The Potomac Woods Demons and the visiting Tallyho Foxes clashed in a battle of undefeateds on Saturday morning in Division C. Potomac Woods walked away the victor with their first 5-0 dual season in over 20 years, winning the contest, 421 to 370.
“I’ve been here since ’88 and this is the first time I’ve gone undefeated,” said head coach Jone Leong. “We made it tough on ourselves and have gotten lucky…beating Cedarbrook by two was pretty crazy.”
It was a special day for Potomac Woods as it was the last meet at their home pool for their senior swimmers. Former Wootton diver and current Georgetown Hoya Bryan Dorames won the 100-meter freestyle, 100 individual medley, and the 50 butterfly handily.
“He was with us until he was 14 and then decided to pursue diving,” said Coach Leong on his multitalented star. “He’s a really excellent diver, definitely one of the best in the county. I was grumpy when he first left us, but I couldn’t fault him.”
Dorames returned to the team this year to stay in shape after an injury has kept him off the board.
As expected, the 9-10 races proved to be the most exciting of the day. In the boys’ 50 freestyle, Potomac Wood’s Jacob Rosner took home first ahead of Tallyho’s’ Ben Long Zuo, Michael Tang and Brett Feyerick. All four swimmers posted times under the All Star cut.
In the 50 backstroke, Feyerick beat Tang and Rosner by over a second in an extremely impressive swim. Another four All Star times were posted in the 25 butterfly as Ben Long Zuo beat out Feyerick, Rosner and Cameron Barclay.
Tallyho had a brightspot in the girls 9-10 25 butterfly, when Foxes’ swimmers Mei-Mei Zuo and Pheobe Bacon posted times of 16.53 and 16.55 to beat out
Potomac Wood’s Megan Sharkey who finished in 16.87.
The loss was undoubtedly hard to swallow for Tallyho who was aiming for their own undefeated dual meet season as weel, but head coach Richard Rosenthal has a lot of positives to take away from the season.
“For us, we’re not used to being in such a high division,” said Rosenthal. “We have a relatively small team and pool community, but it just so happens that we have a lot of great kids who work really hard.”
Despite the lack of high-division experience, Tallyho still has a bright future to look forward to with all their young talent.
“Our 9-10 boys are so talented with Zuo and Feyerick,” said coach Rosenthal. “Cameron Barclay is a really amazing swimmer as well who sometimes get forgotten about with those other kids ahead of him.”
Potomac Woods completed their dream season in style with a domination of the final relays. In the Boys 14 & under 175 meter graduated relay, Potomac Woods’ Jacob Rosner, Joe Howley, Jason Lazar, and Charlie Alberino brought home the victory. On the girls’ side, Potomac Woods finished first and second to lock up their perfect season.
“We have the fastest relay in the division with so much top line speed that I can afford to split up the swimmers,” said coach Leong. “We’ve been very fortunate all season, and I couldn’t be more pleased with my team this year.”
Peg Hincke — founder of the Potomac Woods swim team — was on hand to watch her former team compete their regular season schedule. Hincke was a founding member of the MCSL in 1959.