Schooling, Smiddy back in action at Florida high school state finals

High school teams in Florida’s class 1A will compete in the state championship finals this evening after an action-packed prelims.

Joseph Schooling, who has already broken one national record today, will look to put more dents in the record book, while his Bolles School Sharks vie for yet another team state title.

Clara Smiddy broke the 100 backstroke state record in prelims, and she’ll look for individual wins there and in the 200 IM.

SwimSwam will be covering the meet as it happens, event by event and record after record.

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

Ransom Everglades High School kicked the meet off with a state championship in the medley relay. The team of Laine Morgan, Annie Valls, Alexa Kalandiak and Chelsea Johnson took two and a half seconds off the time those same four girls put up last year in finishing 3rd. The team’s time of 1:43.53 was enough to best the Bolles School (Annika Kollevoll, Madeline Hoff, Chloe Miller, Kasey Schmidt) by about a half second.Ransom Everglades built a large lead through the first three legs, particularly on a speedy 28.6 split from breaststroker Valls and a 24.9 out of butterflyer Kalandiak. Bolles anchor Kasey Schmidt made a valiant effort at a comeback, but her 22.1 freestyle split wasn’t enough to overcome Ransom Everglades’ huge lead. Third place was Trinity Prep’s team of Allie Parent, Broooke Malone, Claire Maiocco, and Ellie Wood in 1:45.72. Pine Crest was 4th and Westminster 5th, both with 1:46s.

 Boys’ 200 Medley Relay

The boys meet led off with a dominating win from the Bolles relay. The team of Josh Booth, James Daugherty, Joseph Schooling, and William McKinney crushed the field by a full five seconds, going 1:28.93. Despite that margin, the time was still .9 off of Bolles’ national record set last season. Schooling picked up where he left off this morning with an unbelievable butterfly split of 20.16. Even though Schooling was swimming butterfly, his split was the fastest of any swimmer in the event, freestylers included. The runner-up was Shorecrest Prep in 1:34.41. The next three teams came in within a half-second: Lake Highland, Saint Andrew’s, and Tampa Prep.

 Girls’ 200 Freestyle

Megan Moroney of Saint Andrew’s successfully defended her 2012 title in the 200 free. She first broke into the 1:47s in morning prelims, and she broke a new barrier at night, going 1:46.51. That’s a one-and-a-half second drop from her winning time in 2012. A current junior, Moroney should be back to defend the title once more in 2014. Two more swimmers got under 1:50 in the event – St. Stephen’s junior Ellen Berdusco was second in 1:48.03, just beating out Jessica Hodgson of the Bolles School (1:48.24). Bolles also grabbed the next two spots after Hodgson, with Natasha Gvakharia Mgebrishvi and Claire Rasmus taking 4th and 5th, respectively. That finish should help the Sharks immensely in the team points race. Mgebrishvi and Rasmus were both 1:50s along with Katie Duggan of Lake Highland Prep and Kendall Dawson of Montverde.

 Boys’ 200 Freestyle

Josh Booth came directly off his impressive 22.71 medley relay split to win the 200 free. Despite the tough double, Booth, who will swim at Auburn next fall, was only two tenths off his prelims swim, going 1:38.46. He was pushed the whole way by Lake Highland senior Harlin Bessire (1:38.83). Bessire appears to be rising in a hurry – he’s shaved nearly three full seconds off his time from NCSA Juniors in March. Following the top two were four straight swimmers within eight tenths, all just above the 1:40 mark. Third was Pine Crest senior Kent Haeffner in 1:40.10, fourth Lake Highland senior Alex Pena in 1:40.41, fifth the Bolles School’s Scott Bole in 1:40.47, and sixth his teammate Tyler Rice in 1:40.93.

 Girls’ 200 IM

When Clara Smiddy got under the two minute barrier, she did it in style. The South Floria HEAT senior was an impressive 2:00.13 coming out of prelims, but it turns out she had another gear – she went 1:58.39 to win the event by a wide margin. Smiddy, who has verbally committed to Michigan, never trailed in the race, and put up the fastest overall splits in three of the four strokes. Defending champion Rachael Bradford-Feldman made a hard charge on the breaststroke, but by that point Smiddy’s lead was insurmountable. Bradford-Feldman was 2:02.75, well off her pace from this morning, perhaps feeling the effects of her medley relay swim. The junior still managed a silver medal, though, and should have another shot at a title a year from now. Goodwin Darby of the Pine School took third in 2:04.24. Fourth was Smiddy’s future Michigan teammate Emily Kopas, who turned in the fastest breaststroke split of the day (34.2), boding well for her chances in the 100 breast later on. Kopas was followed very closely by Savannah Savitt of Tampa Prep and Olga Lapteva from the Bolles School. All three swimmers were 2:05s in the event.

