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Sports

Venit Dives into Busy Summer

The West Arundel standout won two events in the divisional swim meet, while Russett claimed the overall title in Division D after taking second in its divisional.

Kellianne Venit already had a busy summer lined up.

But this year, the warm-weather months have been even busier for Venit, as she is volunteering at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.

"I am going two days a week, for five hours a day," Venit told Laurel Patch on Monday night as she prepared for a five-hour day at Children's on Tuesday.

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So is health care a possible career path for Venit, a rising sophomore at Archbishop Spalding in Severn? "Maybe. I have not decided yet," she said.

Venit is also one of the top 15-18 swimmers for West Arundel in the Prince-Mont Swim League. The team practices several days a week under the leadership of head coach John Venit, Kellianne's father, and the longtime head coach for the Laurel High swim team as well.

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On Saturday, July 23, Kellianne took first place in the 15-18 girls free and back during the divisional meet held at West Arundel.

Another double winner for the West Arundel girls was Andria Moyer (15-18 fly and IM), a standout this past season at St. Vincent Pallotti High in Laurel.

Single winners for West Arundel were Jay Venit (11-12 breast), Kellianne's brother, and Billy Rodgers (15-18 fly), a recent graduate of Pallotti.

As a team host, West Arundel was second with 197 points, well behind first-place Kingfish (328.5). Marlton was third with 186, Northridge was fourth at 162 and Montpelier, of Laurel, came in fifth with 158.5 points. Cheverly was last with 156 points.

"I thought second was predictable. Kingfish is very good," Kellianne Venit said of West Arundel's showing. "Overall our team did very well. We were upbeat and inspired" since the meet was held at West Arundel, she said.

"There were signs up and people were cheering for us," she added. "It is our pool and our team."

Venit also swims with FAST (Fairland Aquatic Swim Team), based in West Laurel, and was a freshman on the team at Spalding last season.

She also plans to play soccer this fall with the Maryland City program, and she enjoys snowboarding at Liberty in Pennsylvania. Her West Arundel summer team includes cousins John and Andrea Sturgis.

So it is a challenge to swim in the summer for your father's team? "There is some pressure, but not as much as the year-round swim team" at FAST, she said.

Brian Abdo, the first-year head coach at Montpelier, said, "The meet went pretty smoothly. Both of our male relays qualified for All-Stars, so I was happy about that." Abdo, a former Montpelier swimmer and assistant coach, has been involved with the team since 1997. He is a student at Howard Community College in Columbia.

In other divisional meets, Russett was second in the divisional meet but took first overall this season in Division D, thanks to a 5-0 record in dual meets. It was the fourth title in the past six years for the Sharks.

Triple winners for Russett were Taylor Hicks (girls 15-18 fly, breast, IM) and Allison Ritter (girls 9-10 free, breast, back).

Other Russett winners were Imaad Syed (U-8 boys free), Aaban Syed (U-8 boys back), Alexandra Bowman (girls 13-14 back) and Dominic Kazzi (U-8 boys breast).

The Sharks also took first in the girls medley relay with Bowman, Tomiwa Sobande, Megan Reyda and Asha Modali, and also took first in the girls graduated freestyle relay with Ritter, Simone DeSouza, Paris Hicks and Taylor Hicks.

All first-place winners get an automatic bid to the Prince-Mont Swim League All-Star meet this Saturday at Whitehall in Bowie. Roger Carter of Howard County won the D divisionals with 307 points, and Russett had 258 points at the pool in New Carrollton.

In other meets involving Laurel-area teams, Laurel City (214) was third in the Divisional F meet as Hawthorne won with 350 points. Eanna Hehir-Keys of Laurel City won three events in 11-12 girls: breast, fly and IM. Sean Whitelock of Laurel City was first in the boys 15-18 breast and Jesse Rocco took first in the 13-14 girls backstroke. The boys 15-18 relay team of Laurel High product Correy Blake, Whitelock, James Krehbiel and Jack Ellis won the medley event at Prince George's Pool.

West Laurel (142) was sixth and last in the Divisional B meet, as Westlake won with 239 points. The West Laurel team of Laurel High grad Caitlin Raynor, Olivia Petrusky, Jessica Sweitzer and Sarah Pankratz took first in the U-18 medley relay.

"It was a good meet," West Laurel head coach David Floyd said Tuesday. "It was a hot day for the kids. It was a very tough meet."

Floyd was the head coach for West Laurel in 2007, when the team was 3-2. Since then, West Laurel had won just one dual meet until the team won two this season. "We were competitive," said Floyd, whose three dual losses came by nine, 15 and 19 points.

The Silver Spring Swim Team, based at Patuxent Greens in Laurel, was fifth with 169 points in the Divisional A meet, which was won by Theresa Banks with 239 points.

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