The Florida High School Athletic Association’s 2017 state meet series is in full swing, with the Class 2A regional meets now complete. The top 24 swimmers from the combined regions will move on to the Class 2A State Swimming and Diving Championships.
Below are the links you need to view regional meet results and state qualifiers, as well as a list of regional champions and a few highlights from the meets. We’ve also put together a quick preview of the Class 2A state meet.
NOTE: This article covers class 2A only. You can find the regional wrap up for class 1A by clicking here. Classes 3A and 4A will be given their own separate posts next week at the conclusion of the regional meets.
- Results for all district and regional meets
- SwimSwam state series preview
- State meet selection sheet
- 2016 State Series Results
FHSAA CLASS 2A REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
- Region 1: Mosley boys, Mosley girls
- Region 2: Lincoln Park boys, Eastside girls
- Region 3: Berkeley Prep boys, Berkeley Prep girls
- Region 4: Gulliver Prep boys, Gulliver Prep girls
CLASS 2A REGIONAL MEET HIGHLIGHTS
Region 1 Meet:
Region 1 featured some young talent as Clay freshman Sara Stotler picked up wins in both of her individual events. She was dominant in the 200 free, winning by 2 seconds in 1:51.15 and clipping her best time by 3 tenths. She demolished her best time in the 100 fly by a full second, coming from behind to beat Wolfson’s Hannah Sykes to the wall, 55.96 to 56.26. Sykes went on to win the 50 free in 24.71.
The boys’s side saw 2 swimmers sweep their individual events. Choctawhatchee’s Christian Oja picked up a pair of freestyle victories. In the 200 free, he outpaced Ponte Vedra’s Andrew Relihan (1:45.32) on the back half to win it in 1:43.90. Oja was then the only swimmer to break 48 in the 100 free, winning in 47.66.
Mosley’s Spencer Sehlhorst won his individuals to help his team earn the regional title. Sehlhorst chopped 2 seconds off his best time in the 200 IM, swimming to victory in 1:53.74 to win by body lengths. He then shaved a few tenths off his best in the 100 back to take another gold in 53.06.
Region 2 Meet:
Eaststide’s Ava Joy Cockey swept the middle distance races to lead her team to a regional title. She was neck-and-neck with Atlantic’s Emily Vischer in the 200 free, but was able to hold a slight lead from the halfway point on as she won the race 1:56.90 to 1:56.99. She later came back to win the 500 free in 5:12.46, followed by Vischer in 5:15.72.
Merritt Island’s Lucas Kravchenko continues to win titles in his first season in class 2A. Kravchenko, a class 1A finalist last season, posted a dominant win in the 200 free with his 1:42.78 ahead of Lincoln Park’s Gared Cosgrave (1:45.89). They went 1-2 again in the 100 back, with Kravchenko surging to a 51.58 win and Cosgrave (54.70) taking silver.
Palm Bay’s Alex Pike knocked almost a second and a half off his 200 IM time. He took control on the backstroke leg and extended his lead throughout the race, winning in 2:00.91. Pike returned for the 100 breast to close the meet, posting a 1:01.96 to break 1:02 for the first time in his career.
Region 3 Meet:
Defending state champ Ryley Ober of Bayshore raced to an All-American Consideration time to win the 200 free. She took the lead over from Land O’Lakes Taylor Ward (1:51.02) after the 50-yard mark, winning by almost a second in 1:50.13. Ober was the 2016 state champ in the 500 free, but has opted for the 100 free instead this season. She went on to win the 100 free in 51.69, while Ward won the 500 in 5:00.30.
On the boys’ side, Lakewood High’s Ethan Long pulled off the same double as Ober. He led the 200 free from start to finish, posting a 1:43.81 ahead of Jesuit’s Brendan Driscoll (1:44.71). Long raced to a 47.22 in the 100 free, an event in which he was the state runner-up last season, to secure double golds. Driscoll, last season’s bronze medalist in the 500 free, won the 500 by nearly 10 seconds in 4:35.46.
