East Lake Girls, Riverview Boys Win Florida 4A Swimming and Diving Titles

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STUART – The East Lake High School girls and Riverview High School boys swam away with the Florida High School 4A Swimming and Diving titles last weekend at the Sailfish Splashpark Aquatic Athletics Center in Stuart.

Girls

East Lake got their meet off to a great start in the 200 medley relay, as Michelle Turek, Sydney Pickrem, Annaklara Doel and Annika Smith recorded the fastest time at 1:47.34. Plant’s Morgan Tankersley, Catarina Sterlacci, Martha Pointer and Sarah Rossi gave them a run but came up just shy with a 1:47.83. Maddie Hess, Julia Kostecki, Lauren Harper and Klaudia Greer gave Newsome a third place finish with their 1:48.06.

East Lake seniors Alexandra Aitchison and Michelle Turek kept the ball rolling in the 200 free, going 1-2 with times of 1:46.68 and 1:49.60, respectively. Peyton Palsha of St. Petersburg snuck in for third at 1:50.52.

Sydney Pickrem gave East Lake its third win in a row in the 200 IM, clearing 2:00 and topping the competition by more than five seconds in 1:59.17. Riverview’s Nancy Hu touched second in 2:04.48, followed by Countryside’s Summer Finke (2:06.20).

Newsome’s Maddie Hess took home the 50 free state title in a tight finish over Plant’s Morgan Tankersley, 23.15 to 23.19. Kelly Harrington of Boca Raton snuck onto the podium in third with a 23.60.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Karlee Price was the class of the field in the girls’ 1-meter diving competition, posting the only score over 500 points with 503.50. West Orange’s Rileigh Knox came in second with 492.95 points, while Makayla Robillard of Olympia rounded out the top three with 485.90 points.

Durant freshman Katie Vasiloff started off her high school state meet career in style with a win in the 100 fly. After qualifying second in prelims, Vasiloff moved up a spot to first in finals with a 55.69, less than half a second in front of Riverview’s Nancy Hu (56.02) and Dr. Phillips’ Emily Kliewer (56.04).

Maddie Hess of Newsome made it a sweep in the sprint freestyle events, as she added a win in the 100 free to her victory in the 50 earlier. Hess stopped the clock in 50.32 to top Olympia’s Sofia Bernard (51.13) and Boca Raton’s Kelly Harrington (51.63).

East Lake’s Alexandra Aitchison swept the mid-distance freestyle events at the meet, cruising to a time of 4:48.80 in the 500. Plant’s Morgan Tankersley swam a unique double at the meet, finishing second in the 50 free and then taking second in the 500 free with a 4:51.05. Countryside’s Summer Finke finished right on Tankersley’s heels with a 4:51.29 for third.

Several teams were in the running for the girls’ 200 free relay state title, with the top four schools finishing within .66 of each other. East Lake led the way, with Alexandra Aitchison, Annika Smith, Natalie Clausen and Michelle Turek posting a 1:36.21. Newsome’s Maddie Hess, Allison Greenwood, Lauren Harper and Klaudia Greer swam a 1:36.62 to finish second, just ahead of Plant’s Catarina Sterlacci, Sarah Rossi, Martha Pointer and Morgan Tankersley (1:36.68).

East Lake’s Sydney Pickrem, winner of the 200 IM earlier in the meet, went two-for-two in her final high school state meet with a convincing win in the 100 back. Pickrem had a nearly two second cushion over second place finisher Amanda Tipton of Nova, 54.72 to 56.63. Meagan Abad of South Plantation came in third with a 57.20.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Caitlin Ahern got to the wall first in the 100 breast final, posting a time of 1:03.33 to out-distance Douglas’ Emily Jurich (1:04.01) and Winter Park’s Isabella English (1:04.61).

East Lake wrapped up the girls’ team title with a win in the 400 free relay to complete the relay sweep. Alexandra Aitchison, Annaklara Doel, Natalie Clausen and Sydney Pickrem swam a 3:28.26 to cruise to the win. Olympia’s Bridget Kelley, Sarah Merriman, Samantha Schieffelin and Sofia Bernard touched three seconds back in 3:31.90, followed by Jupiter’s Arianna Ortiz, Amber Pearce, Sydney Groth and Francesca Choy in 3:32.49.

East Lake recorded 257 points to win the meet, followed by Olympia (200 points) and Riverview (156.5 points). Newsome (132 points) and Palm Harbor University (117 points) made up the rest of the top five.

