Dressel back in action at Florida high school class 2A Finals

Caleb Dressel returns to the pool tonight for finals of the Florida High School Athletics Association class 2A state championships.

Dressel has a chance to break multiple national high school records tonight. He swims the  200 free, 100 fly 200 free relay and 400 free relay tonight. Dressel cruised his individual events in favor of the relays this morning; tonight he’ll attack all four as the top seed.

Stanford commit Wesley Olmsted is also in contention in two individual races, the 100 free and 100 back.

For the girls, Estero sophomore Kaitlyn Hauser is the top seed in the 200 and 500 frees, hoping to lead her team to the overall points championship. Her team will be pushed by Washington High School, Gulliver Prep and Acadamy of the Holy Names.

Gulf Breeze’s Tori Bindi is another two-event threat, leading the 50 and 100 frees.

The boys team favorite appears to be American Heritage, but Sun Coast and last year’s runners-up from Belen Jesuit should make a challenge as well.

SwimSwam will be covering the meet event by event as it all shakes down.

Prelims results and live finals results can be found here, or on Meet Mobile.

Read SwimSwam’s recap of this morning’s prelims session here.

Girls’ 200 Medley Relay

Washington High School of Pensacola Florida took an early lead in the girls’ meet, winning the opening 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.16. Washington was powered by a big 29.39 breaststroke split from Jacquie Kinman. She was joined by Brooke Ferrara, Sophia Diagne, and Abigail Goram. Runners-up were Bishop Kenny’s team of Kandes Soapes, Lyndsea Lam, McKenna DeBever and Kayla Schilling. DeBever’s 24.52 was easily the fastest fly leg of the event. She’ll chase a 200 IM victory in just a few events. Also of note was Booker High senior and Texas commit Bethany Leap, who led the breaststrokers with a blazing 28.79 split.

 Boys’ 200 Medley Relay

American Heritage started its attempt at at team title off the best way it could, winning the opening event in come-from-behind fashion. The relay of Nicholas Medina, Digby Nothard, Fernando Bohorquez and Taylor Eaddy were victorious over rival Sun Coast 1:36.31 to 1:36.86. Sun Coast (William Pisani, Caleb Cheng, Jacob Pavlock, and David Bucko) took the early lead on Pisani’s 23.6 leadoff split, but Heritage came roaring back to even things up in the breaststroke. Sun Coast once again took the lead, but Eaddy’s anchor leg of 21.25 was too much for Sun Coast to hold off down the stretch.

 Girls’ 200 Free

The girls’ 200 free was a major youth movement. Separated by only .03 after prelims, Wesley Chapel freshman Abbey Duncan and Estero sophomore Kaitlyn Hauser looked primed for a major showdown. Both went faster this evening, but it was Duncan who improved the most, winning the event in a lifetime-best 1:50.82. Another young swimmer actually snuck in between Duncan and Hauser – it was Gulliver Prep’s Niki Urquidi, a sophomore, who joined Duncan in the 1:50s. Urquidi went 1:50.99. Hauser finished third in 1:51.41, the same exact time she went at regionals, down to the tenth. Jena Pisani, a freshman from Sun Coast finished 4th in 1:52.96, and two more girls snuck under 1:54: Estero’s Daniela Jordan and Clay’s Kierstyn Harmeling.

Boys’ 200 Free

Caeleb Dressel broke a record in his first swim, but it wasn’t the big one – not yet at least. His time of 1:34.69 was good enough to smash the state record, but left Tom Shields’ national mark of 1:33.88 still intact. Nonetheless, the race was still mighty impressive. Dressel was 45.52 to his feet at the hundred, a time that would likely win the open 100 free at most high school state meets. Noah Harasz of Lakewood joined Dressel in the sub-1:40 range, taking second in 1:38.99. The bronze medal was hotly contested, as Washington’s Steffen Mount touched out Heritage’s Julien Pinon 1:40.52 to 1:40.59. Shawn Lemarie of Naples was 5th in 1:41.09 and Sun Coast’s William Pisani, coming off a big backstroke split on the medley, took 6th in a lifetime-best 1:41.50, a tenth faster than this morning.