 Boys’ 200 IM

Last year’s 200 freestyle champion Rasmus Skjaerpe made the jump to the 200 IM and came up with the same result: gold. Skjaerpe, a Tampa Prep senior who will swim for the Arizona Wildcats next year, chopped roughly another second and a half off his lifetime best tonight, winning in 1:48.64. He jumped out to a big lead on the butterfly and backstroke legs and rode the open water the rest of the way. Second was Matthew McPheters of the Bolles School, one of four Bolles Sharks in the top 10. McPheters’ time of 1:51.94 was a lifetime best. Riley Springman of Lake Highland took third in 1:52.52 with the strongest closing leg of the field. The top-finishing underclassmen was the Bolles School’s Javier Barrena, fourth in 1:53.01. Behind Barrena were Daniel Pereira and Alex Evenson, who each cut well over a second off their prelim swims, going lifetime best 1:54s for fifth and sixth place.

Girls’ 50 Free

Bolles junior Kasey Schmidt continues to impress this weekend. She followed up a great medley relay leg with an even better open 50, winning the meet in 22.66. Schmidt won this meet last year, but the thrill of smashing the 23-second mark has to make this season feel that much more special. With the way she’s exploded at this meet, Schmidt should be a very sought-after commodity in the next recruiting cycle. Another name to keep an eye on is Pine Crest freshman Marta Ciesla, who finished second to Schmidt. Ciesla was 23.10 this morning, 23.14 tonight, and at only 15 years old, should still have plenty more upside in the sprinting events. In true 50 freestyle fashion, the rest of this field was tightly-bunched: Katie Kicklighter was 23.43, Lindsey Trematerra was 23.57. Abby Burke, an eighth-grader from Lake Highland was 5th in 23.63, just touching out Brenna Ruth and Grace Redding, who went 23.68 and 23.69 respective

It’s worth noting at the diving break that the Bolles girls hold a 50-point lead over Saint Andrew’s in the team race. Bolles is at 138, Saint Andrew’s at 83, and Pine Crest is third with 70.

 Boys’ 50 Free

Top seed Jordy Groters of the University School was the only swimmer to hit 20-point in the boys’ 50. Groters went 20.69, two tenths off his lifetime-best prelim swim. He’ll compete again in the 100 breast, where he is the top seed. The Bolles School took the next two spots, with Luke Georgiadis nipping William McKinney at the wall 21.11 to 21.13. That finish should help add to a Bolles lead that currently stands at 109 points. Sophomore Anton Voronin of North Broward was fourth in 21.38, the first underclassman to the wall. Jackson Auer of Trinity Prep continued to improve – he just snuck under 22 last season and was 21.59 tonight and finished 5th.

Bolles has already built a big lead in the point standings with 196. Lake Highland is second with 87 points and Pine Crest is third with 55.

Girls’ 100 Fly

Megan Moroney became tonight’s first dual individual winner, taking the 100 fly with a time of 54.39. The Saint Andrew’s junior just managed to best her winning time from last year by .07. Moroney was pushed by surprising eighth-grader Jessica Nava. The Westminster Acadamy youngster moved up from fourth place this morning to go 55.45 for the runner-up position. The 13-year-old Nava has been blowing her best times away this season and was only a few tenths behind Moroney at the 50 turn, but the veteran made a second-half charge to secure the victory. Natascha Gvakharia Mgebrishvi of Bolles almost came back to touch out Nava, but wound up finishing third with a 55.56. Following her were Clearwater Central Catholic’s Emma Spilman (56.09) and Pine Crest’s Tyla Martin (56.28). Montverde’s Grace Redding put up a nice time from the B Final, taking 9th overall in 56.61.

 Boys’ 100 Fly

In his second swim of the night, Bolles School senior Joseph Schooling set a new national high school record in the 100 fly, besting his own prelims time by another four tenths. His time of 45.52 would have placed him 3rd at last year’s NCAA Championships. Schooling, who will swim at the University of Texas next season, blew away the field by four full seconds. He’s just halfway through his night, with the 200 and 400 free relays left to swim. The national record was only part of a high point for the Bolles team, as the Sharks swept the top 4 spots in this event. Javier Barrena was second in 49.64, William McKinney third in 49.88, and Joey Carbone fourth in 50.46. The entire Bolles butterflying group was almost one second faster than any other swimmer in the pool. The event was a fast one all-around, with the whole A-final under 52 seconds. Another great swim came out of the B Final, where Nick Reuter of Trinity dropped a half-second to go 51.23.