Boys

The first final of the evening turned out to be a nail-biter as Seminole’s Andrew Gray, Connor Dacus, Thomas Ankerholz and Maverick Layne just out-touched Riverview’s Brett Riley, Campbell Lee, Keanan Dols and Zachary Kishpaugh in the 200 medley relay, 1:35.98 to 1:36.04. East Lake’s Vance Sanders, Mitchell Irwin, Grant Sanders and Joshua Lewis came in third with a 1:36.36.

Three swimmers cleared 1:40 in the 200 free, led by Oviedo’s Noah Hensley in 1:39.27. Riverview’s Carter Page made a late charge for the title but wound up second in 1:39.61, followed by Lake Brantley’s Nicholas de la Osa in 1:39.87.

Thanks to a great first 100, East Lake’s Grant Sanders took home the 200 IM state title in 1:49.06. Riverview’s Campbell Lee made up two seconds on Sanders over the final 100 but couldn’t quite close the gap, finishing second in 1:49.86. Hagerty’s John Fulginiti IV rounded out the top three in 1:51.04.

Brody Heck of Boca Raton took home the boys’ 50 free state title in 20.59, overtaking top seed Cody Cline of Wellington as the two swimmers flip-flopped their exact times and places from prelims. Cline touched .04 behind in 20.63, while Seminole’s Stefan Spiric claimed third in 20.90.

Logan Downey of South Plantation put on a clinic in the boys’ 1-meter diving event, scoring 570.10 points to take home the state title. Plant’s Dylan Power scored 510.85 to finish second, while Dwyer’s Simon Adriano rounded out the top three with 482.65 points.

Noah Hensley of Oviedo picked up his second individual state championship of the meet in the 100 fly, pulling away on the final 50 to win in 48.76. Walker Brooks of Gateway trailed Hensley by .07 at the halfway point but came up just short of the win with a 49.16. Zachary Poti of Timber Creek swam a 49.27 to finish third.

After flipping nearly half a second in front of the field at the halfway point, Boca Raton’s Brody Heck had just enough left in the tank to win the 100 free over a hard-charging Viktor Toth of Spruce Creek, 44.55 to 44.64. Seminole’s Stefan Spiric swam a 46.03 to finish third.

East Lake senior Grant Sanders and Riverview junior Carter Page put on a great race in the 500 free final, as Sanders jumped out to an early lead before Page reeled him in for a six-tenth victory, 4:25.74 to 4:26.37. Drew Clark gave Riverview a 1-3 finish with his 4:28.61 for third.

Thanks to a 20.48 lead-off split from Cody Cline, the Wellington foursome of Cline, William Layne, Colin Smith and Cash Hollister got an early lead and never looked back en route to a 1:25.50 and the 200 free relay state title. Spruce Creek’s Viktor Toth, Tommy Kenyon, Sultan Aliev and Taylor Harberson also had a great lead-off from Toth at 20.62 but couldn’t hang on, touching second in 1:26.08. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Gabriel Perez Silva, Andrew Szatkowski, Esteban Velasquez and Kearn Kurbanali finished a second behind the winners in 1:26.50.

Timber Creek junior Zachary Poti posted a sub-50 swim in the boys’ 100 back final, stopping the clock in 49.30 for the win. Countryside’s Cooper Hoffman (50.09) and Newsome’s Wesley McGovern (50.42) rounded out the top three.

Riverview’s Campbell Lee turned third at the halfway point of the boys’ 100 breast final and then passed two swimmers down the stretch to win the race in 56.84. Hagerty’s John Fulginiti IV (57.49) and Plant’s Paxton Rhoads (57.67), who had turned ahead of Lee at the 50, wound up second and third.

Countryside’s Cooper Hoffman, Michael Lombardo, Robert Finke and Noah Lense dominated the 400 free relay with a three-second victory over Riverview’s Carter Page, Keanan Dols, Drew Clark and Brett Riley, 3:06.59 to 3:09.65. Cody Cline, William Layne, Colin Smith and Cash Hollister gave Wellington a third place finish in the final event with their 3:09.89.

Riverview claimed the boys’ team title by a landslide with 281 points. Countryside (153 points) and East Lake (141 points) took second and third, while Seminole (130 points) and Wellington (111 points) rounded out the top five.

Results: Florida 4A Swimming and Diving Championships

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