By Sharon Robb
July 20—South Florida Aquatic Club defended its title and swept the combined, boys and girls team titles Sunday night at the Florida Gold Coast 14&Under Long Course Junior Olympics at Plantation Aquatic Complex.
SOFLO continues to make history at every major meet.
SOFLO won the combined team title with 802 points, more than doubling the runner-up points of North Palm Beach (398). SOFLO won the boys team title with 378 points and SOFLO girls, after finishing fourth last year, won with 424 points ahead of North Palm Beach and Pine Crest.
It was the second consecutive year the 14-year-old club won back-to-back short course and long course titles in the same year.
It was SOFLO’s fifth consecutive JO title.
It was SOFLO’s 11th overall JO title.
With overall depth, talent, balance and good coaching, SOFLO swimmers dominated the three-day meet which they led from start to finish and never let up.
SOFLO piled up the points in relays, dropped times and broke FGC and meet records.
Rafael Rodriguez, 12, turned in another outstanding day of swimming and finished as boys high point winner in the 11-12 age group.
Rodriguez broke the 11-12 1500-meter FGC record with a time of 17:09.39, dropping 7.61 seconds off his previous best time. Rodriguez also won the 200-meter individual medley in a best time 2:23.37 and 100-meter freestyle in 59.40.
“Our kids swam out of their minds,” said SOFLO age group coach Luis Soler. “They swam really, really well. It didn’t seem like we missed a beat.
“Our parents were just as amazing,” Soler said. “They did so much volunteer work as officials and timers. It was a total team effort.”
Ervin Marin, 14, was the final SOFLO champion of the night, putting the icing on the cake by winning the last event, the 100-meter freestyle in a best time 55.56. He dropped 0.11 seconds.
“I am happy with the meet, I wanted to lower my times and swim fast,” Marin said. “I am really happy about SOFLO winning. I know we have pretty good swimmers. I was pretty confident we were going to win.
“There wasn’t really any pressure on us,” Marin said. “Our team talked about swimming fast before the meet and just stayed fully focused.”
SOFLO had several outstanding swims on the final night of the marathon meet and dropped more than 200 times in prelims and finals.
Erika Pelaez, 8, won the 50-meter backstroke in a best time 38.19.
Kathleen Golding, 13, won the 100-meter freestyle in a best time 58.65 and finished as the girls high point winner in the 13-14 age group.
SOFLO’s “A” 200-meter freestyle relay of Leonardo Mateus, Eiza Gantus, Michael Arias and Rafael Rodriguez won in 1:55.16.
Kevin Porto, 14, making his final JO appearance, won the 1500-meter freestyle in 17:10.67.
In addition to Rodriguez, two other FGC records fell.
North Palm Beach Swim Team broke the girls’ 11-12 200-meter freestyle relay record with a time of 1:57.39 with swimmers Jennifer Secrest, Rachel Cherelstein, Hanna Emerson and Nicole Gomez. It was one of the more exciting relays of the meet with North Palm Beach edging South Florida Aquatic Club, second in 1:57.66 with Marianna Serrao, Isabella Di Salvo, Jacqueline Lugo and Vanessa Mesa.
Alberto Gomez of Miami Dade County Swim Team broke the 13-14 200-meter individual medley record in 2:11.38.
Nick Pacitti of Plantation Swim Team qualified for his first summer sectionals cut in the 1500-meter freestyle in 17:17.40.
Rain and lightning delayed the afternoon session twice but it didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits.
SUNDAY RESULTS
COMBINED TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 802, 2. North Palm Beach 398, 3. Azura Florida Aquatics 349, 4. City of Hialeah Storm 317, 5. Gulliver 309, 6. Jupiter Dragons 278, 7. Pine Crest Swimming 235, 8. Blue Marlins of Hialeah Gardens 210, 9. Metro Aquatics 209, 10. East Coast Aquatic Club 171.
BOYS TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 378, 2. City of Hialeah Storm 291, 3. Azura Florida Aquatic 214, 4. Metro Aquatics 197, 5. Miami Swimming 161.
GIRLS TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 424, 2. North Palm Beach 344, 3. Pine Crest Swimming 212, 4. Gulliver 193, 5. East Coast Aquatic Club 147.
GIRLS
200-meter freestyle relay:
11-12, 1. North Palm Beach 1:57.39, record (Jennifer Secrest, Rachel Cherelstein, Hanna Emerson, Nicole Gomez), 2. SOFLO “A” 1:57.66 (Marianna Serrao, Isabella DiSalvo, Jacqueline Lugo, Vanessa Mesa), 3. Gulliver 2:02.48, 13. SOFLO “B” 2:11.30 (Molly Golding, Sophia Bedoya, Kayla Cunningham, Valentina Carrion).
