Over the weekend, the Roanoke Valley Swim Team entered into a fierce competition for the conference championship of the Nash Halifax Swim League. 

The Roanoke Valley Rockfish were excited and ready for the opportunity that the conference meet provided.  Coach Patrick Quast remarked “We felt that if we were able to get all of swimmers into one meet, we felt confident that we could put forth a quality effort that gave us a chance at something we worked all year for.”  When the dust cleared, the Rockfish stood atop the conference podium, beating 15 time consecutive champions Nash Rec Sharks by a total of 28 points. 

Roanoke Valley will bring home the trophy for the first time in a decade and half, and it wasn’t easy to beat the defending champions.  It was a hard fought and intense competition, and Coach Quast commented on the quality of the other teams.  “All of the other teams of our conference are led by wonderful coaches and have fantastic swimmers.  We were fortunate to have some great swims, and were able to beat a very tough group of swimmers from Nash Rec, Birchwood, and Westridge.”

Coach Quast also commented on some changes this year that contributed to the championship.  “I was extremely fortunate to have 2 incredible assistant coaches in Rachel Price and Isaac Miller.  Both were beyond dedicated and committed to this program and I could not have done it without them.”  He also mentioned the effects of the community and parental involvement with the program.  “Our parents are a wonderful group of individuals who sacrificed and compromised other commitments to ensure the entire team was present at the championship meet.  We also have great involvement in the volunteer positions at our pool, especially at the meets,  which helps to create a true sense of family within this team, that everyone is on board for the team’s success.”

The Rockfish were paced to this overall first place finish by strong swims from first place champions Avery Qualls( IM and Breaststroke), Jordan Hunter (IM and Fly), Jamie Wright (IM, Fly, and Backstroke), Catherine MacNichol (IM and Breaststroke), Carmen Wright (Fly, Backstroke, and Freestyle), Elena Rooke (Backstroke), Kristy Price (Fly, Back, and Free), Reagan Taylor (Backstroke), Addie Nixon (Breaststroke), Shaun Fromal (Breaststroke), Matthew MacNichol (Breaststroke),  and AJ Hoscilla (Freestyle).  The Rockfish had conference scorers in numerous events, including one Chloe Lyles (Fly, Back, and Free), Sarah Fender (Fly, Back and Free), Hannah Sass (Fly), Morgan Beam (Back and Free), Bella Berman(Back), Natalie McElheney (IM and Breaststroke), Josie Christenbury (IM), Hannah Skinner (Back and Free), Fiona Casper (Backstroke), Austin Fender (IM, Fly, and Breaststroke), Elliott Sass (IM, Breaststroke), Nathan Aston (IM, Breaststroke), Michael Moseley (Fly, Back and Free), JC Skinner (Back and Free), Tye Sweet (Free), Susanna Odom (IM, Breast, and Free), Madison Bunch (IM and Breast), Mallaury Pageau (Fly, Breast, Free), Harley Nowell (Breast), Meghan Beam (Free), Wesley Shanahan (IM, Fly, Breast), Mikey Hartson (IM, Breast, Free), Aaron Hunter (IM, Back and Free), Cole Eure (IM, Back, and Free), Joshua Walker (Fly), Gabriel Rowland (Back), Holly Forsht (IM, Breast, Free), Cierra Thompson (IM, Back), Sarah Smith (IM, Free), Michael Glasgow (IM, Back, and Free), Matthew Price (Fly, Back and Free), Joshua Miller(Fly), Allison Clements (IM, Back), Kendall Qualls (IM, Breast), Elena Miller (Fly), Karalee Miller (Fly, Back, Free), Macie Hasty (Breast), DJ Glasgow (IM, Fly, and Back), Hunter Hargrave (IM, Fly, Free), Alex Leard (IM, Breast), Lorenza Richardson (Back), Christian Thompson (Back, Breast), Bryan Hunter (Back), Jordan Walker (Breast and Free), and Joshua Sweet(Breast). 

The Roanoke Valley Team made it a priority during this season to never beat themselves, and by swimming with each practice, as Coach Quast phrased it “with great intensity and purpose”.  This was a great milestone for the Roanoke Valley team, and with this group of young swimmers, the future appears bright.  Coach Quast is savoring the victory, but already has started thinking about next year.  “We will certainly enjoy this victory in the short term, but we already know that when next year rolls around, it’s time to go to work again.”  He anticipates that the year round club swim team that was established last year will see an increase in numbers.  “Many of our swimmers who made great strides this year participated in our Eastern Carolina Aquatics club program”, he said, “We are seeing some of the fruits of our labor pay off as the swimmers work each day on refining their stroke technique and building endurance”.  The ECA club team is accepting new members beginning in late August, with applications available at swimeca.org.  The Roanoke Valley Rockfish will begin practices in June of 2017, and applications will be available at Chaloner Middle School and the Aquatic Center.