Girls’ 200 IM

Sophie Cattermole dropped almost two seconds off her prelims swim to come from behind and win the 200 IM. The Lemon Bay junior went 2:00.39, riding a strong back half with the strongest breaststroke (34.5) and freestyle (27.7) splits of the field after Bishop Kenny’s McKenna DeBever jumped out to the early lead. DeBever, who has verbally committed to Auburn, took second in 2:02.51. Breaststroker Bethany Leap of Booker was also a factor, finishing third in 2:04.29 with a 34-second breaststroke split of her own. Emma Strom of Choctawhatchee rounded out the lead pack, taking fourth in 2:04.89 and almost coming back on leap in the freestyle. At the moment, Estero holds a 20-point lead over Gulliver Prep in the team race.

Boys’ 200 IM

Wayne Denswil dropped two and a half seconds off his lifetime best to blow away the field in the boys 200 IM. The St. Brendan senior won in 1:52.47 that included a dominating 30.49 breaststroke split. Denswil will compete in the 100 breaststroke later tonight against Belen Jesuit’s Austin Sellers, the top seed who also finished 6th in this race. Runner-up was Matt Holmes of Rockledge who went 1:55.19, barely ahead of Jason Tillotson (1:55.44) and Fernando Bohorquez (1:55.53). Jordan Wheeler of Land O’Lakes snuck into 5th place.

Girls’ 50 Free

In the splash & dash, Gulf Breeze sophomore Tori Bindi took off one one-hundredth of a second to hold her spot and pick up the win. Bindi went 23.24, and she’ll try to complete the sprint sweep by taking the 100 free later on tonight. Washington’s strong sprinting corps took the next two positions: senior Brianna Mount in 23.57 and sophomore Brooke Ferrara in 23.68. This helped Washington take a narrow lead in the team points with 84. Estero, which sits second at 81, didn’t have a swimmer in this event. Three more girls snuck in under 24 seconds. Olivia Kirkpatrick of Acadamy of the Holy Names was fourth in 23.84, Fabiana Ingram of Sun Coast fifth in 23.92, and eighth-grader Catherine Cooper of American Heritage sixth in 23.95.

 Boys’ 50 Free

Emir Muratovic was once again the only swimmer under 21 in the boys 50. The Ridgewood junior went 20.81, another lifetime best after first breaking the 21-barrier in prelims. The next two finishers were seniors, Ross Brown of Robinson and Cam Hilgenberg of Land O’Lakes. Brown was 21.30 and Hilgerson 21.33. Jonathan Long of Lakewood finished fourth with a 21.43 and Fisher Crist of Cardinal Gibbons was fifth in 21.65. Anthony Davis, the promising freshman from Gulf Breeze, came in sixth in his state debut at 21.70.

Girls’ 100 Fly

Grace DiMeo, the senior from Booker, has been right on the edge of a 54-second 100 fly for quite some time, and tonight, she finally got there by the slimmest of margins. DiMeo went 54.99 to take the state title in the 100 fly over the exciting freshman Abby Duncan of Wesley Chapel. Duncan, who won the 200 free earlier tonight, finished solidly in second place at 56.23 with another lifetime best finals swim. In fact, behind DiMeo, the field was extremely young, with 4 freshman, an eighth-grader, and a sophomore rounding out the top 8. Madison Michaels, the sophomore, was third in 58.31. Freshmen Bean Faunce and Sophia Diagne were fourth and fifth, respectively. Faunce’s Estero High School teammates also took a 1-point lead in the team points over Washington, with Gulliver Prep still within striking distance. Eighth grader Alicia Mancilla of Gulliver was 6th in this event, going 58.55.

Boys’ 100 Fly

It’s not often a 45-second 100 fly will leave anyone disappointed, but that might be the case for Caeleb Dressel tonight. Dressel, who has been putting up eye-popping times all season, went 45.99 to win the 100 fly, but missed his own public high school record set earlier this year and the overall high school record set by Dressel’s swim club teammate Joseph Schooling last night. Dressel was out just .01 slower than Schooling was at the 50 but couldn’t keep pace in the back half. Second place was St. Brendan’s Zuhayr Pigot, a junior who put up an impressive time of 48.88 after just sneaking under 50 seconds for the first time last year. Chad Moody was third in 51.16. Fernando Bohorquez was fourth for American Heritage, which bolstered its team lead, now at 51 points. Two more swimmers got under 52 seconds, Jacob Pavlock of Sun Coast and freshman Adrian Moya of Doral.

