Just one week after winning the 2010 Virginia Prep League Conference Championship, Fork Union Military Academy Swimming and Diving made history on February 20th by winning their first Virginia State Championship in the 30 year history of the competition! In the process, the Blue Devils set another two State Records (200 Yard Medley Relay - T. Romanini, B. Sundel, J. Gebert, J. Humphrey; and 200 Yard Individual Medley - T. Romanini), while registering an incredible nine All-State swims and 49 personal best times in route to a 423 point victory. On the boards FUMA diving surprised the field as two virtually unknown first year divers, Obi Okeyo and Eric Palmer, placed 6th and 8th overall respectively.
BLUE DEVIL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MEET:
• 200 Medley Relay finished 1st with a new state record and All-American “A” time of 1:34.48 (Romanini-back 23.75; Sundel-breast 26.22; Gebert-fly 23.54; Humphrey-free 20.97).
• 200 freestylers finished 3rd (Matt Morio), 6th (Joe Gershun), 7th (Orn Kjartansson), and 11th (Chris Covington)
• Blue Devil Seniors Tony Romanini and Kurt Housh had great finals performances in the 200 IM (Romanini 1st and Housh 6th place – Romanini broke the state record with a time of 1:53.25). Right behind them, Sophomore Arroyo finished 10th.
• 50 freestyle: Junior Blake Sundel earned All-State honors (21.67 – 3rd; 21.50 in prelims), Senior Jake Humphrey finished 6th, and Sophomore Okeyo finished 8th with personal best times.
• We finished the first day of swimming with superb performances by our flyers. Jorah Gebert finished 3rd with a new school record and PB time of 51.78, while Junior Riley Phillips finished 8th in finals, and Sophomore Austin Dorsey finished 11th.
• On Day 2 the 100 frestylers started things off well with 5th, 6th and 11th place finishes (Morio 48.52; Humphrey 48.67 in finals).
• For the first time in FUMAs history we had three 500 freestylers come back for finals (Gershun 7th, Covington 9th, and Arroyo 11th).
• 200 Freestyle Relay finished 1st with an All-American “A” time of 1:25.57 (Sundel 21.77; Morio 21.73; Humphrey 21.18; Romanini 20.89).
• Our Blue Devils finished 2nd, 3rd, and 14th (Phillips) in the 100 back (Romanini – 51.29, All-American “A” time; Gebert – 52.73 in prelims, All-American “B” time).
• Housh finished 4th in the 100 breast, and just missed breaking the 1 minute barrier with a time of 1:00.03. Not far behind him, Sundel finished 8th, and Athey finished 15th.
• We ended the meet with a 3rd place finish, new school record and All-American “B” time in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:13.47 (Housh 49.75; Gebert 47.40; Kjartansson 48.43; and Morio 47.89).
When the dust settled the next closest team finished 111 points behind out Blue Devils, the largest margin of victory in recent history. For the second year in a row Coach Bocci was honored as the Virginia State Coach of the Year. This was a culmination of years of dedication, hard work, and attention to detail by our men…that award is theirs. From day one these young men have been focused on their goals, both in the pool and classroom. This weekend was a snapshot of the success they’ve experienced all year at FUMA. Next up the high school team travels to the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championship at LaSalle University, while the club swimmers travel to the Region Championship in Lynchburg on February 26th and 27th.
Men's Top 10 State Championship Team Scores
Place School Points
1 Fork Union Military Academy 423
2 Collegiate School 312
3 Woodberry Forest 253
4 Norfolk Academy 187
5 Cape Henry Collegiate School 173
6 Seton School 140
7 St. Christopher's School 116
8 Trinity Episcopal School 106
9 Bishop Ireton 104
10 Paul VI Catholic High School 86