 Girls’ 100 Free

Freshman Marta Ciesla, second in the 50, rode a fast front half to a touch-out win of the 100 free. Ciesla, from Pine Crest, hit the fastest first 50 split and hung on to beat defending champion Claire Rasmus from the Bolles School, 50.42 to 50.52. Ciesla has just kept shaving more and more off her times this season, moving from a 51.1 to a 50.8 at prelims, and then onto a 50.4 this evening. She won over a veteran field of three seniors and four juniors. Jessica Hodgson of Bolles also got under the 51-mark, taking third in 50.93. Florida State commit Brenna Ruth was fourth (51.15) and Oak Hall’s Lindsey Trematerra was fifth (51.81), narrowly touching out future Colorado State swimmer Katie Kicklighter.

 Boys’ 100 Free

Two Bolles teammates battled it out for the state championship in the boys 100 free. Senior Luke Georgiadis ultimately pulled off the win with a time of 45.54, besting sophomore Tyler Rice (45.78). The two were head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field, keeping Bolles comfortably in the lead as the free relays loom closer. John Farese of Shorecrest got the touch among the tightly-packed remainder of the field; he went 46.31. Anton Voronin was fourth, getting Saint Andrew’s Luke Hayhoe by .01 at the wall. Jackson Auer was 6th while Derek Peeples joined him under 47 seconds. Bolles not only went 1-2 in the A-Final, they also did it in the B, where Michael Fonteno was 9th in 46.79 with teammate Hagen Dietrich right behind.

 Girls’ 500 Free

The 500 free was set up for an exciting shootout: the top three seeds all went 4:52 in prelims. The exciting race went back and forth between Lake Highland’s Katie Duggan and defending champion Ellen Berdusco of St. Stephen’s before Duggan ultimately pulled away in the last 100. Duggan’s time was 4:47.37, a lifetime best by two seconds and five seconds faster than her prelims swim. Berdusco was 4:48, a second off what she went at this meet last year. Third was Kendall Dawson of Montverde, who fell off the leaders’ pace at about the 200 mark and couldn’t quite claw her way back in. The next two swimmers were youngsters, freshman Harley Lopez Miro and eighth-grader Alessandra Baldari, both 4:59s. The last swimmer under five minutes was Miami Country Day’s Olivia Katcher, who went 4:59.76 for 6th place.

Boys’ 500 Free

After the morning session, the top two seeds had clearly differentiated themselves from the field. Clearwater Central Catholic’s Matthew Hirschberger and Pine Crest’s Kent Haeffner were both lifetime best 4:26s in prelims. The two had an intense battle for the state championship, staying dead even the first half of the race until Haeffner took off at the 350-yard mark. Haeffner, who verbally committed to Harvard this fall, ended up taking the event at 4:25.75. Hirschberger dropped just slightly off his morning pace, finishing in 4:27.39. Third place came down to a touch, with Matthew Nielson of Bishop Verot besting future Duke Devil Alex Pena 4:29.19 to 4:29.48. Pena’s Lake Highland teammate David Perez was fifth and Marco Hosfield from the University School sixth.

Girls’ 200 Free Relay

The Bolles School broke a four-year-old state record, powered by Kasey Schmidt‘s dominant leadoff leg of 22.78. Even with a flat start, she was the fastest split in the event. Schmidt was joined by Claire Rasmus, Natasha Gvakharia Mgebrishvi, and Jessica Hodgson, going 1:32.74 to break the old record of 1:33.90. With only Hodgson graduating, the team should have a shot to drop the record even further next season. Saint Andrew’s, in a tight battle with Pine Crest for second place in the overall points, picked up the runner-up spot. The team of Brenna Ruth, McKenna Keith, CJ McCartin, and Megan Moroney beat Pine Crest’s team by one place. The Pine Crest team was made up of Marta Ciesla, Julia Chui, Brooke Bernstein and Hanna Veale. 

 Boys’ 200 Free Relay

As expected, the Bolles School won the boys 200 free relay, although it couldn’t match last year’s crazy national record performance. Nonetheless, the team of Joseph Schooling, Josh Booth, William McKinney, and Luke Georgiadis was unmatched in this race, winning handily with a time of 1:22.32. Schooling was impressive as always, leading off the relay in 19.89 to give his teammates an immediate lead of a full second. Second place finishers were the team of Alex Pena, Andrew DuPont, Riley Springer, and Joshua Monacelli in 1:25.30. Pena filled in admirably coming off the 500 free to lead off against Schooling, and putting up a time of 20.90 in the process. 500 free runner-up Matthew Hirschberger anchored the Clearwater Central Catholic team to 3rd place. He was joined by Michael Hedrich, Antonio Pinero, and Cameron Newton.

