The Fort Dorchester swim teams are eyeing region titles.
The Patriots notched big wins last week and are hoping their momentum will carry them to victory in Saturday’s Region 8-AAAA Championship scheduled for 11 a.m. at the W.L. Stephens pool in West Ashley.
The Fort followed a Sept. 16 sweep of Stratford with a Sept. 19 sweep of Summerville to improve their duals record to 6-1.
“We’ve had a solid start this season, loosing only to Wando thus far,” Fort coach Jaeson May said. “Both the boys and girls are undefeated in the region.”
The Patriots are a team on the rise. Last season, the Fort boys won the school’s first swimming region crown.
For the last couple of years, the Fort girls have given James Island and Summerville good contests, but fallen to the Lady Trojans and the Lady Wave.
This year, the Lady Patriots came out on top in those meets. Now, they are aiming to dethrone Summerville, which edged them out for the region crown last season.
“We are a strong team,” May said. “We may not have the strongest swimmers, but as a group we are deeper than we have been in the past. These kids set taking the region championships as a goal early in the year so I’ve pushed them and they are seeing the benefits. They have worked really hard and I’m proud of them.”
Cherokee Grooms led the Lady Patriots in a 116-50 victory over Stratford last week.
Grooms won the 200-meter Free race with a 2:20.83 time and the 100 Butterfly with a 1:13.65 time. She also helped the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay teams to a first-place finish.
Marina Filo, Colleen Closson, Alecia Rattigan, C. Kastenholz and Brooke Spencer were also winners in multiple events.
The Fort boys earned a 106-58 victory over Stratford.
Ryan Shope won the 100 Free with a 1:01.10 time and helped the 200 Medley and 400 Free relay teams to wins. Kyle Zoller won the 100 Back with a 1:11.43 time and swam a leg of he 400 Free.
Brandon Rattigan won the 100 Breast with a 1:14.46 time and helped the 400 Free and 200 Medley relay teams to victory.
On Saturday, Summerville had a strong showing, but was edged out as the Fort girls earned a 92-78 victory and the Fort boys earned an 85-84 victory.
Alecia Rattigan led the Patriot girls, winning the 100 Back and helping both the 200 and 400 Free Relay teams to victory. Martin, Grooms and Filo also earned multiple first-place finishes.
Brandon Rattigan, Ryan Shope and Zoller all had multiple first-place finishes for the Patriot boys.

GIRLS: FORT DORCHESTER 116, STRATFPRD 50
200 Medley Relay: FD (Kastenholz, Schmidt, Martin, Closson), 2:26.73; 200 Free: Cherokee Grooms, FD 2:20.83; 200 IM: Danielle Wells, S 2:52.27; 50 Free: Hope Stevens, S 30.13; 100 Fly: Cherokee Grooms, FD 1:13.65; 100 Free: Marina Filo, FD 1:06.11; 400 Free: Colleen Closson, FD 5:24.60; 200 Free Relay: FD (Rattigan, Spencer, Filo, Grooms), 2:04.27; 100 Back: Alecia Rattigan, FD 1:16.84; 100 Breast: Danielle Wells, S 1:28.10; 400 Free Relay: FD (Grooms, Spencer, Filo, Rattigan), 4:35.07.

BOYS: FORT DORCHESTER 106, STRATFORD 58
200 Medley Relay: FD (Smith, Shope, Rattigan, Bates), 2:07.02; 200 Free: BJ Hornikel, S 2:00.63; 200 IM: Daniel Shelley, S 2:30.60; 50 Free: W. Lindamood, S 28.00; 100 Fly: BJ Hornikel, S 1:01.47; 100 Free: Ryan Shope, FD 1:01.10; 400 Free: Daniel Shelley, S 4:58.92; 200 Free Relay: S (Hornikel, Bender, Lindamood, Shelly), 1:51.94; 100 Back: Kyle Zoller, FD 1:11.43; 100 Breast: Brandon Rattigan, FD 1:14.46; 400 Free Relay: FD (Shope, Zoller, Rattigan, Leonguerrero), 4:28.97.

GIRLS: FORT DORCHESTER 92, SUMMERVILLE 78
200 Medley Relay: FD (Kastenholz, Schmidt, Martin, Closson) 2:27.95; 200 Free: Gluhosky, SHS 2:16.56; 200 IM: Martin, FD 2:52.85; 50 Free: Jones, S 29.67; 100 Fly: Von Dohlen, S 1:18.23; 100 Free: Jones, S 1:04.42; 400 Free: Gluhosky, S 4:48.49; 200 Free Relay: FD (Rattigan, Spencer, Filo, Grooms) 2:00.66; 100 Back: Rattigan, FD 1:15.60; 100 Breast: Bogensberger, FD 1:29.67; 400 Free Relay: FD (Grooms, Rattigan,  Spencer, Filo).

BOYS: FORT DORCHESTER 85, SUMMERVILLE 84
200 Medley Relay: FD (Zoller, Rattigan, Shope, Bates) 2:04.14; 200 Free: Shelbourne, S 2:08.42; 200 IM: Graham, S 2:29.05; 50 Free: Davis, S 26.41; 100 Fly: Graham, S 1:05.16; 100 Free: Shope, FD 1:01.81; 400 Free: Shelbourne, S 4:33.53; 200 Free Relay: S (Davis, Moore, Graham, Shelbourne) 1:49.74; 100 Back: Zoller, FD 1:09.57; 100 Breast: Rattigan, FD 1:14.67; 400 Free Relay: S (Graham, Windsor, Moore, Shelbourne) 3:59.25.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.