His days in the water are from over, but Broad Run senior Mark Sarman produced a fitting conclusion to his high school career Feb. 25-26 in the VHSL Group AA state swimming championships, hosted by Virginia Tech at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.

Sarman, who holds numerous school records, can now add another state championship to his long list of varsity achievements. Sarman won the 100-meter butterfly in one of the closest finishes of the weekend. Sarman and Lafayette’s Ben Colley were stroke for stroke the whole race until Sarman’s final push.

“I took an extra half-stroke on my finish to out touch him by a 10th of a second,” Sarman said. “I was so pumped up to swim that race and being able to finish my last individual high school event with a win was fantastic.”

Not only was it a photo finish to the wall for first place, it was also a close call for the record books. Sarman’s time of 50.12 was just shy of a state record. Sarman also placed second in the 200 individual medley (1:52.61).

“Mark had an excellent weekend, and put up All-American Times,” Broad Run coach Beverly Kelley said. “He had an excellent career and I am excited to see how he does at Georgia Tech.”

While Sarman certainly warrants the headlines with his performance, his teammate Jacob Leidy faired quite well for the Spartans as well. Liedy finished fifth in the 100 butterfly (52.55) and seventh in the 100 backstroke (54.71).

Both Leidy and Sarman joined Jack Morrisroe and Alan Horback in the 400 freestyle relay. The group led Broad Run to a sixth place finish with a time of 3:20.54.

Sarman realizes he was part of a special group of teammates, “I am very proud to have been a part of several outstanding teams that won 26 straight district meets and four Dulles District titles.”

Freedom’s foursome of Nicholas Campbell, Andrew Smith, Christopher Crampton, and Michael Harman finished fifth in the 200 medley relay (1:42.17) and fourth in the 200 freestyle relay. (1:31.45) Campbell also placed ninth in the 100 backstroke (55.15) and 10th in the 100 freestyle (49.59). Smith finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.81).

Dominion’s Aidan O’Hara finished seventh in the 500 freestyle (3:57.89).

Briar Woods’ 400 freestyle relay team, consisting of Eric Guessford, Brennan Maxwell, Philip Mardock, and Matthew Nielsen, placed eighth with a time of 3:22.94. Nielson had a very strong performance individually as well, placing fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:41.51) and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.22). Nielson’s freestyle time broke the school record by 17 seconds.

The Falcons girls relay teams also enjoyed great success, finishing second in the 400 freestyle (3:37.28), third in the 200 medley (1:51.14), and 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.21).

Briar Woods also had several individual standout performances. Shining in the water once again was the Haufler family. Alli Haufler placed second in the 100 butterfly (56.63) and third in the 200 freestyle (1:54.92). Her sister, Kristin, finished sixth in the 100 freestyle (54.63) and tied for seventh in the 50 freestyle (25.23) with her teammate Caleigh Hensley. Hensley also placed 13th in the 100 backstroke.

Caitlyn Brown placed 10th in the 200 freestyle and 13th in the 100 freestyle. Erica Comm finished 16th in both the 50 free and 100 free. Lizzie Mittan placed eighth in the 500 free (5:20.39) All six mentioned Briar Woods swimmers, as well as Veronica Smith were part of their relay teams.

“I could not be more proud of the swimmers’ accomplishments this year both in the pool and in the classroom,” Briar Woods first-year coach Eric Bateman said.

With the whole girls team returning next season, anyone and everyone hopping in the pool with the Falcons will have quite the challenge.

“Despite turning in some personal best times and breaking school records, I know a lot of the swimmers will not be satisfied until they capture state titles,” Bateman said.  “They are a very dedicated group of swimmers who will continue to work hard throughout the year until they have another shot at achieving all their goals next season.”

More strong performances were turned in by Tuscarora’s Amanda Presgraves, who placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.95) and 13th in the 200 freestyle (2:02.33), and Freedom’s Stephanie Clarke, who placed fifth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.52) and 11th in the 100 butterfly (1:00.78).