Girls’ 100 Back

Clara Smiddy won her second event of the night, breaking her own state record from this morning. Her time of 52.46 was another half-second under her dominant prelim time, and should make her an immediate force in the Big Ten when she joins Michigan next fall. Smiddy powered away from the field, holding a 1.5 second lead by the 50; from the very get-go, Smiddy was clearly in control. Darby Goodwin (55.82) dropped a second from prelims to hold her runner-up spot, and Annika Kollevoll (56.32) rode a strong back half of the race to third place. Allie Parent of Trinity was fourth, and the Bolles School added to its points lead as Christiana Sadsad finished fifth.

 Boys’ 100 Back

Rasmus Skjaerpe took another three tenths off his lifetime best, took another state championship, and took another big step forward as a high-level backstroker. Skjaerpe hadn’t been under 50 prior to this weekend, and now he holds a lifetime best of 48.59. Considering that he went 1:38 in the 200 free and 49.0 in the 100 fly last season, as well as 1:48 in the 200 IM earlier tonight, this is just another display of versatility that has to bring a smile to Skjaerpe’s future college coaches at Arizona. Joining Skjaerpe under 50 seconds was Shorecrest senior John Farese (49.86), who was also second in the 100 free. Bolles took the next two spots, with Andy Song An and Matt McPheters. A pair of freshmen followed them, Cardinal Mooney’s Austin Katz and Tampa Prep’s Van Cates.

Girls’ 100 Breast

University School’s Emily Kopas blew away the field, narrowly missing the state record in the girls 100 breast. Kopas went 1:01.92, her first time under the 1:02-mark. Saint Andrew’s senior Rachael Bradford-Feldman was second for the second straight season with a time of 1:03.77. Close behind were Olga Lapteva of Bolles and Annie Valls of Ransom Everglades, both 1:03.9s. Valls had the faster front half, but Lapteva ran her down to nab 3rd. Trinity senior Brooke Malone finished 5th and Tampa Prep sophomore Savannah Savitt was 6th.

 Boys’ 100 Breast

Fresh off his win in the 50 free, University School’s Jordy Groters stayed hot, taking the 100 breaststroke and breaking into the 54s for the first time in his career. Groters went 54.76, just .04 off of Bradley Ally’s 9-year-old state record. Considering that his best time prior to this season was a 56.9, this has to be considered a massive breakout year for Groters. Another fast riser to watch is Bolles freshman James Daugherty, who went 56.98 to take second. At just 14 years old and a part of one of the premier high school teams in the nation, the future looks awfully bright for Daugherty. Joshua Chen out of Shorecrest followed Daugherty at the final wall; he went 57.87. The entire rest of the A Final finished between 58.1 and 58.5, as bunched a field as there was at this meet. That group included Parker Andrews, Alex Condron, Harlin Bessire, Leonis Lau, and Hank Contich.

 Girls’ 400 Free Relay

Bolles swept the freestyle relays on the girls side, taking the 400 free relay and nearly breaking another state record in the process. The same team of Kasey Schmidt, Claire Rasmus, Natasha Gvakharia Mgebrishvi, and Jessica Hodgson that paced the 200 free relay returned to win the 400, officially clinching the state championship for the Bolles School. Saint Andrew’s finished second in the relay, and that finish combined with a 6th place finish from the Pine Crest relay allowed Saint Andrew’s to seal the runner-up spot s over Pine Crest by 10.5 points. Saint Andrew’s relay was made up of Megan Moroney, who led off in an impressive 50.37, Rachael Bradford-Feldman, McKenna Keith, and Brenna Ruth. Perhaps the most impressive split in the entire event was Clara Smiddy‘s leadoff leg for South Florida HEAT in which she went 49.57.

Final Girls’ Team Scores:

1. Bolles                                410.5

2. Saint Andrew’s             233

3. Pine Crest                       222.5

4. Ransom Everglades    165

5. Trinity Prep                   155.5

 Boys’ 400 Free Relay

The Bolles School completed its sweep, taking all three relays at this year’s state championships. Joseph Schooling took the opportunity to get one last highlight reel performance in with his last swim, leading off the relay in 43.72. His relay mates were Josh Booth, Luke Georgiadis, and Tyler Rice. Their time of 3:01.86 topped the field by about five seconds. With the victory, Bolles convincingly won its 26th straight boys state title. Lake Highland finished second in the relay, capping off a day where it earned runner-up honors over Pine Crest. Lake Highland’s relay was made up of Alex Pena, Harlin Bessire, David Perez, and Andrew DuPont. Both Pena and Tampa prep star Rasmus Skjaerpe were 45s on their leadoff legs.

Final Boys’ Team Scores:

1. Bolles                                523

2. Lake Highland              232

3. Pine Crest                       171.5

4. University School      143

5. Tampa Prep                   128