 Girls’ 100 Free

Tori Bindi took her second individual win, picking up gold in the 100 free with a time of 50.29. That was yet another lifetime best for the sophomore, who continues to lower her sprint times each meet. 200 IM champion Sophie Cattermole was runner-up in 50.50, keeping pace with Bindi the whole way. This was a strong field all-around, with Auburn-bound McKenna DeBever third in 51.02 and Sherridon Dressel, Caeleb’s younger sister, fourth in 51.27. Two more swimmers got under 52, they were Satellite’s Skye Carey, who went 51.36 and Washington’s Brianna Mount, who was 51.94.

 Boys’ 100 Free

Eastside senior Wesley Olmsted won his first of two A finals tonight, taking the 100 free in 45.03. The time wasn’t quite a lifetime best for Olmsted, who verbally committed to Stanford this fall, but it was enough to beat this veteran-dominated field. Senior Noah Harasz was second in 45.34 and junior Steffen Mount third in 45.85. That wrapped up the first trio, which pulled away from the field early, but a second closely-battling trio followed. Lakewood’s Jonathan Long just touched out Heritage’s Julien Pinon, 47.25 to 47.33. Pinon’s teammate Taylor Eaddy was sixth overall in 47.80. Heritage still leads the points by a wide margin, with Sun Coast holding off Clay by a point for second place.

Girls’ 500 Free

After fading to third in the 200 free, Estero sophomore Kaitlyn Hauser wasn’t going to be denied the state title in the 500. Hauser grabbed the lead at the 100 and never trailed again, winning with a lifetime-best 4:54.34. Namilla Sanchez of Gulliver Prep took 5 seconds off her prelims swim to move up two spots and take second. Jena Pisani, a freshman, was third and the last sub-5-minute swimmer, and Niki Urquidi, who took silver in the 200 free, finished fourth here. Two tenths behind Urquidi was Savannah Bowser of Cape Coral, who took fifth.

 Boys’ 500 Free

American Heritage continues to add to its team points lead. Sophomore Nicholas Medina just won the 500 free by .07, touching out Naples’ Shawn Lemarie 4:34.05 to 4:34.12. Eddie Zacka and Eric Ordaz actually paced the field early on, but both fell off at about the 350 mark when Lemarie and Medina came charging by. Zacka held on for third place in 4;36.44 and Ordaz was fourth in 4:36.63. The swimmers seemed to finish in pairs – the last duo was freshman Theodore Smith, who went 4:41.47, and sophomore Jonathan Sawyer, who took sixth in 4:41.68.

 Girls’ 200 Free Relay

Washington won its second relay of the night, making a charge back to keep the team points close with three events left to swim. The team of Brianna Mount, Rachel Martin, Abigail Gorman, and Jacquie Kinman went 1:36.57 to win, led by Mount’s strong leadoff leg of 23.51. Sun Coast was second, making up huge chunks of yardage in the second half, where third and fourth swimmers Fresca Vandersluis and Jena Pisani turned in 23-second legs. Vandersluis and Pisani were joined on the relay by Fabiana Ingram and Ashley Boggs. Holy Names also made a late charge, taking third only .03 behind Sun Coast. Washington is only 7 points behind Estero, which finished 6th, in the team standings.

Boys’ 200 Free Relay

After missing out on national records in his first two swims, Caeleb Dressel provided some major fireworks leading off the 200 free relay, going 19.29 to smash both the state and national records in the open 50 free. Dressel’s relay rode the open water and won handily with a time of 1:24.26. Dressel was joined by Grady Heath, Matthew Bonna and Dakota Mahaffey. The win vaults Clay into 3rd place overall in the team race, only 3 points behind Sun Coast, which finished 2nd in the relay. Sun Coast got a huge 20.57 split out of junior William Pisani. The other relay members were all seniors: Kyle Irving, David Bucko, and Jacob Pavlock. Third place was American Heritage, which maintains its team points lead.

 Girls’ 100 Back

Sophomore Emma Strom of Choctawhatchee, a finalist in the 200 IM earlier tonight, picked up the state championship in the girls 100 backstroke, breaking the 56-barrier for the first time with a winning 55.83. Strom’s times have improved remarkably over the past year; she was only 59.2 at the 2012 state championships. Another fast riser is Clay’s Sherridon Dressel, who kept the Dressel family in high spirits after brother Caeleb’s national record by taking second in a lifetime-best 56.05. Brooke Ferrara of Washington was third in 56.56. Washington still sits second in the team points. Current leader Estero added to its lead based on depth in this event, but things are getting dicey for Estero, which has no swimmers in the breaststroke. Skye Carey of Satellite went 57.33 for fourth, and Olivia Kirkpatrick of Holy Names touched out South Lake senior Maggie Hohne for fifth, 57.57 to 57.58.

