Notre Dame Prep captures first A Conference swimming championship since 2015

By Nelson Coffin
nelson@iaamsports.com

Having a standout regular season doesn’t always translate into winning a swimming title.

Notre Dame Prep made sure that its swimmers’ stellar winter work went rewarded by capturing the A Conference championship on Sunday at the Loyola University Maryland Fitness and Aquatic Center.

NDP, which has not worn an A Conference crown since 2015, prevailed for the eighth time overall and the fifth time under 19-year coach Terri Byrd.

Byrd said that the Blazers (439 points) did not rest easy until the 400-yard freestyle — the final event of the meet — was secured behind senior Tess Lankford, junior Faith McCallister, sophomore Olivia Vandewinckel and freshman phenom Shannon Conway in 1:46.74.

“I had heard from some of the officials that a team in Anne Arundel County that was in front lost (in the final relay),” she said. “That made me realize that we had to pay attention until the bitter end.”

Archbishop Spalding (2nd, 359.5), Maryvale (3rd, 317), McDonogh (4th, 297.5), defending champion Bryn Mawr (5th, 199) and Mount de Sales (6th, 197) followed NDP.

In addition to her triumphs in the 200 and 500 individual freestyles, Conway was part of the winning 200 medley relay.

According to Byrd, the newcomer was the MVP of the meet and Lankford is in full agreement.

“Shannon is amazing,” Lankford said. “She anchored our 400 free relay and does everything she needs to do (to make the team better). We’re a young team (with only four seniors), and it’s really been fun getting to know (the younger Blazers).”

Lankford’s personal story of perseverance deserves respect for battling back from an injury that sidelined the William & Mary commit for seven months while developing a new way to bolster the Blazers’ lineup.

“I’m not normally a sprint freestyler,” she said after finishing with personal-bests in the 100 (1st, 52.83) and 50 (2nd, 24.47) freestyles. “But I like to think that I’m a versatile swimmer.”

Lankford added that the Blazers were destined to break through on Sunday.

“We had come close so many times,” she added. “If it was going to happen, it was going to be this season.”

Byrd, the 2023 IAAM Swim Coach of the Year, said that NDP’s showing at the National Catholic championships two weeks ago was vital to Sunday’s feat.

“I am really pleased that after the girls swam all their best times at ‘Nat Cats’ that we were able to come back and do it again,” she said. “We showed that it wasn’t a fluke. It cemented that the team is bigger than the individual — it was a real group effort.”

Other individual winners include Bryn Mawr senior Mable Koff (2:01.14) topping Maryvale sophomore Ava Vecollone (2:05.27) in the 200 individual medley, McDonogh junior Jenna Cowley (24.44) edging Lankford (24.47) in the 50 free, McDonogh junior Sammy Randall (56.89) besting NDP junior Madison Stover (58.38) in the 100 butterfly, Conway (5:04.38) over McDonogh junior Grace Scharper ((5:08.30) in the 500 free, Koff (54.50) finishing ahead of Spalding junior Ashley Connor (58.06) in the 100 backstroke and Vercollone (1:05.09) prevailing over NDP sophomore Krysta Blaha (1:05.77) in the 100 breaststroke.

“We knew we had girls who would hit their stride this season and were well-rounded enough to show their stuff,” Byrd concluded. “It’s really gratifying to win because it’s been so long.”