High School State Championships: Florida Boys, Girls, Divisions 1, 2 and 3

ORLANDO, Florida, November 14. HIGHLIGHTED by the national record-setting effort in the boys meet by the Bolles 400 free relay, Florida high school swimmers competed in three divisions in Orlando the weekend of Nov. 10-12. The meets were swum in short course yards.

Division 1A: Nov. 11
The Bolles 400 free relay squad of senior George Frank (45.86), junior Ryan Murphy (43.88), senior Preston Jenkins (45.82) and senior Teo D'Alessandro (45.11) put an exclamation point on the team's domination of the boys events during the last event of the meet. Not only did their time of 3:00.67 erase the national independent school record 3:01.80 set by teams from St. Francis de Sales (Ohio) and the Bolles School—both set in 1999—but it also eclipsed the national public school mark set by Saratoga (Calif). in 2009 by 1-hundredth.

Bolles swimmers combined for 446 points, ahead of Pine Crest's 303.5, Lake Highland Prep's 194, American Heritage's 172 and St. Andrew's 137.

Bolles made it a clean sweep of the relays. The 200 free relay team of D'Alessandro, junior Santo Condorelli, Frank and junior Emiro Goosen set a state record with their 1:23.02, and was tops in the 200 medley in 1:30.28. Individually, Murphy captured the 100 back in 47.59 (a 15-16 NAG record), and D'Alessandro took the 200 IM in 1:49.27.

Two seniors closed out their high school swimming careers by capturing two event titles each. Lake Highland Prep's Sean Duggan swept the sprint free events with his 20.36 in the 50 free and 44.29 in the 100 free. Yousef Alaskari was first in both the 200 free (1:36.98) and the 100 fly (47.90).

Though the Bolles girls didn't score a single event victory—either in individual events or relays—they still dominated the team race, bringing home 369 points. American Heritage found itself in second with 209.5, followed by St. Andrew's 187, Pine Crest's 164 and Trinity Prep's 158.

American Heritage was led by double event champions senior Lindsey McKnight (100 free, 49.91; 200 IM, 1:59.27) and fellow senior Lauren Driscoll (200 free, 1:46.15; 500 free, 4:47.15). McKnight and Driscoll teamed up with juniors Alina Schulhofer and Jessica Randolph for a state record-setting 3:23.94 in the 400 free relay.

The top three divers were within 3.10 points of each other. Pine Crest freshman Carolyn Chaney emerged victorious with 490.25 points. In section was Pine School junior Dakota Toner (488.15) and St. Andrew's sophomore Blaire Muka (487.15).

Division 2A: Nov. 12
Chiles High School was the top girls team in Division 2 action, scoring 298.5 points. In second was Suncoast (183), followed by Martin County (136), Holy Names (119) and Gainesville (102).

Leading Chiles to victory were sophomore Delaney Barnard in the 50 free (23.85) and junior Alyssa Yambor-Maul in the 100 fly (55.98), along with relay victories in the 200 medley (1:48.36) and 400 free (3:31.37) relays.

Danielle Valley, a junior at Lakewood Ranch, was the only double-event champion among the women, taking home titles in both the 200 (1:48.17) and 500 (4:43.56) free.

Gainesville was the top boys team with 219 points, with Mosley taking second (178), Barron Collier coming in third (158), Belen Jesuit Prep in fourth (131.5) and Martin County in fifth (117).

There were a couple of races that were decided by mere hundredths of a second. In the 100 free, Lakewood Ranch junior Will Kazokas' 45.78 held off Paxon senior Ian Apple (45.82) and Belen Jesuit junior Julian Ballestas (45.83). Apple went on to capture the 50 free (20.74). In the 200 IM, Caeleb Dressel, a sophomore at Clay High, battled Mack Martinock, a senior at Martin County, to a 1:51.13-1:51.15 triumph.

Tyler Rocca, a Gainesville senior, enjoyed victories in both the 200 free (1:38.87) and 100 back (50.70), as did Mitchell junior Devin McCaffrey in the 100 breast (56.97) and 100 fly (49.10).

Division 3A: Nov. 10
Kicking off the competition at the state high school championships, Riverview's girls took the team title with 214 points. Palm Harbor University came in second (145.5). After a close race, Miami Palmetto took third (114), with Plant fourth (111) and Spruce Creek fifth (106).

Riverview junior Taylor Katz took both distance free events with her 1:47.24 in the 200 and 4:47.22 in the 500 free. Katz's teammate, senior Ashlee Linn, also was tops in two events with her 53.95 in the 100 back and 1:58.80 in the 200 IM. Riverview swimmers combined for victories in both freestyle relays (200 free, 1:35.23; 400 free, 3:29.25).

In the 200 medley relay, an exciting three-team race ended with Lake Brantley (1:48.58) ahead of Miami Palmetto (1:48.71) and Jupiter's (1:48.84).

Palm Harbor University swam off with the boys team title, scoring 235 points to St. Thomas Aquinas' 192. Winter Park held off Boca Raton for third, 181-174, with Riverview finishing fifth with 117 points.

Like Katz in the girls' races, the 200 and 500 free races were won by one swimmer. Clearwater senior Nick Alexiou posted a 1:36.27 in the 200 free and 4:24.30 in the 500 free to become the only multi-event individual champion.

Winter Park Avery Warrington was involved in two very close sprint free races, coming out in second place in both. In the 50 free, Boca Raton junior Jason McCormick's 20.82 outsplashed Warrington (20.85) and Palm Harbor University senior Jason Williams (20.87). The margin of victory in the 100 free was just 1-hundredth of a second, with Olympia's Steyn Funk, a senior, holding off Warrington (45.34-45.35).

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