Boys’ 100 Back

Wesley Olmsted became tonight’s second double-winner on the boy’s side, taking the 100 back in 49.54, just his second time under the 50-second mark and a lifetime best. Clay High School continued to ride its impressive top-end swimmers to big points – Dakota Mahaffey was second in a time of 51.20. Clay sits third right now, two points behind Sun Coast, whose junior William Pisani came through with another big swim tonight, 51.61 which was good for third place. Chad Moody finished his second A final in fourth place, the last swimmer under 53 seconds. He went 52.57.

 Girls’ 100 Breast

Bethany Leap blew away the field to win the girls 100 breast after pacing that stroke on the medley relays earlier tonight. The Texas-bound Leap was the only swimmer out in under 30, and she finished the event in 1:03.01. Washington got another big contribution for Jacquie Kinman, who was runner-up in 1:04.77. With 4 swimmers competing in this event, Holy Names got a huge point boost, and its 3 A finalists swept the 3-5 spots. Senior Shea Timmons was 1:05.72, senior Margret Shumake 1:06.54 and junior Alex Nuyianes 1:07.27. Holy Names now sits third with only one event left to swim. Washington just took an 11-point lead over Estero for the team title, meaning Estero will need a big 400 free relay to come back for the win. Also notable in the breaststroke was B final winner Lyndsea Lam, who took 9th in a lifetime best time of 1:08.73. She hadn’t been under 1:11 prior to this high school season.

Boys’ 100 Breast

The good night continued for St. Brendan’s senior Wayne Denswil, who won his second event, the 100 breaststroke in 56.97. Denswil had to come from behind to catch Belen Jesuit junior Austin Sellers, who finished second in 57.37. Cape Coral junior Cory Klemm was third in a lifetime-best 58.38. Joining Klemm in the 58s was Stanton senior David Li, who went 58.44. American Heritage looks to have all but wrapped up the team title. Sun coast and Clay are locked in a tight battle for second, but with Caeleb Dressel leading off the 400 free relay in the final event, things look good for the boys of Clay.

 Girls’ 400 Free Relay

Washington High School of Pensacola won the 400 free relay in a landslide, sealing its first team state championship as a member of class 2A. Washington got the fastest leadoff leg of the event from Brooke Ferrara (51.87) and the fastest overall split from anchor Brianna Mount (51.62). Jackie Kinman and Rachel Martin also contributed key legs for Washington’s 3:31.98 win. Estero finished second in the relay, which is also where the team will finish in the final points standings. Estero’s team went 3:35.52 and was made up of Kaitlyn Hauser, Danilea Jordan, Courtney DeVeny, and Bean Faunce. Estero, which led this meet most of the way, doesn’t lose much of its core to graduation and should be a team to watch next season. Acadamy of the Holy Names will finish third in the team points, followed by Gulliver Prep, which also finished third in the 400 free relay.

Final Girls Team Scores

1. Washington             233

2. Estero                        216

3. Holy Names            206

4. Gulliver Prep          189

5. Sun Coast                 171

Boys’ 400 Free Relay

Caeleb Dressel capped off his final high school state meet with another fine swim, leading off the Clay 400 free relay in 43.36 to lead his team to the event win. The team of Heath Grady, Matthew Bonna, and Dakota Mahaffey went 3:07.36, sealing Clay High School’s spot as team runner-up in the overall points standings, an impressive feat for a team that only got points from 5 swimmers at these state championships. The team title will go to American Heritage, which finished second in this relay. The team of Julien Pinon, Nicholas Medina, Fernando Bohorquez, and Chris Garcia was a testament to consistency and depth, with Pinon leading off in 46.66 and the other three legs all going 47-mids to easily take second. Third place was Doral, which got a big anchor leg from Adriano Martinez to nip Belen Jesuit by a tenth. Sun Coast will finish third in the overall points, just two points ahead of Cape Coral.

Final Boys Team Scores

1. American Heritage     276

2. Clay                                   169

3. Sun Coast                        139

4. Cape Coral                      137

5. Belen Jesuit                   117