The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy swim teams built momentum for Saturday’s TCIS championships when they wrapped up the regular season with a successful meet hosted by Seton School in Manassas, Va. at the Freedom Fitness Aquatics Center last Saturday.

This 2013 Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II Invitational involved 16 schools. The NSA boys placed first, winning the championship, while the girls’ team also did quite well, coming in second.

“I am truly proud of the whole team and their hard work,” Nansemond-Suffolk head coach Meredith Young wrote in an email.

Young, in her first year coaching the program, gave her take on how the regular season went.

“The first year never goes as you expect it!” she stated. “As my first year as head coach, I think we had a season filled with hard work and dynamic accomplishments from all of our NSA swimmers.”

Only having a few experienced swimmers on the team meant that many had to swim races outside of their comfort zone. If events are not filled with swimmers, then points cannot be scored for the team.

“They swam for themselves and they swam for each other,” Young said.

Young has 12 swimmers that have already qualified for the state level of competition, and she expects several of them to perform well at the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools championships.

Relays garner the most points in competition, and Young has great confidence in both her boys’ and girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay teams, which also swim the 400-yard version of the event.

On the girls’ side, this team is comprised of junior Emily Neuberg, sophomore Taylor Berard, senior Katelyn McCracken and junior Laura Wild. For the boys, the team includes juniors Greg Beale, John Wade and Ben Wilson along with freshman David Forman.

Individually, Neuberg should shine in the 200-yard individual medley, Young said.

“She can do that easily for us, and she tends to like it,” she said.

Neuberg will also compete in the 500-yard freestyle, where she beats the 6:09 state qualifying time with a time of 5:41.

“She’s a person who really enjoys swimming and it shows,” Young said.

Wild has qualified for states in the 500-yard, 100-yard and 50-yard freestyle events, but will be swimming in different races on Saturday.

Berard will be swimming the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle contests at the TCIS tourney. She is set for the state level in both events.

For the boys, Beale has qualified for states in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races, both of which he is participating in at the TCIS championships.

Wilson, one of the team’s year-around swimmers, is expected to be strong in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke.

Not settling for 12, Young is hoping even more state qualifiers will emerge after this weekend.

The TCIS championships will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Newport News Midtown Pool.