One state title could just be the result of a lucky season, the stars all lining up right or plain-old beginner’s luck.

But two in a row?

That’s a team that does one thing and only one thing: win.

The Brentsville District boys swimming team captured its second consecutive Group AA state championship this past weekend in Christiansburg, topping second-place Hidden Valley 236 to 217 while Jefferson Forest came in third at 216.

Such a win came despite the Tigers spotting Hidden Valley 19 points before the meet even began. Unlike the Region IV champion Titans, Brentsville did not have a diving team to compete in the lone diving event that took place last Thursday.

What the Tigers did have though was a depth chart and an exceptional athlete in Ryan Dunne. The senior coasted to two individual victories and lead the 200 yard freestyle relay team that included teammates Ben Cumberland, Justin Doyle and Nathan Brown to a victory of its own.

"He's just really come into his own," said Brentsville coach Ashleigh Krzywicki adding that she thought he surprised himself when he set a personal best record earlier this season in the 50 yard freestyle during a dual meet against Seton. "So he's been working to try and repeat that. That kid swims more than anyone."

A competitor in the junior nationals last season, Dunne’s strongest event typically is not the 50 freestyle, according to Krzywicki. However, Dunne ended up besting his own seed time of 21.71 seconds by 0.35 seconds, tapping the edge of the pool 0.11 seconds before Brandon Kegley of Marion for the win.

What really benefited Brentsville though was the fact that Dunne did not compete alone. Not far behind in sixth place, Cumberland clocked in at 22.58 seconds to secure another 13 points for Brentsville, which gave an 89-88 lead over Hidden Valley with Jefferson Forest not far behind at 80.

When Brentsville fell behind again though, the team needed an extra-strong showing from Dunne in the 100 yard free style in order to stay competitive. The team leader did not disappoint as he left the opposition in his wake with a first-place time of 46.65, putting him 0.29 seconds ahead of Kegley.

After trailing in third place for the first 85 yards, Dunne "just destroyed" the last 15 yards or so, Krzywicki said.

Once again, Brentsville managed to capitalize on the effort through its strength in numbers. Chuckie Zumbaugh grabbed an additional 11 points with an eighth-place finish at 49.42. Brentsville needed the points too given that no one competed in the 500 yard freestyle, which left the Tigers down 148-134.

That’s when Dunne, Cumberland, Doyle and Brown seized its relay gold with a state-record time of 1:27.43.

Krzywicki said her biggest surprise came from Doyle, who registered two sixth-place showings in the 100 yard backstroke and the 200 yard individual medley.

"He took a collective 8 seconds off of his times. And I know they're his best times, not just his best times for Brentsvile, but his personal best times," said Krzywicki.

Other notable accomplishments by the boys team came from Zumbaugh, who came in fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:00.82), Brown finishing ninth in the 200 yard free style (1:46.97), Tim Rackowski checking in 12th in the 100 yard butterfly (53.68) and Naoki Sugiura's 14th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:04.70).

In the final event of the day, Brentsville basically just had to make the top-10 in order to clinch first place. That turned out not to be a problem with Brown, Zumbaugh, Rackowski and Dunne picking up a bronze at 3:14.76, good for 32 points, only two points less than second-place Hidden Valley (3:13.89).