2023 FHSAA 3A REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS
- October 30-November 4, 2023
- All Regions Sites
- All Results
Following the conclusion of their respective District Championship meets, Florida high school swimming teams in Class 3A and 4A wrapped up their Regional meets on the weekend, which serve as qualifiers for the State Championships.
Every team that won a 3A region title repeated from last year, with the Freedom High School boys notably edging out Sunlake by a mere half point in the Region 2 Championships. That result came after Freedom beat Sunlake in the meet-ending 400 free relay by 29 one-hundredths of a second.
FHSAA CLASS 3A REGION CHAMPIONS
- Region 1: Ponte Vedra girls, Allen D Nease boys
- Region 2: Land O Lakes girls, Freedom boys
- Region 3: Saint Petersburg girls, Jesuit boys
- Region 4: Saint Thomas girls, Saint Thomas boys
CLASS 3A REGION HIGHLIGHTS
Girls
Fleming Island senior Maryn McDade was among the top performers in 3A as a whole at the Region 1 Championships, putting up a time of 23.23 to lead all swimmers in the 50 free heading into the state championships.
McDade is the defending state championship in the event, and owns a lifetime best of 22.94 set in September. She also paced all swimmers in the 100 free in 51.02, just shy of her newly-minted 50.97 PB.
The second-fastest swimmer in the 100 free was Nease junior Olivia Moore, who was also competing in Region 1 and posted a time of 51.37.
Moore also recorded the top time in the 200 free at 1:51.02, just ahead of teammate Charlotte Driesse (1:51.49). Moore placed 3rd (behind two seniors) in the 200 free at last year’s state champs as a sophomore.
Taking on a tight double, Driesse raced the 200 IM right after the 200 free and put up the top time of 2:05.97, having won the 3A crown last season in 2:04.40. She owns a PB of 2:03.38, set in March.
Also in Region 1, defending 100 free state champion Penny Zarczynski of Ponte Vedra, a Yale commit, opted not to enter the event this season, instead clocking 1:52.91 in the 200 free and 55.79 in the 100 fly, ranking 6th and 1st respectively heading into the state championships.
Zarczynski also led off both of Ponte Vedra’s free relays as the team notched the top time across 3A in all three relays—1:47.69 in the 200 medley, 1:36.98 in the 200 free and 3:32.14 in the 400 free.
Ponte Vedra also had Annabelle MacAdams lead the way in the 100 breast, posting a time of 1:05.78 to lead Nease freshman Anna Driesse (1:06.02) as the two fastest times came from Region 1.
Region 3 saw the top time produced in the 500 free, as Saint Petersburg sophomore Zoie Fjare put up a time of 4:58.34, with her PB sitting at 4:54.11 from March.
Saint Thomas Aquinas senior Julianne McCranie was the top performer in Region 4, leading all swimmers in the 100 back (57.02) and ranking 2nd overall in the 100 fly (55.91). The Navy commit was the runner-up in the 100 back and 3rd in the 100 fly at the 2022 3A Championships.
In Region 2, junior Katherine Purcell led Land O Lakes to the team title with an individual win in the 100 free and a 3rd-place showing in the 200 free.
Boys
Booker T. Washington and Lawton Chiles High School combined to produce the fastest time across all regions in nine of the 11 swimming events on the boys’ schedule, but fell to 2nd and 3rd at the Region 1 Championships thanks to the depth put on display by Allen D. Nease High School.
Brothers Ethan Ekk and Owen Ekk stole the show for Lawton Chiles, both picking up individual sweeps as they hold the top seed in all of their events heading into the state championships.
Ethan, a junior, was the fastest swimmer overall in the 200 IM (1:52.64) and 500 free (4:35.45), with his lifetime bests sitting at 1:51.06 and 4:26.19, respectively. As a sophomore, he placed 2nd in the 500 free and 4th in the 200 IM at the state champs.
Owen, a freshman, leads all swimmers in the 50 free (21.11) and 100 free (45.63), both nearing his lifetime bests of 21.04 and 45.55.
The two of them combined to give Lawton Chiles a win in the 200 free relay at Region 1 in 1:25.98, earning them the top seed for the state meet.
Also swimming on that relay was senior Nathan Castano, was the top swimmer overall in the 100 back in 50.06, having placed 2nd at the 2022 state meet in 49.92 (having set a PB of 49.73 in the prelims).
For Booker T. Washington High School, it was senior and FSU commit Logan Robinson leading the way, as he notably blasted his way to an ‘A’ standard in the 100 fly in 48.71, within a half-second of his 48.24 PB from March.
Robinson, who was 3rd in the 100 fly at last year’s state meet, also went 1:40.21 to lead all swimmers in the 200 free, having raced the 200 IM (and finished 3rd) last year.
Over in Region 3, Jesuit senior Aidan Clements swept the same two events, ranking 2nd overall behind Robinson in the 200 free (1:40.36) and 100 fly (50.54).
Robinson also split 21.49 swimming fly to help lead Booker T. Washington to the top time overall in the 200 medley relay (1:35.71).
In the 400 free relay, Nease (3:07.15) edged out Booker T. Washington (3:07.45) in Region 1 for the top two times overall, with Robinson anchoring home his squad in 43.75.
Region 4 saw Everglades High School’s Javier Colmenares post the top time in the 100 breast at 56.80, having placed 3rd at the 2022 state meet in 56.55 (55.92 PB in prelims).
In Region 2, Freedom High School came away with the narrow team win thanks to the 400 free relay, but also had Sean Thatavakorn (50 free/100 free) and Anthony Murashkin (100 breast/200 IM) sweep their individual events.
FHSAA CLASS 3A STATE QUALIFIERS
The FHSAA Class 3A State Championships will take place on Saturday, November 11 at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) pool in Ocala, Florida.
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