Finally I get to put some meat on this site. The Penguins beat Twin Farms by 28 points (398-370). Annie Norton broke team records for 11-12 girls in butterfly and freestyle, and Joe Norton broke the 13-14 boys IM and freestyle records. The 13-14 free record had been standing since 1979. Sara Lundblad broke a record from 1978, the 13-14 girls breaststroke, and the 13-14 IM. Her time also beats the Little Falls 15-18 girls IM team record. (See the records page.) The 11-12 boys swept the IM, free, back, and fly, getting first, third, and fifth place in breaststroke. A record to watch for the season is the girls graduated free relay, consisting of Liza Amling, Colleen Hamm, Annie Norton, and Sara Lundblad. The team record, set in 1980, is 1:40.94, and their time today was 1:42.03. If you want an excuse to work on relays during practice, here it is! All Star Times were posted by Liza Amling, Sara Lundblad, Annie Norton, and Joe Norton. (See All star rankings.)

Week2

Little Falls beat the Kemp Mill Kangaroos 426-332. Dan Pomeroy broke the Little Falls 11-12 butterfly pool record with a time of 36.92. Getting their first all-star nominating times were Caroline Lippold in the 8 & under breaststroke and Stephen White in the 11-12 breaststroke. Both the 8 & under boys -- led by Jeffrey Aronoff, Chris Hamm, and Brad McHugh -- and the 9-10 girls -- led by Colleen Hamm, Ellen Hearle, and Caitlin Leaman -- won all of their events (each sweeping one -- freestyle and breaststroke, respectively.) 11-12s Brynn Duncan and Marisa Moon swam up in the 13-14 age group, earning 20 points between them and coming in first and second in backstroke. Finally, Annie Norton got three second places and one first in addition to a second place graduated relay while swimming with a cast! At the present rate, this will be a very victorious season.

Week3

Little Falls lost to West Hillandale, the other dominant team of Division H, 373.5 to 392.5. On a brighter note, Annie Norton, again with a cast, swam extremely well. She had all-star times in freestyle, IM, backstroke, and butterfly and nearly broke her own (unimpaired) team records in free and fly. The 9-10 girls finished first and second in every stroke but freestyle. The 13-14 boys were at least first and second in every event and swept IM and backstroke.

Week4

Little Falls defeated Quail Valley by the season's biggest margin-- 316-461! Out of 50 events, the Penguins had first place in 42. New all-star times came from Sara Lundblad in the 13-14 girls backstroke and Annie Norton in the girls 11-12 breaststroke. Liza Amling, who already has an all-star nominating backstroke time, is now just .09 seconds off the 8 under girls free all-star time. Liza Amling, Stephen White, Annie Norton, Joe Norton, and Sara Lundblad each won all of their events. One of Colleen Hamm, Ellen Hearle, and Caitlin Leaman came in first each 9-10 girls event. Brian Moyer and Sean Leaman in 15-18 boys also combined to get every first place. One of the greatest improvements of the meet was Kirby Rootes-Murdy's 50 free time of 31.15, which puts him at striking distance from the 13-14 boys freestyle all-star time of 29.00 next year.

Week5

In the last dual meet of the season, Little Falls beat Ashton 414-349. Ashton's team included Sean Murray and Britney Richardson, who are some of Montgomery County's best swimmers, but Little Falls' depth prevailed. There were strong performances from the 8 & under girls and the 11-12 boys. The 11-12 boys swept three events and came in first and second in the other two. Dan Pomeroy posted his first all-star time of the season with a substantial drop in the IM and nearly got an official all-star time in freestyle. Liza Amling, Caroline Lippold, Sara Lundblad, Annie Norton, and Joe Norton also got all-star times. An especially exciting performance came from Brian Moyer, who won all his events except backstroke and overcame Ashton's large lead to win in the final leg of the Open Age Medley. Additionally, at Long Course last week, where Little Falls was represented by the Norton family, Joe came in seventh in the 200 meter IM and sixth in the 100 breaststroke and Annie was first alternate in freestyle. For those who have noticed the curse upon the boys second graduated relay, it was lifted after Kirby Rootes-Murdy replaced David Benjamin, who replaced Joe Norton on the first relay because Joe swam in the Open Age Medley. In both of those events, the Penguins had the best possible finishes in terms of points.

Relays

Little Falls won the relay carnival for the first time in many peoples' memories. We were 32 points ahead of the next closest team, with seven first place finishes (which will go automatically to all star relays) and five second place finishes (which may get to all stars as the wildcard for divisions O-H) out of 22 events. Annie Norton, still swimming with a cast, was on two winning relays. A good sign for dual meets to come is that we won BOTH graduated free relays. First place teams were: Boys Graduated Freestyle, Girls Graduated Freestyle, 13-14 Mixed Freestyle, Mixed 8 & Under Freestyle, Girls Graduated Medley, Girls 8 & Under Medley, and Boys 11-12 Medley. We hope to do this well at Divisionals.

Divisionals

In what may sadly have been the last meet for coaches Ben Graham and Pat Fogarty, Little Falls came in second to Twin Farms by a tiny twenty eight point margin out of scores in the 800s and came in second to Twin Farms for the season 52-50. However, we are still going back to Division G next year, along with Twin Farms and West Hillandale. Also in the division will be Rock Creek, Norbeck Hills, and Poolesville. We are ranked first due to the results of the psychotic, computerized, countywide swim-off which determines division assignments. The last time we were in G was 1995, a time often referred to as "back in the day" by swimmers 13 and older. In the meet, Dan Pomeroy won four individual events and the boys graduated free relay, getting new all-star times in free and fly. Caroline Lippold won the girls & under breaststroke, Sara Lundblad won girls 13-14 backstroke (breaking a team record from 1976), and Joe Norton won boys 13-14 breaststroke. Chris Hamm had an amazing performance as well, with his first all-star times in freestyle and breaststroke. The girls graduated relay beat the Little Falls team record mentioned in Week 1, also breaking the Kemp Mill pool record. Unfortunately, two other teams broke the same record by slightly larger amounts. The chances of that happening are unbeleivably low. If you want to see your coaches and teammates, or if you are swimming in all-star relays or individual all-stars, don't forget to show up at all-star practice and the all-star meets. As for the Divisionals banquet, you can see the awards for this year on the Awards Page. ATTENTION!!!! After the writing of the above, MCSL revealed that due to an input error, Little Falls is actually in Division F! We are ranked last, but it is such a high division that we have no swimmers who were on the team the last time we were this high. We will be with Bethesda, Franklin Knolls, Tally Ho, Potomac, and Manor Woods.

AllStars

At All Star Relays, 5 Little Falls relays won medals. Third places in the lower divisions went to the girls graduated medley and the boys 13-14 medley. Second places went to the boys graduated freestyle and the 11-12 mixed free. The boys 11-12 medley of Joe Young, Stephen White, Dan Pomeroy, and Ethan Benjamin came in first. * * * * * * * The next day, at individual allstars, Joe Norton tied for 14th in 13-14 boys freestyle, tied for 7th in the IM with a team record 1:09.12, and came in 8th in breaststroke, Dan Pomeroy came in 6th in 11-12 boys freestyle with a team record 30.53, and Annie Norton finished 14th in 11-12 girls freestyle