Sports : VSU Wins 6-Team Invitation at Williamsburg

VSU swimmers had a great night in the pool last night! VSU came out atop the team standings against Grinnell, Keokuk, Centerville, Oskaloosa and host Williamsburg in a 6-team invitational. All of the girls put in a great effort, posting great times and supporting all their teammates along the way. It was a true collective effort that ended in a solid success.

Justice Dominick won her two individual events of the 50 and 500 Freestyle. Dominick combined with Lauren Moore, Carleigh Wilson and Sadie Hennings to take 1st in the 200 Medley Relay. She also joined Tori Elwick, Molly Clark and Olivia Schminke to win the 200 Freestyle Relay by .27 seconds in a nail-biter race. A big highlight of the night was VSU's Carleigh Wilson, Charlie Keegan, and Mara Spalding taking first, second and third place respectively in the 100 Breaststroke. Olivia Schminke, Molly Clark and Lauren Moore each added some second place points to the overall tally as well.

I'm constantly telling the girls: it's impossible to win a meet with 1, 2 or even 7 swimmers, no matter how good they are. It takes depth and a collaboration to win a team total competition. Every swim counts. And all of the girls did their job last night - each swimmer fought to the end of their race and added every point they could. The team totals were close enough that had even just 2 or 3 swims gone differently (a DQ or getting touched out by another swimmer), the team standings may have ended very differently. Every swim counts.
I'm very proud of their effort and how they cheered and encouraged one another last night - every girl had a great night because of it. It may be acliche but together everyone does achieve more.

2021 Williamsburg Girls Invitational

Team Rankings through Event 11

Combined Team Scores

Place-School-Points

1st Vinton-Shellsburg-332

2nd-Williamsburg High School-300

3rd-Grinnell High School-274

4th-Oskaloosa Girls Swim team-174

5th-Keokuk-118

6th-Centerville High School-17

Total:1,215

Photos courtesy of Sonia Stahlie