Citrus’ Jordan Saslo was the only swimmer to break 22 in the boys’ 50 free, racing to the wall in 21.99 ahead of Jesuit’s Chris Jennings (22.11) and Sam Sands (22.22). He won back-to-back individual races, as he returned to the pool shortly after for the 100 fly to dominate in 51.93.
Region 4 Meet:
Defending state champ Miguel Cancel, a Florida commit from Gulliver Prep, wasted no time establishing his lead in the 200 IM. He was 2 seconds ahead by the 100 mark, and extended his lead the 3 seconds at the finish with his 1:54.54. Cancel has opted for an event change this year. Instead of the 500 free, he’s taking on the 100 free. He won that race as well by a full second in 46.45.
Teammate Emily Cordovi, a 2-time defending state champ, won her signature races and was about a tenth shy of her lifetime bests in both. In the 100 fly, she raced to an Automatic All-American time , winning by over 5 seconds in 54.47. She was well ahead of the field again in the 100 back, touching in 56.33.
Another Gulliver Prep swimmer, Marcella Ruppert-Gomez, swam to 2 individual victories. She was the only swimmer to break 2:10 in the girls’ 200 IM, touching 2 seconds ahead of the field in 2:08.89. She then broke the 5:00 barrier in the 500 free with her 4:59.70 victory. With Ober now out of the event, Ruppert-Gomez is the top returner in the 500 free after taking 2nd last season.
2017 FHSAA 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW:
The state meet for class 2A is set to take place on Friday, November 3rd. Swimmers will compete in both prelims and finals, with the top 8 swimmers out of prelims advancing to the ‘A’/championship final to compete for medals and points, and the 9th through 16th place swimmers out of prelims competing for points in the ‘B’/consolation final.
Below are a few of the big races and swimmers to watch. Stay tuned for these swims and more at the big showdown on Friday.
Merritt Island’s Lucas Kravchenko, a class 1A finalist in 2016, could make a big impact at the 2A state meet. With personal best times of 1:39.43 in the 200 free and 49.32 in the 100 back from the 2017 Florida Senior Championships, he’s already fast enough to have won both events last season. One of his biggest competitors in the 100 back will be Gulliver Prep’s Trahern Gribble, who took 3rd in the event last season. Gribble, the defending 100 fly champ, is the 2nd seed behind Kravchenko in the 100 back and the top seed in the 100 fly.
Florida commit Miguel Cancel, a Gulliver Prep senior, was the 2016 state champion in both the 200 IM and 500 free, but will opt for the 100 free instead of the 500 free this time around. Cancel is the favorite after putting up the only sub-1:50 time of the class 2A series last year. His lifetime best 45.05 from 2016 winter juniors makes him the heavy favorite in the 100 free as well.
Similarly to Cancel, Bayshore’s Ryley Ober, the 2016 champ in the 200 and 500 freestyles, will swim the 100 free instead of the 500 free this year. She dominated the 200 free last year with the only sub-1:50 time, and has only gotten faster since then with a lifetime best 1:48.01 from the Dolfin ISCA junior champs in March. At that same meet, she posted a personal best 50.56 in the 100 free, making her the heavy favorite here. That’s almost 2 seconds faster than it took to win the final last season, but defending champion Catharine Cooper of American Heritage has been as fast as 51.04 from 2015 states. Cooper is the top seed in the 50 free, in which she’s also the defending champ, with a 23.88.
Gulliver Prep’s Emily Cordovi is seeking back-to-back titles in both the 100 fly and 100 back. She’s already been within a tenth of her best time in both events, and her 100 fly time (54.44) at the regional meet was faster than she went to win states last season. Cordovi is one of a few girls, the others being in a different class, who could go after the 100 fly State Record this season. She’s within a second of the mark with her lifetime best 54.35 from 2016 winter juniors.