Ladue Horton Watkins High School

The Ladue Rams Boys Swimming and Diving Team traveled down Clayton Road to face their class 1 rivals, the John Burroughs Bombers, in a non-conference dual meet on Thursday, October 15th. As it was last year, which the Rams won narrowly 95-84, on paper this looked to be a close meet. This year, the Rams overcame the absence of two divers, getting out to a 10-point lead after four events and then methodically pulling away from the Bombers to win 107.5-69.5. The half-point was the result of an exact tie for 4th in the 50 freestyle. The win brings the Rams to 4-2 overall in dual meets, 5-0 in Red Conference dual meets, and they remain 3-2-0 in tri-meets. The Rams were led by double individual event winners SO Dravya Pradhan in the 200 IM and 100 fly, along with JR co-captain Kevin Wu in the 50 free and 100 back, with single winners SR co-captain Arlo Ziolkowski in the 100 free and SO Caleb Strayhorn in 1M diving. Those six wins were good for 36 team points. The remaining 71.5 points – one of the best outcomes all year in a dual meet – proved once again that team depth wins meets. Depth point scorers for the Rams included JR Kevin He (2nd 200 free, 2nd 100 free), SO Alvin He (3rd 200 free), FR Reed Sehy (5th 200 free, 4th 100 back), FR Kelson Cui (2nd 200 IM, 2nd 100 breast), SR Sam Etherington (5th 200 IM, 3rd 100 back), JR Eliot Levine (3rd 100 fly), FR Ray Blum (4th 100 fly), SO Max Bending (4th 100 free), FR Teddy Levine (3rd 500 free), JR Rohan Karwa (4th 500 free), SR Oscar Yanuck (5th 500 free), and SO Jinghuan Xu (3rd 100 breast). Quite a showing of team depth by the Rams! All three Rams A relay teams won: the 200 medley of Wu, Cui, Pradhan, and Ziolkowski; the 200 free of Bending, Eliot Levine, Kevin He and Alvin He; and the 400 free of Ziolkowski, Pradhan, Kevin He and Wu. Two Rams B relays took crucial 3rd places: the medley of Etherington, Xu, Eliot Levine and Bending, and the 400 free of Eliot Levine, Blum, Alvin He and Sehy. The 200 free B relay of Cui, JR Veer Iyer, SR Carson Crane, and Blum finished 4th. The Rams continue with eight individuals with 21 total cuts and all three relays on the State cut list. Hopefully, several more of these will be established at the upcoming Red Conference meet. The Rams close their regular season schedule by hosting their Senior Night, featuring a non- conference tri-meet with Affton and Lutheran St. Charles on Tuesday, October 20th. After that, t’s the Red Conference Championships at Clayton on October 27th and 28th. See the Ladue Activities website for details. Go RAMS!