King’s Fork drains Indian River
Published 9:04 pm Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Victory defined the final meet of the regular season on Saturday for King’s Fork High School’s boys’ and girls’ swim teams.
Going up against Indian River High School in Chesapeake, the boys’ swam what coach Dan Krewson called “a great meet” en route to an 84-74 win, and the girls’ pulled out a dramatic 79-78 win in the final event.
In an unusual twist for the relatively small King’s Fork swim program, the depth on the girls’ team is what accounted for the win over its fellow Group 4A opponent.
The 4×100-meter freestyle relay concluded the meet, and a false start by King’s Fork’s “A” team kept it from competing against Indian River’s “A” squad. However, the Lady Bulldogs fielded a “B” team, as well, that was able to finish second, earning the necessary points to edge out the Lady Braves overall.
“They pulled together as a team,” Krewson said of his entire girls’ squad.
The clutch “B” team included senior Destanie Fonoimoana, junior Rachel Gist, sophomore Emma Marston and freshman Asyha Williams.
“We had one practice the week before; my kids were really tired, and it showed, but they did swim well,” Krewson said, referencing the weather’s recent interference with the practice schedule.
He complimented the Indian River girls, who won a lot of events. But he said due to their limited numbers, they simply could not generate enough accompanying second- and third-place finishers, who also earn points.
He praised his girls for solid swims that achieved enough high placements to negate the Lady Braves’ event wins.
One of those girls was junior April Smith, who swam a race that Krewson said nobody wants to swim — the 400-meter freestyle.
“It’s a grueling distance event,” he said.
She finished third, earning three valuable team points.
Sophomore Jay Miller also finished third in the 200-meter individual medley, earning three more points in another race that Krewson said is not easy. It entails the performance of all four swimming strokes.
He said Marston did for him on Saturday what she has done all year long — swim two individual events and two relays. One of the relays was the 4×100 freestyle.
“She was exhausted by the time that 400 relay came around,” he said, but she was the anchor who brought home the winning points.
Krewson noted how everyone on the team gets to swim during the regular season. However, now is the time of year when he starts making decisions and changes based on who he thinks can best serve the team in the upcoming championship meets.
He made a big change on Saturday when he took usual 50- and 100-meter swimmer Kyle Corbett and put him in the middle-distance 200-meter freestyle, where the senior did well.
“He just stepped up, and I’m thinking about swimming him in the conference championships in (the 200),” Krewson said. “I think he’s got a lot of potential for that event.”
Senior Hunter Lowe showed potential of his own in the shorter version of the same event.
“He qualified for the regional championships in the 50,” Krewson said, and also took first on Saturday.
King’s Fork’s boys’ and girls’ teams both matched their records from last year, the best in the swim program’s five-year history; the boys’ finished 3-5 and the girls’ finished 2-6.
“It’s been a great season,” said Krewson, a first-time head coach. “I’ve had a lot of fun.”
Now, he turns his attention to prepping the teams for conference championships, but weather has again infringed on practice time.
“This doesn’t help the cause, unfortunately,” he said. “But, hey, I don’t think anybody else is practicing either.”
He said he and his teams will make the best of it.
The Ironclad Conference championships will take place Feb. 6 and 7 at the Brittingham-Midtown Aquatic Center in Newport News.