Individual and relay results (only Loudoun swimmers listed)

Boys

200 Medley Relay: 5. Freedom (Nicholas Campbell, Andrew Smith, Christopher Crampton, Michael Harman) 1:42.17; 9. Briar Woods (Steffen Vater, Matthew Nielsen, Philip Mardock, Eric Guessford) 1:42.17

200 Medley: 2. Mark Sarman (BR) 1:52.61; 13. Christopher Crampton (F) 2:06.39

100 Butterfly: 1. Mark Sarman (BR) 50.12; 5. Jacob Leidy (BR) 52.55

50 Freestyle: 11. Michael Harman(F) 22.73

500 Freestyle: 4. Matthew Nielsen (BW) 4:41.51; 7. Aidan O’Hara (DOM) 3:57.89

200 Freestyle Relay: 4. Freedom (Michael Harman, Christopher Crampton, Andrew Smith, Nicholas Campbell); 13. Potomac Falls (Riley Jamison, Gavin Saunders, Grant Deker, Eoghan Foley)  1:31.45

100 Backstroke: 7. Jacob Leidy (BR) 54.71; 9. Nicholas Campbell (F) 55.15

100 Freestyle: 10. Nicholas Campbell (F) 49.59

200 Freestyle: 12. Philip Mardock (BW) 1:50.79

100 Breaststroke: 4. Matthew Nielsen (BW) 1:00.22; 8. Andrew Smith (F) 1:02.81

400 Freestyle Relay: 6. Broad Run (Jack Morrisroe, Alan Horback, Jacob Leidy, Mark Sarman) 3:20.54; 8. Briar Woods (Eric Guessford, Brennan Maxwell, Philip Mardock, Matthew Nielsen) 3:22.94; 11. Potomac Falls (Riley Jamison, Gavin Saunders, Sean Hurrell, Eoghan Foley) 3:27.48

Girls

200 Medley Relay: 3. Briar Woods (Caleigh Hensley, Kristin Haufler, Alli Haufler, Erica Comm) 1:51.14; 11. Freedom (Stephanie Clarke, Maggie Eaton, Katherine Doherty, Rachel Moffit) 1:55.60

200 Freestyle: 3. Alli Haufler (BW) 1:54.92; 13. Amanda Presgraves (T) 2:02.33

50 Freestyle: 7T. Kristin Haufler (BW) 25.23; 7T. Caleigh Hensley (BW) 25.23; 16. Erica Comm (BW) 25.91

100 Butterfly: 2. Ali Haufler (BW) 56.63; 11. Stephanie Clarke (F) 1:00.78; 13. Rachel Williams (D) 1:01.28; 14. Abby Pasztor (BR) 1:01.95; 15. Katherine Doherty (F) 1:01.98

100 Freestyle: 6. Kristin Haufler (BW) 54.63; 16. Erica Comm (BW) 57.09

100 Breaststroke: 5. Amanda Presgraves (T) 1:06.95

500 Freestyle: 8. Lizzie Mittan (BW) 5:20.39; 13. Caitlyn Brown (BW) 5:22.70

200 Freestyle Relay: 10. Freedom (Katie Johnson, Katherine Doherty, Rachel Moffitt, Stephanie Clarke) 1:43.55; 12. Briar Woods (Caitlyn Brown, Lizzie Mittan, Veronica Smith, Erica Comm) 1:44.21; 15. Broad Run (Abby Pastzor, Brooke Graham, Anna Sarman, Caroline Ruttenberg) 1:46.56

100 Backstroke: 5. Stephanie Clarke (F) 1:00.52; 13. Caleigh Hensley (BW) 1:02.06

400 Freestyle Relay: 2. Briar Woods (Alli Haufler, Caitlyn Brown, Caleigh Hensley, Kristin Haufler) 3:37.28; 13. Freedom ( Katie Johnson, Grace Morales, Rebecca Mignone, Rachel Moffitt) 3:57.20: 14. Potomac Falls (Jennifer Schmid, Leah Koontz, Megan Voyack, Ariana Staffen) 3.57.61