Florida 3A High School State Championships

By Sarah Eckersley

ORLANDO, Florida, November 15. AT the Florida 3A High School State Championships, Buchholtz and Miami Palmetto walked away with state titles. On the girls’ side, Buchholtz won with 171 points, followed by Boca Raton (167) and Douglas (148). For the boys, Miami Palmetto took first with 249 points while Countryside and Olympia went head-to-head for second. Countryside took second by less than one point (169.5) while Olympia placed third (169).

Girls Results
Boca Raton opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. Danielle Smith, Katie Parker, Fallon Fitzpatrick, and Harper Bruens clocked a time of 1:47.00 for a first-place finish.

Countryside’s Melanie Margalis, who is a five-star recruit in the Swimming World College Recruit rankings powered by Take Your Marks, was a dual event winner in the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle (4:42.62). She set a state record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:57.07. The previous record (1:58.91) was set by Allison Wagner (Eastside) in 1994.

Lindsey McKnight (Douglas) won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.26. She teamed up with Taylor McKnight, Kacie Vitro, and Linea Cutter for a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.77).

Junior Cheri Hammond (West Orange) won the diving competition (528.40). Other top finishers include Cinzia Calabretta (Boone) (496.95) and Shannon Potter (Winter Springs) (462.05).

Vitro, T. McKnight, Cutter, and L. McKnight finished first in the 400 freestyle relay (3:28.01).

Boys Results
Harrison Curley, Jeandre Pretorious, Roberto Duran, and Sam Kingsford (Winter Park) won the 200 medley relay (1:36.44). Curley tied with Mate Fabian (Countryside) for first in the individual 100 backstroke with a time of 50.87.

Riverview’s Nicholas Caldwell was a dual event winner in the 200 IM (1:49.80) and the 500 freestyle. He set a state record in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:22.88. The previous record (4:23.42) was set last year by Newsome’s Jason Taylor.

Senior Michael Saco (Miami Palmetto) had individual wins in the 50 and 100 (44.65) freestyles. He set a state record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.11. The previous record (20.22) was set by Alexander Forbes (Lyman) in 2004.

Saco teamed up with Steven Lichtner, Kyle Newcomb, and Kevin Barona for a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:23.86).

Tommy Nuebacher (Olympia) won the diving competition (652.65) followed by Osvel Molina (Goleman) (577.20) and Francisco Bacerra (Miami Beach) (553.20).

Lichtner, Asher Garcia, Newcomb, and Saco closed the meet with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:06.97).

We intentionally post only two-three high school state championship recaps each day during championship seasons to make sure that each state gets its time to shine on our site. If you are waiting for a particular meet recap to show up, please be patient. Thank you for your understanding.

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