varsity.roanoke.com

The high school swim season has been under way for nearly six weeks, but guess what?

"This was like the first meet," said Hidden Valley senior Lauren Hines after the Titans captured the girls title in the All-Timesland Invitational. "We've been swimming dual meets for a while, but this is like the start of the championship season."

Just over six weeks remain until the Group AA championship meet, where Hidden Valley hopes to improve on its second-place finish in 2008, when the Titans finished 18 points behind Lafayette of Williamsburg.

"It's definitely something we're thinking about," said Hines after the Titans scored 552 points Saturday and doubled the total posted by second-place Cave Spring in the girls competition. "I like the way we're looking right now."

Hines, the 2008 Timesland girls swimmer of the year, won the 100-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke and was one of two double winners among the girls. She was joined by Cave Spring sophomore Ali Horn, who won the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.

Horn's time of 2:07.68 in the girls 200 individual medley was only .20 off the Timesland record established by Cave Spring graduate Julie Sablik in 2005. It was the closest anybody came to breaking a Timesland record.

Horn's time of 5:09.99 in the 500 freestyle was the best in Timesland this year, as were Hines' times in both of her victories.

Double-winners on the boys side were Blacksburg senior Evan Gregg, who took the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle, and Salem freshman Austin Criss, who prevailed in the 200 and 100 freestyle events.

Gregg improved on times that previously had been the best in Timesland this year. Christiansburg senior Seth Wensel lowered the top times in the boys 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke, and Hidden Valley sophomore Alex Vance improved on his Timesland-best time in the 100 breaststroke.

Fork Union, the only team from outside the area to participate in the meet, won the boys team title. Cave Spring, looking to improve on its 12th-place finish in last year's Group AA meet, was second in the boys division.

It was the second season for the All-Timesland Invitational, which attracted a field of 20 teams, up from 12 in 2008, to the Gator Aquatic Center. Close to 450 swimmers were registered for preliminaries starting at 10 a.m., and the finals were at 6 p.m.

Timesland teams new to the field this year were Marion, Northside, Salem, Pulaski County, Auburn, William Fleming and Radford.

"It really is a good jumping-off point for heading into the championship season," Hidden Valley coach Sheri Vaughn said. "It's the only meet we have, other than the state meet, that has preliminaries and finals. Not all the kids get to swim at states, so this might be the only chance they have to experience it."

TEAM TOTALS

BOYS

1, Fork Union 427; 2, Cave Spring 334 1/2; 3, Hidden Valley 278; 4, Marion Senior 178; 5, Blacksburg 152; 6, Christiansburg 130; 7, Salem 83; 8, Lord Botetourt 81; 9, Patrick Henry 58; 10, Roanoke Catholic 56; 11, Rockbridge 53; 12, Franklin County 35; 13, Staunton River 30 1/2; 14, Northside 23; 15, James River 5.

GIRLS

1, Hidden Valley 552; 2, Cave Spring 276; 3, Blacksburg 231; 4, Roanoke Catholic 158; 5, Marion Senior 127; 6, Northside 115; 7 (tie), Patrick Henry and William Byrd 86; 9, Salem 77; 10, Rockbridge 47; 11, Franklin County 37; 12, Pulaski County 31; 13, Auburn 29; 14, James River 25; 15, Lord Botetourt 15; 16, William Fleming 11; 17, Radford 9; 18, Christiansburg 7.

INDIVIDUALS

BOYS 200 MEDLEY RELAY

1, Fork Union (Housh, Ibrahim, Sundel, Humphrey), 1:42.53; 2, Cave Spring; 3, Hidden Valley; 4, Blacksburg; 5, Marion Senior.

GIRLS 200 MEDLEY RELAY

1, Hidden Valley (Hines, Young, Dillon, Henry), 1:53.34; 2, Cave Spring; 3, Hidden Valley; 4, Blacksburg; 5, Roanoke Catholic.

BOYS 200 FREESTYLE

1, Austin Criss (S), 1:47.61; 2, Siar (CS); 3, Kegley (MS); 4, Jones (PH); 5, Adams (HV).

