THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702230378
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: 59 lines
Kempsville's Stephanie Jenkins earned double gold and Cox' Matt Morrisette swept the 100-yard fly event Saturday during the inaugural Virginia High School League state swimming championships at the Oak Marr Recreation Center.
Morrisette's Falcons finished third in the boys division. Alexandria's Thomas Jefferson Science and Technology School, champions of the unofficial state invitational tournament the past two years, took the boys crown.
``Our goal when we came up here was to finish in the top three,'' Cox co-coach Joe Gentry said of his squad of nine swimmers that stood in a first-place tie through 15 events. ``The fact that we were in contention is just unbelievable.''
West Springfield captured the girls title, with Lafayette taking second and Salem sixth.
Jenkins, a junior, rallied during the breaststroke to nip Lake Braddock's Miriam Lynch and Lafayette's Martha Gates and win the 200 individual medley. Later, she blew away the field to capture the 100 breast.
Jenkins had stamped herself as one of the stars of the meet the night before, when she dazzled everyone except herself by swimming an All-American qualifying time in the 100 breast.
``Actually, that's four-tenths off my personal best,'' said Jenkins, who swam even faster in Saturday's final. ``But it was still pretty exciting to win. I recognized the girls in the other lanes as year-round swimmers, so I was pretty nervous there for awhile.''
Morrisette outraced West Springfield's Sean McCullers by nearly five-tenths of a second in the 100 fly.
``I basically just took it out strong and held it together,'' said Morrisette, who swam an All-American consideration time.
Morrisette also took fifth in the 50 free.
Conrad Mapp took third in the 100 breast and fourth in the 200 IM while John Herzke added a fourth-place finish in the 200 free to help the Cox effort.
Other area swimmers who excelled at the state meet were Indian River's Melissa Kosinski, who finished third in the 100 breast and sixth in the 200 IM; and Salem's Julie Lestyan, a top-eight finisher in the 50 and 100 free who joined Tara Lewis, Shannon Turlip and Liz Flannery to post an All-American consideration time and place fourth in the 200 free relay.
Approximately 12 of the powerful Northern Region's finest swimmers bypassed the VHSL to prepare for next month's senior championship, a race official conceded.
Even so, Morrisette still raved about the quality of the swimmers on hand.
``I was surprised to see (the field) so fast,'' said Morrisette, who said he is also preparing for national competition. ``I'd come here any time. This is better than a lot of my other meets.
One meet official calculated that 90 percent of the 636-swimmer state field competes year-round for clubs.
This explains why Salem's 200 free relay team was thrilled by their 16th place showing. Of the four swimmers, only Sean O'Meara competes for a club. Matt Cornelison won't compete again until next winter. Ben Shoemaker and Lucas Raymor, both seniors, may not compete again at all.
``This is THE big deal for us,'' Raymor said. ``I went out and shaved my legs and everything.''