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The Chantilly Chargers captured their first boys swimming and diving region championship on Feb. 15, turning an anticipated nail-biter into a commanding 59-point victory.

After finishing second in each of the previous two seasons, Chantilly won the 6D North Region high school title with 404 points. Defending champion Langley placed second with 345, while Oakton finished third with 299.

Chantilly’s coaches had projected a winning margin ranging from one point to slightly more than a dozen. Instead, the Chargers seized control early and continued piling up strong performances throughout the meet.

“We set the stage early, had good swims all night, kept building on our success in each race and everything worked out well for us,” coach James MacKenzie said. “We were on fire all night and did exactly what we had to do.”

Langley lost a potential 30 points when its 200-yard medley relay was disqualified in the opening race. The Saxons would have placed second behind Chantilly, which won in 1:31.70.

“Certainly Langley’s disqualification gave us more of a cushion,” MacKenzie said.

Chantilly swept all three relays, claimed five individual victories and added three runner-up finishes.

Kyle Li led the Chargers with wins in the 200 individual medley in 1:50.25 and the 100 breaststroke in 55.67. Blake Madsen won the 500 freestyle in 4:42.29 and finished second in the individual medley. Yaron Li captured the 100 freestyle in 45.13 and placed second in the 50 freestyle.

The Chargers also dominated the diving standings. Ivor Brown won with 533 points, while Paxton Martinez placed fifth, Mason Waterfield finished 10th and Edward Moore took 11th.

Ben Farello recorded second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and individual medley. Ben Clabeauz placed fourth in both the 100 and 50 freestyle events, while Jason Xin finished fifth in the backstroke and sixth in the butterfly.

Aiden Wong placed 12th in the 100 freestyle and 13th in the 200 freestyle. Ben Matyas was 13th in the butterfly and 15th in the 200 freestyle. Nate Murphy finished 11th in the 50 freestyle, Lou Murphy took 11th in the butterfly, Adam Aly placed 14th in the 50 freestyle and Isaiah Wong finished 16th in the individual medley.

Xin, Madsen, Clabeaux and Kyle Li formed Chantilly’s winning medley relay. Farello, Lyle Li, Yaron Li and Nate Murphy won the 200 freestyle relay, while Madsen, Farello, Clabeaux and Yarin Li took first in the 400 freestyle relay.

“We had big contributions from a lot of swimmers and divers,” MacKenzie said.

Langley’s Hunter Zipperer won the 50 freestyle in 20.37 and the butterfly in 49.46. He also competed on the second-place 200 freestyle relay and the disqualified medley relay.

Gavin Parris gave Langley another victory in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.14 and finished second in the breaststroke. The Saxons also placed second in the 400 freestyle relay, with Max Thompson, Michael Zhou and Ethan Shin among their top finishers.