GIRLS 200 FREESTYLE

1, Kaci Edsall (WB), 1:59.08; 2, McGeath (PGH); 3, Gray (HV); 4, Campbell (HV); 5, Grim (JR).

BOYS 200 IM

1, Evan Gregg (B), 1:54.86; 2, Vance (HV); 3, Mohammed (FU); 4, Ibrahim (FU); 5, Brajdic (LB).

GIRLS 200 IM

1, Ali Horn (CS), 2:07.68; 2, Sink (RC); 3, Hambrick (MS); 4, Henry (HV); 5, Young (HV).

BOYS 50 FREESTYLE

1, Luke Munson (CS), 22.87; 2, Kegley (MS); 3, Humphrey (FU); 4, Sundel (FU); 5 (tie), Greenland (SR) and Boucher (CS).

GIRLS 50 FREESTYLE

1, Bunge Okeyo (RC), 25.31; 2, Drew Dillon (HV); 3, Crawford (CS); 4, Roseberry (PC); 5, Parcel (FC).

BOYS 100 BUTTERFLY

1, Gregg (B), 51.81; 2, Ewoldt (CS); 3, Brajdic (LB); 4, Thornhill (PH); 5, Reynard (FU).

GIRLS 100 BUTTERFLY

1, Miriam McGeath (PH), 1:00.19; 2, Edsall (WB); 3, Dillon (HV); 4, Mesner (N); 5, Moles (HV).

BOYS 100 FREESTYLE

1, Criss (S), 50.30; 2, Ibrahim (FU); 3, Jones (PH); 4, Adams (HV); 5, Humphrey (FU).

GIRLS 100 FREESTYLE

1, Lauren Hines (HCV), 53.99; 2, Okeyo (RC); 3, Henry (HV); 4, Thangjitham (B); 5, Caldwell (S).

BOYS 500 FREESTYLE

1, Hussein Mohammed (FU), 4:39.56; 2, Wensel (C); 3, Munson (CS); 4, Housh (FH); 5, Otruba (HV).

GIRLS 500 FREESTYLE

1, Ali Horn (CS); 2, Gray (HV); 3, Hambrick (MS); 4, Mesner (N); 5, Potts (B).

BOYS 200 FREESTYLE RELAY

1, Cave Spring "A" (Siar, Klimaitis, Ewoldt, Munson), 1:35.93; 2, Cave Spring "B"; 3, Hidden Valley; 4, Rockbridge; 5, Salem.

GIRLS 200 FREESTYLE RELAY

1, Cave Spring (Crawford, Kennedy, Mayo, Horn), 1:45.74; 2, Hidden Valley "A"; 3, Northside; 4, Hidden Valley "B"; 5, Blacksburg.

BOYS 100 BACKSTROKE

1, Seth Wensel (Christiansburg), 53.73; 2, Otruba (HV); 3, Siar (CS); 4, Naff (MS); 5, Phelps (B).

GIRLS 100 BACKSTROKE

1, Hines (HV), 59.79; 2, Crawford (CS); 3, Roseberry (PC); 4, Moles (HV); 5, Thangjitham (B).

BOYS 100 BREASTSTROKE

1, Alex Vance (HV), 1:00.44; 2, Greenland (SR); 3, Housh (FU); 4, Hopkins (MS); 5, Podlecki (CS).

GIRLS 100 BREASTSTROKE

1, Keri Sink (RC), 1:08.49; 2, Goforth (A); 3, Young (HV); 4, Campbell (HV); 5, Kennedy (CS).

BOYS 400 FREESTYLE RELAY

1, Fork Union (Mohammed, Phillips, Reynard, Housh), 3:27.90; 2, Hidden Valley; 3, Marion Senior; 4, Blacksburg; 5, Christiansburg.

GIRLS 400 FREESTYLE RELAY

1, Hidden Valley (Gray, Moles, Henry, Hines), 3:47.26; 2, Roanoke Catholic; 3, Blacksburg; 4, Marion Senior; 5, Hidden Valley.