Gracie Weyant, Addison Sauickie Lead Riverview Sarasota Girls To FHSAA 4A Threepeat

2023 FHSAA Class 4A State Championships

The Riverview Sarasota High School girls ran away with a third straight Florida 4A state title on Friday, easily outpacing runner-up Windermere with 440 points.

Leading the charge were seniors Gracie Weyant and Addison Sauickie, who successfully defended their individual 4A state titles to cap off a pair of incredible high school careers.

Prior to those swims, however, came the lone State Championship Record of the meet in the girls’ 200 medley relay, as Riverview Sarasota took down the week-old record set by Bolles at the 1A Championships.

Sophomore Taylor Schwenk led off in 25.58, and then Weyant (28.23), Sauickie (23.95) and freshman Angelina Lista (23.05) combined for a time of 1:40.81 to down Bolles’ mark of 1:40.93.

Weyant, who will join her older sister Emma at the University of Florida next fall, completed a perfect run in the 100 breast, winning her fourth straight title in a time of 1:02.41, edging out Windermere senior and fellow Florida commit Addison Reese (1:02.67).

Weyant’s lifetime best of 1:01.51 was set when she won the event as a freshman in 2020.

Earlier in the meet, the 17-year-old put up a new best time en route to a third straight title in the 200 IM, clocking 1:58.64 to knock off her previous PB by .02 and lead a 1-2-3 sweep for Riverview Sarasota.

Sauickie stormed to a third straight title in the 200 free, registering a new personal best of 1:45.35 to crack the all-time top 100 in the girls’ 17-18 age group. The Stanford commit set her previous best of 1:45.38 at last year’s state meet.

Her senior teammate and Northwestern commit Bri Deierlein took 2nd in a new best time of 1:47.54.

Sauickie also defended her title in the 100 free, touching in 48.99 to easily outpace runner-up Adrianna Lojewski (50.43) of Winter Park and Deierlein (50.80).

Lojewski, a Northeastern commit who set a PB of 50.33 in the prelims of the 100 free, also won the 50 free in a new best time, first clocking 23.30 in the prelims before getting down to 23.07 en route to victory in the final. Placing 2nd was JP Taravella senior and FIU commit Tawannah McLemore, who set a PB of 23.12.

Other wins for Riverview Sarasota came from Schwenk in the 100 back and the 400 free relay.

Schwenk and sophomore teammate Brynn Lavigueur both smashed their best times to go 1-2 in the 100 back, with Schwenk clocking 53.95 and Lavigeuer (53.96) finishing just .01 back.

In the 400 free relay, Weyant (50.74), Sauickie (48.92), Lavigueur (50.31) and Deierlein (50.23) combined to obliterate the field in 3:20.20, finishing more than nine seconds clear of the next-best team.

In addition to her runner-up finish in the 100 breast, Windermere’s Reese also won the 100 fly in a time of 53.45, having set a new PB of 52.99 in the heats.

Reese also led off in a 50 free best time of 22.98 to propel Windermere to victory in the 200 free relay (1:33.63).

William R. Boone High School also picked up two event wins, with senior Lanie Gutch dominating the 1-meter diving event (507.80) and junior Arianna Wertheim claiming the 500 free in a new PB of 4:49.68.

Team Scores – Top 10

  1. Riverview Sarasota, 440
  2. Windermere, 302
  3. Winter Park, 135
  4. Lake Brantley, 124
  5. Joe E Newsome, 113
  6. West Orange, 101
  7. Creekside, 96
  8. Fort Lauderdale, 83
  9. Jupiter, 72
  10. Venice, 67

Boys recap to come in a separate article.

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Curious George
7 months ago

Great team of swimmers. Sarasota Sharks are a powerhouse!

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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