Early wake-up calls and countless hours of practice are the norm for Kaleigh Rosenburg. The Heritage High School junior crafts her skills by practicing eight times per week; four of those sessions begin at 5:30 a.m. prior to school.

Rosenburg was rewarded for her dedication Feb. 11 when she struck gold in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Virginia AA Swim Championships in Christiansburg. Rosenburg completed the event in 1:03.21, more than a second ahead of runner-up Annie Lane of William Byrd.

“This gives you the satisfaction of doing something that you love when you accomplish your goal,” Rosenburg said.

Rosenburg competed in the Virginia AAA meet the last two years before Heritage returned to AA prior to this school year based on its reduced student population with Tuscarora opening in Leesburg.

Rosenburg, also a member of SNOW Swimming, added a fourth-place finish in the 200 individual medley and swam a leg on the Pride’s 400 freestyle relay team that finished 13th in the state. Joining her in the relay were Katie Lee, Hannah Miklich and Allison Grecco. 

“It was my goal to be a state champion in an event. It was a really good race,” Rosenburg said of the 100 breaststroke. “I started out with a really good dive and just continued from there.”

Potomac Falls produced the top teams finishes among Loudoun schools - placing seventh in the girls standings and ninth in the boys.

William Lin led the Panthers boys with a pair of top 10 individual finishes and was also a part of two relay teams that placed seventh or better. Lin was joined by Gavin Saunders, Riley Jamison and Eoghan Foley on the 200 free relay squad that finished third.

Dominion’s Aidan O’Hara placed sixth in both the 100 back and 500 free, while Jake Koenig of Loudoun County swam to sixth place in the 100 breaststroke and eighth in the 100 fly.

Briar Woods was paced on the boys side by Brennan Maxwell (fifth in 100 fly) and Eric Guessford (10th in 100 free).

Kiri Harvey and Ariana Staffen led the Panther girls. Harvey and Staffen teamed with Karen Hood and Carson Newton to place seventh in the 200 medley relay, and joined forces with Newton and Lindsey Oteyza for seventh in the 400 free relay. Harvey’s top inidividual finish was seventh in the 200 free, while Staffen placed 10th in the 200 individual medley.

Joining Potomac Falls among the top 10 in the girls standings were Dominion in ninth place and second-year Tuscarora finished 10th.

Rachel Williams posted two strong individual finishes for the Titans - seventh in the 100 fly and eighth in the 200 free. Williams, along with Ashley Brock, Maura Mazurowski and Casey Tinius were sixth in the 200 free relay. Jalyn Marks aided Dominion’s strong team finish with her seventh-place showing in the 500 free.

Tuscarora’s Amanda Presgraves placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and was also 14th in the 200 free. Presgraves also swam a leg on two top 10 relay teams. She was joined by Imelda Ogango, Pim Silpacharn and Bailey Jenkins in both.

Sophie Newton of Loudoun County delivered a pair of top five individual finishes at states. Newton placed third in the 50 free and was fifth in the 100 fly.

Briar Woods’ Lizzie Mittan also posted two finishes in the top 10. Mittan placed fifth in the 500 free and finished 10th in the 200 free.

-Below is a list of all Loudoun swimmers that placed in the A or B finals:

Boys

200 medley relay: 12. Potomac Falls (Foley, Ovchynnikov, Hurrell, Deker) 1:43.96; 16. Heritage (McAllister, Blackley, Schroth, Burris) 1:46.38.

200 free: 14. Courtner Clark (LC) 1:52.72.

200 individual medley: 4. William Lin (PF) 1:58.19; 16. Samuel Presgraves (T) 2:10.4.

50 free: 10. Eoghan Foley (PF) 22.45.

100 fly: 5. Brennan Maxwell (BW) 53.67; 8. Jake Koenig (LC) 54.89.

100 free: 9. William Lin (PF) 48.80; 10. Eric Guessford (BW) 49.10; 12. Daniel McAllister (H) 49.55.

500 free: 6. Aidan O’Hara (D) 4:52.90; 15. Courtner Clark (LC) 5:03.98; 16. Christian Banister (W) 5:08.89.

200 free relay: 3. Potomac Falls (Lin, Saunders, Jamison, Foley) 1:29.53; 12. Heritage (Burris, Fabian, Schroth, McAllister) 1:32.94; 13. Briar Woods (Rothrock, Humphrise III, Maxwell, Guessford) 1:33.99.

100 back: 6. Aidan O’Hara (D) 55.01; 14. Brennan Maxwell (BW) 57.63.

100 breast: 6. Jake Koenig (LC) 1:01.94; 15. Samuel Presgraves (T) 1:04.49.

400 free relay: 7. Potomac Falls (Saunders, Hurrell, Jamison, Lin) 3:20.25; 14. Loudoun County (Koenig, Perales, Van Tol, Clark) 3:27.69.

Girls

200 medley relay: 7. Potomac Falls (Hood, Staffen, Newton, Harvey) 1:53.96; 8. Tuscarora (Ogango, Presgraves, Silpacharn, Jenkins) 1:54.25; 11. Dominion (Brock, Marks, Williams, Mazurowski) 1:57.32.

200 free: 7. Kiri Harvey (PF) 1:58.74; 8. Rachel Williams (D) 1:59.57; 10. Lizzie Mittan (BW) 1:57.53; 13. Jalyn Marks (D) 2:01.34; 14. Amanda Presgraves (T) 2:01.83.

200 individual medley: 4. Kaleigh Rosenburg (H) 2:06.55; 10. Ariana Staffen (PF) 2:13.79; 13. Imelda Ogango (T) 2:17.13; 15. Catherine Vu (PV) 2:18.64.

50 free: 3. Sophie Newton (LC) 24.63; 16. Erica Comm (BW) 25.67.

100 fly: 5. Sophie Newton (LC) 58.44; 7. Rachel Williams (D) 1:00.71; 11. Carson Newton (PF) 1:01.45; 12. Kiri Harvey (PF) 1:01.57; 14. Catherine Vu (PV) 1:03.0.

100 free: 15. Pim Silpacharn (T) 56.21; 16. Erica Comm (BW) 57.27.

500 free: 5. Lizzie Mittan (BW) 5:16.89; 7. Jalyn Marks (D) 5:21.59

200 free relay: 6. Dominion (Brock, Mazurowski, Tinius, Williams) 1:43.73; 7. Tuscarora (Silpacharn, Jenkins, Presgraves, Ogango) 1:43.93; 9. Briar Woods (Mittan, Smith, Horner, Comm) 1:45.06; 13. Loudoun County (Sheridan, Backus, Rivera, Newton) 1:46.61; 14. Potomac Falls (Oteyza, Hood, Schmid, Fauteux) 1:47.17.

100 back: 15. Katie Lee (H) 1:03.69.

100 breast: 1. Kaleigh Rosenburg (H) 1:03.21; 5. Amanda Presgraves (T) 1:06.82; 8. Ariana Staffen (PF) 1:08.69; 11. Imelda Ogango (T) 1:09.79; 13. Sarah Sheridan (LC) 1:11.53.

400 free relay: 7. Potomac Falls (Newton, Oteyza, Staffen, Harvey) 3:48.96; 13. Heritage (Lee, Miklich, Grecco, Rosenburg) 3:56.12; 15. Loudoun County (Rivera, Williams, Sheridan, Newton) 3:57.24.

-All photos by Gemma Rosenburg.