Ladue Horton Watkins High School

Boys Varsity Swimming and Diving Tops Parkway South Win the Regular Season Red Conference at 5-0 The Ladue Rams Boys Swimming and Diving Team hit the road to face their final Red Conference opponent of the season, the Parkway South Patriots, in a dual meet on Thursday, October 8th. The Rams started strong and built a commanding 53-22 lead after the fifth event, diving, then 1-2 swept both the 100 fly and 100 free and never looked back to earn a very satisfying 125-58 win. With the W, the Rams take the regular season Red Conference crown at an undefeated 5-0, are 3-2 in dual meets overall, and remain 3-1-0 (1st-2nd-3rd) in tri-meets. The Rams nearly pulled off the “perfect” meet by winning 8 of the 9 individual events, scoring 48 points with the Rams relays and team depth once again rising to the occasion by providing 77 points. Event winners for the Rams were double winners SO Dravya Pradhan (200 free, 500 free), FR Kelson Cui (200 IM, 100 breast), SO Luther Ciorba (1M diving), JR Eliot Levine (100 fly), SR co-captain Arlo Ziolkowski (100 free), and JR co-captain Kevin Wu (100 back). Individual Rams who scored in 2nd-5th places included JR Kevin He (2nd 200 free, 2nd 100 free), SO Alvin He (5th 200 free), SO Jinghuan Xu (2nd 200 IM, 2nd 100 breast), SO Max Bending (4th 50 free, 3rd 100 free), JR Brighton Westermayer (2nd 1M diving), SO Caleb Strayhorn (3rd 1M diving), FR Ray Blum (2nd 100 fly), JR Veer Iyer (4th 100 fly), SR Sam Etherington (5th 500 free), FR Reed Sehy (4th 100 back), and SR co-captain Frank Tian (4th 100 breast). A great display of depth by the Rams! The Rams A relays had a clean sweep of their events. The 200 medley of Wu, Cui, Levine, and Ziolkowski; the 200 free of Levine, Kevin He, Bending, and Pradhan, and the 400 free of Ziolkowski, Kevin He, Pradhan, and Wu. The B relays all took 3rd: the medley of Etherington, Xu, SR Oscar Yanuck and Bending; the 200 free of Xu, Alvin He, SR Carson Crane, and Blum, and the 400 free relay of Levine, Blum, Alvin He, and Cui. The Rams keep their State cut count at eight individuals with 21 cuts and all three relays. Notably, the medley and 400 free relay are both 7th in the state, with the 200 free at 11th. Chances are good that more Rams will acquire or improve their cuts as the season progresses towards the Red Conference meet over the next two weeks. The Rams have won the Red Conference regular season for the second straight year! The Rams head towards the end of the regular season by hosting a highly competitive tri-meet with the defending Class 1 state champion Parkway Central Colts and the De Smet Spartans on Tuesday October 13th, followed by a non-conference road dual with the John Burroughs Bombers on Thursday October 15th. See the Ladue Activities website for details. GO RAMS!