for second place). Angelina Sottasanti was swimming her first 100 fly ever because we’ve got injuries, she agreed to try it, and it was terrific (fourth place, two team points).”
For the Hill School boys, Tom Leggett won the 200 free (1:52.51). Hill’s boys team also picked up first place points in the 100 breast (Erick Sun, 1:11.28) and the 400 free relay (Leggett, Lucas Kim, Evan Rohrbaugh and Zach Rubenzahl, 3:54.32).