Sinopoli stars in CPC swim meet
Published 9:26 am Thursday, February 4, 2016
Victoria Sinopoli achieved all-conference status in three events and broke the school record in one event in the Central Piedmont Conference championship meet at Winston-Salem State on Jan. 28.
And what’s more impressive: This is just the tip of the iceberg. She is only a sophomore. Davie’s fourth-year swim coach, David Koontz, sees something special in his young star.
“Anything is possible for her.”
Autumn Jones’ record of 1:02.13 in the 100 butterfly had stood for seven years. Sinopoli turned in 1:02.05 to finish second and break the record that was set in 2008.
“I wish I could have taken a video of the excitement on her face when she realized she broke the school record,” Koontz said.
The top two in each event made the all-conference team, and Sinopoli took second in the 100 back at 1:05.27.
“She has the talent and ability to be an individual state qualifier this year,” he said. “That would be a first for her as she went to states last year on a relay team. Becoming a CPC conference champ is within her reach and being a top swimmer in our region is no doubt within her grasp. If she stays hungry and feeds off that excitement, the accolades will continue to come.”
Senior Maria Stillson earned all-league honors by taking second in the 100 free at 56.95.
Davie produced a top-two finish in four events, including the 200 free relay with Stillson, junior Katie Shoaf, Sinopoli and freshman Alexa Hutton. They completed the race in 1:46. Davie finished second in the same event last year, and three of the girls are the same as 2015. The exception is Hutton, who replaced graduated Danielle Wood.
“I’m not sure who was more excited – me and assistant coach Jennie Kimel or the girls,” Koontz said. “They’ve worked really hard this season and it’s nice to see that pay off. It was the best time of the year and will help our seeding at regionals.”
The same foursome barely missed all-conference in the 200 medley relay. They settled for third in 1:59.72.
“I knew we had a chance to place in the top two, but we were just a second off,” he said. “The performance did, however, secure a spot in the regional meet.”
Even though the Davie girls only competed with seven team members, they scored 153 points to place fifth out of seven teams.
The team scoring: Reagan 471, West Forsyth 381, Mt. Tabor 201, Reynolds 196, Davie 153, North Davidson 117 and Parkland 88.
“(The Davie girls) made a very strong showing,” he said. “(We scored) 153 points despite not swimming in every event. Again, I couldn’t be more proud of these young ladies. They earned this all-conference award themselves. That is such a tough thing to do in this conference.”
•
The Davie boys also finished fifth. No one for the War Eagles was able to crack the top three.
The team scoring: Reynolds 376, Reagan 373, West 284.5, Tabor 280.5, Davie 127, North 108 and Parkland 86.
“To say this meet was competitive was an understatement,” Koontz said. “Seven of the events featured broken meet and pool records by the winner. That doesn’t happen very often. The meet also brought back the return of diving to the CPC championship. We didn’t have any divers this year, but hopefully we will be able to compete in that event in the future.”
Now the War Eagles are preparing for the 4-A Central Regional, which is Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
“Our goal is to place in the top eight in as many events as possible,” he said. “This is our chance to go to states and we have to give it our all.”