Inside the hot and steamy North Point pool Wednesday night, the Eagles faced off against the McDonough Rams in the last match-up of the regular season. This meet would be the seniors’ last regular season meet as they celebrated their senior night. Coming into the final swim meet of the regular season the Eagles (10-1 for girls and boys) had just come off two wins against Great Mills and Calvert in a tri-meet and looked to do the same against the Rams.
Over the course of the night the Eagles settled in and slowly began to take things their way, dominating the freestyle events for both men and women. Junior Madison Zabiegalski of North Point was flawless as she doubled with two wins, one in the 50 yard freestyle with the time of 26.73, and the other in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 58.79. For the North Point boys, Jonathon Mitchell (’13) stood out in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles with times of 23.57 and 52.68, respectively. Other noticeable performances included Kendall McMillen (’12), Austin Fisher (’13), and Noemi Arquero (’15) who all also doubled. Unfortunately for McDonough, the Eagles’ success didn’t stop until the end of the night. North Point was just more dominant and both squads each brought home a win, defeating the Rams 178-74 for the girls and 200-38 for the boys. For North Point, it was none the less an accomplishment as they took home the win and second place in SMAC for the second year in a row, only trailing Leonardtown.
Coach Rivenburg admitted that he’s pleased with the team’s performances, but isn’t totally satisfied, as it has to continue to work on things. The season isn’t over though; things are just now starting to heat up as the SMAC Swim Championships are in less than ten days. There North Point hopes to take down top dogs Leonardtown High School. Coach Rivenburg stated, “I hope we come out with a win. I believe in the girls and boys, they have come this far and worked their butts off, but we need to work and practice harder if we want this and I know we all do.” Rivenburg also added that “Preparation is key and we knew that, so going into SMAC championships next week with even better preparation than this week will really give us a shot at Leonardtown”. Taking this mindset into next week will be the Eagles’ key to success, making them a force to be reckoned with.