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Florida HS District Championships: Class 1A, Districts 7, 8, 9

Class 1A, Districts 7, 8, 9 Results

District 7

Girls

1. Tampa Prep – 522
2. Berkeley Prep – 504
3. Tampa Catholic – 253
4. Academy at the Lakes – 243
5. Carrollwood Day School – 196

The Tampa Prep and Berkeley Prep girls were neck-and-neck for the entirety of this 1A – District 7 meet, but the Tampa Prep girls all-but-sealed the victory when Savannah Savitt won the girls’ 100 yard breaststroke in 1:08.22, and in total her team took three of the top six spots.

That left them with a 15-point margin going into the final relay, and barring a DQ, that was an insurmountable lead.

There were no DQ’s, but that last relay was a barn-burner between the two teams. Tampa Prep won in 3:41.16, with Berkeley Prep 2nd in 3:41.53, and that final margin in fact was the biggest separation the two teams had at any split-point after the first 100. Tampa Prep was led off by a 52.94 from Savitt, and Berkeley Prep got a 53.70 leadoff form defending region 50 free champion Elle Chancey.

Savitt, just a junior, will turn a lot of heads in two weeks at the Florida State Championship meet. She also was the District 7 champion in the 200 free (1:55.45). A swimmer who can swim the 100 breaststroke and swim sprint freestyles-to-middle distance.

Also performing well at this meet was Academy of the Lakes’ Abbey Duncan. She’s just a sophomore, and won both the 100 fly (58.43) and the 100 back (58.21).

Boys

1. Berkeley Prep – 660
2. Tampa Prep – 488.5
3. Brandon – Tampa Bay Heat – 218.5
4. Tampa Catholic – 169
5. Carrolwood Day School – 167

This meet was very competitive early between Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep, but was broken wide open when for four consecutive events, the 50 free, 1-meter diving, 100 fly, and 100 free, Berkeley Prep’s boys took three out of the top four spots.

Despite a runner-up team efforts, Tampa’s Van Cates had the best individual swims at the meet. He started with a 1:58.06 win in the 200 IM and finished with a 52.67 in the 100 fly.

District 8

Girls

1. Shorecrest Prep – 514
2. Sarasota Out-of-Door – 221
3. St. Petersburg – Canterbury – 220
4. Bradenton – St. Stephen’s – 212
5. Sarasota – Cardinal Mooney – 206

Shorecrest Prep sophomore Courtney Coleman led the way to victory with a 1:10.70 win in the girls’ 100 yard breaststroke, which she coupled with a silver medal in the girls’ 200 yard IM (2:15.09).

That 200 IM was won by Clearwater Central Catholic’s Emma Spilman, who vaulted out to a big front-half lead en route to winning easily in 2:11.62. Spillman also won the 100 fly in 58.57 – with Shorecrest 8th-grader Taylor Emerson taking 2nd in 1:03.69.

Boys

1. St. Petersburg – Shorecrest Pep – 454
2. Clearwater Central Catholic – 281
3. Sarasota – Cardinal Mooney – 241
4. Sarasota – Out-of-Door – 201
5. Northside Christian – 168

The Shorecrest Prep boys took the overall scoring victory on the men’s side despite not winning a single relay at the District 7 Championships. Each of the top 5 teams showed depth in different parts of this meet, though, in what was a more competitive division than the final scores may appear.

Shorecrest Prep’s Joshua Chen won the boys’ 100 breaststroke in 1:00.63 and also topped the 50 free in 22.65. The senior was 3rd at last year’s 1A State Championship meet in the 100 breaststroke and is the defending Region 3 Champion in the event. This year, though, he dropped the 200 IM for that 50 free, and he immediately becomes a contender for that region title as well this season.

Also shining for Shorecrest was their other star senior, Mark Marshburn. Without Chen swimming, he won the boys’ 200 IM by three seconds in 2:00.58, and he later added a 100 fly win in 54.43 (a tight battle over teammate Felix Stetsenko). Interestingly-enough, 7th-grader Gordon Ledbetter was 3rd in that 100 fly in 1:03.07. Typically, the private schools in Class 1 will see a bigger influx of junior high swimmers at the high school championships (allowed by state regulations).

District 9

Girls

1. Fort Myers – Bishop Verot – 531
2. Naples – Community School – 336
3. Naples – Seacrest Country Day – 231
4. Ft. Myers – Canterbury – 220
5. Naples – St. John Neumann – 195

A very young Communith School 200 medley relay started off the meet with a win in 2:00.49. With the exception of senior Melissa Arbelaez on the backstroke leg (20.41), nobody on that relay is older than a sophomore: Emma Feehery, 8th grade; Karen Liu, 9th grade; Henrietta Kemppainen, 10th grade.

It was the junior high swimmer Feehery who was really impressive for Community School, winning the girls’ 100 free in 56.71 and taking 2nd in the 500 free in 5:19.37.

While the Community School had some impressive wins including the freshman Liu taking the 200 IM (2:08.91) and winning two-of-three relays, it was Bishop Verot that took the meet. Their star was sophomore Flo Almeda, who began the day with a win in the girls’ 200 free in 1:58.77, and continued on to win the 500 free mentioned above in 5:11.70. Her success, along with BV’s depth (they have the biggest girls team in the district, based on the results) carried them to a comfortable 195-point victory.

Boys

1. Naples – Community School – 484.5
2. Ft. Myers – Bishop Verot – 370
3. Naples – Seacrest Country Day – 271.5
4. Cape Coral – Oasis – 266
5. Ft. Myers – Canterbury – 168

The Community School boys started the meet with a well-seasoned relay team that won the meet-opening 200 medley relay in 1:42.84. That team of Liam HolloskyYonaton MelnickJacob Buckeit, and Nicholas Lewis included three seniors and one junior, and they won that relay by over 12 seconds.

The veteran presence on that relay, however, belies the fact that like their girls, the Community School boys have a lot of very good young swimmers. Sophomores Stas van Genderen and Santi Corredor each picked up two individual titles at the meet. Van Gendren’s wins came in the 200 free (1:45.68) and the 100 fly (52.51), while Corredor won the 200 IM (1:59.72) and the 500 free (4:40.10).

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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