2014 Florida HS District Championships: Class 3A, Districts 4, 5, 6

Florida Class 4A Region 2 Results Links

DISTRICT 4

District 4 near Orlando and Daytona Beach was the rare district where the team titles were split between two titles. New Smyrna Beach took the women’s title, while Lake Minneola won for the boys.

Girls

1. New Smyrna Beach – 360
2. Lake Nona (Orlando) – 359
3. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) – 333
4. East Ridge (Clermont) – 325
5. Lake Minneola – 275

This race, literally, came down to the final race of the day, though New Smyrna Beach had to feel good about their chances based on seeds.

Lake Nona, to overtake New Smyrna in the team title, would’ve needed to beat New Smyrna Beach by at least three placings. Lake Nona finished 3rd in 3:58.48 (behind eventual champions Seabreeze), and New Smyrna Beach was 5th (with a 22-second gap between them and 6th-place Edgewater), which gave NSB the overall title.

New Smyrna Beach, aptly named the Barracudas, were led by their young sophomore April O’Gorman. She won the girls’ 200 free in 2:01.93 and was 2nd in the 500 free in 5:26.97.

In that 500 free, she was 2nd behind Lake Nona junior Spencer Lucas, who was a 5:12.75 for an expansive victory. She took another huge win in the 200 IM with a 2:13.32 – a six second margin.

For 3rd-place Seabreeze, who was also in the battle for this team title, Marlena Pigliacampi was the star. She won a tough battle in the 100 fly over Like Minneola freshman Alyssa Stark 58.79-59.95, and also took the 100 free in 54.98.

Boys

1. Lake Minneola – 362.5
2. Lake Nona (Orlando) – 345.5
3. New Smyrna Beach – 32.9
4. East Ridge (Clermont) – 263
5. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) – 250.5

A young Lake Minneola team, with no seniors placing higher than 13th in any individual event or relay, knocked off the defending champions Lake Nona (who ran away with the title by almost 80 points last season).

Sophomore Samuel Hartle won the boys’ 200 free in 1:53.68, and was 2nd in the 500 free in 4:57.90. In that 500 free, he was runner-up to East Ridge sophomore Alec Bowie (4:53.75), setting up two more great years of battleas between the two.

Bowie also won the 100 back in 58.35.

Lake Nona won the 200 free relay on the strength of a 23.64 leadoff from Carlos Diaz. Diaz also swept the individual sprint freestyles with a 22.93 in the 50 free and a 51.60 in the 100 free.

District 5

Tampa-Plant High School swept the Class 3A, District 5 titles – with the girls winning in easy fashion, while the men had a little bit of a tighter battle.

Girls

1. Plant (Tampa) – 545
2. Newsome (Lithia) – 415
3. George Steinbrenner (Lutz) – 248
4. Bloomingdale (Valrico) – 209
5. Wharton (Tampa) – 169

The defending Region 2 Champions in the 200 medley relay from Plant had to replace the front half of their medley relay from last year with freshmen, but still managed to improve their time from last year’s District Championship meet by half-a-second, swimming a 1:53.38 for the win.

Among the top individual performances of the meet was freshman Klaudia Greer from runner-sup Lithia. She won the girls’ 200 free in 1:57.60. Greer, who recently moved to Florida from Ohio, was a 1:56.3 at a club meet a weekend earlier, which means she’s still got a lot of taper left for the Regional and possible State levels.

Her teammate Maddie Hess, a Duke commit, took 1st place in the 100 free in 53.39, where Greer was 2nd in 54.28; and was the runner-up in the 50 free to Plant freshman Morgan Tankersley.

Boys

1. Plant (Tampa) – 381.5
2. Bloomingdale (Valrico) – 352
3. George Jenkins (Lakeland) – 267.5
4. Newsome (Lithia) – 232
5. Strawberry Crest (Dover) – 164

The final scoring outcome at this meet was a little unusual, as Plant won just two individual events, while 4th-place finishers Newsome won four individual events and the meet-opening medley relay. But, as is so often true at the district level, depth was key for Plant – Newsome mustered only a 9th-place 200 free relay, for example.

Those Newsome wins were led by the Newsome brothers Blake and Wesley McGovern. The two combined as part of Newsome’s win in the 50 free, though it was Austin Waite whose 21.67 anchor broke the race wide-open over Plant.

Blake McGovern then won the 50 free in 22.47 ahead of George Jenkins senior David Wong (22.63). It was Wesley’s turn next as he won the boys’ 100 fly in 53.84.

The two faced-off head-to-head in the 100 backstroke, where Blake swam a 53.38 for the win, and Wesley took 2nd in 54.75.

For Plant, the star of the day was sophomore Paxton Rhoads, who swam a 1:01.64 to win the boys’ 100 breaststroke. That’s already a full second faster than he was at regionals last year.

District 6

Florida district meets got another sweep in Class 3A District 6, with Winter Haven sweeping the meet by modest, but not overwhelming, margins.

Girls

1. Winter Haven – 443
2. Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel) – 407
3. Mitchell (New Port Richey) – 353
4. Lakeland – 328
5. Lake region (Eagle Lake) – 204

Winter Haven, on the backs of an impressive sophomore class, won the 200 medley and 200 free relays en route to the district title. She was a 24.27 anchor on the 200 medley relay, won the girls’ 100 free in 53.46, and anchored the 200 free relay in 1:46.32.

In both of those winning relays, Winter Haven was slower than their seed time, meaning the best is yet to come for the Blue Devils.

Also impressive was Mitchell’s Taylor Anderson, who won the girls’ 50 free in 24.32; and Wiregrass Ranch’s Maddy Conway, who won the 100 fly in 1:01.53.

Boys

1. Winter Haven – 393
2. Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel) – 368
3. Mitchell (New Port Richey) – 329
4. Lakeland – 272
5. Bartow – 222

The Winter Haven boys also started off the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay, like their female teammates, though that would be the only relay they would win.

The Blue Devils men got plenty of individual scoring, though, from senior I.V. Simons. He won the 200 IM in a landslide, swimming a 2:02.36. Of the 19-second gap over runner-up Anthony Amaro, Simons earned 10 seconds on the breaststroke leg – which means it’s no surprise that he won the 100 breaststroke as well in 1:02.20.

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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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