400-meter freestyle relay:
13-14, 1. Pine Crest Swimming 4:05.49 (Alexandra Meszaros, Annabella Lyn, Marissa Brannan, Jessica Nava), 2. Coral Springs 4:07.68, 3. SOFLO “A” 4:13.90 (Kelley Heron, Abolade Oyetunji, Delanie Perez, Kathleen Golding), 14. SOFLO “B” 4:35.10 (Alexandra Crespo, Elise Larin, Katherine DeBarros, Zariya Harris).
200-meter individual medley:
10-and-under, 1. Madelyn Hebert, East Coast 2:44.40; SOFLO: 6. Sara Quintero 2:50.78, best time, 12. Sally Golding 3:00.46, 14. Erika Pelaez 3:01.57, best time, 25. Bella Leggett 3:13.11, 26. Jasmine Ahmet 3:13.30, best time, 28. Jena Legaspi 3:13.84, 29. Sarah Acevedo 3:16.80; 11-12, 1. Andrea Santander, Gulliver 2:28.04; SOFLO: 4. Vanessa Mesa 2:37.67, best time, 7. Marianna Serrao 2:42.51, best time, 11. Kyana Castro 2:45.10, best time, 12. Molly Golding 2:46.04, best time, 21. Anabel Vazquez 2:49.93, 23. Valentina Carrion 2:50.77, best time, 33. Michelle Marinheiro 2:55.55, best time, 39. Kayla Cunningham 2:58.60, best time, 47. Katrina Del Vecchio 3:01.96, best time; 13-14, 1. Alessandra Baldari, North Palm Beach 2:25.41; SOFLO: 4. Kelley Heron 2:30.80, best time, 22. Jennifer Rodriguez 2:43.88, best time, 35. Abolade Oyetunji 2:46.73, best time, 43. Alexandra Crespo 2:48.49, best time, 53. Katherine De Barros 2:51.17.
50-meter backstroke:
10-and-under, 1. Erika Pelaez, SOFLO 38.19, best time; SOFLO: 20. Bella Leggett 41.60, 32. Jena Legaspi 43.78; 11-12, 1. Jocelyn Ruiz, Blue Marlins 33.52; SOFLO: 13. Isabella Di Salvo 36.69, best time, 19. Kayla Cunningham 37.22, 22. Jacqueline Lugo 37.39, best time; 13-14, 1. Jessica Nava, Pine Crest Swimming 31.60; SOFLO: 6. Kelley Heron 33.50.
50-meter breaststroke:
10-and-under, 1. Heidi Smithwick, Jupiter 39.58; SOFLO: 12. Sally Golding 44.08, best time, 22. Bella Leggett 47.55, 28. Sabrina Osorio 48.84, 31. Daniela Barreto 49.26; 11-12, 1. Rachel Cherelstein, North Palm Beach 36.89; SOFLO: 3. Marianna Serrao 37.77, best time, 11. Molly Golding 39.56, best time, 22. Valentina Carrion 42.00, best time, 28. Katrina Del Vecchio 43.74, 30. Anabel Vazquez 44.12; 13-14, 1. Hailey Jerew, AquaKids Sharks 35.41; SOFLO: 4. Kathleen Golding 36.27, best time, 9. Elise Larin 37.60, best time, 11. Jennifer Rodriguez 37.96, best time, 12. Delanie Perez 38.30, best time, 40. Mikaela De Gracia 42.32.
200-meter butterfly:
11-12, 1. Jodi Kennedy, SwimFast 2:35.76; SOFLO: 3. Isabella DiSAlvo 2:38.43, best time; 13-14, 1. Jessica Nava, Pine Crest Swimming 2:22.20; SOFLO: 12. Delanie Perez 2:39.86, best time.
100-meter freestyle:
10-and-under, 1. Madelyn Hebert, East Coast 1:07.52; SOFLO: 7. Sara Quintero 1:11.08, best time, 22. Sally Golding 1:16.89, 27. Sarah Acevedo 1:17.28, best time, 30. Jasmine Ahmet 1:17.48, best time, 62. Jena Legaspi 1:22.58; 11-12, 1. Andrea Santander, Gulliver 1:00.49; SOFLO: 3. Vanessa Mesa 1:03.45, 6. Marianna Serrao 1:05.31, 17. Jacqueline Lugo 1:07.74, best time, 18. Kyana Castro 1:07.85, best time, 27. Michelle Marinheiro 1:09.00, best time, 29. Valentina Carrion 1:09.22, 65. Katrina Del Vecchio 1:13.89, 68. Alana Acevedo 1:14.04, 73. Rebekah Ling 1:14.72; 13-14, 1. Kathleen Golding, SOFLO 58.65, best time; SOFLO: 13. Abolade Oyetunji 1:03.22, best time.
1500-meter freestyle:
11-12, 1. Jacqueline Bedard, Jupiter 18:41.03; SOFLO: 4. Kyana Castro 19:17.26, 6. Michelle Marinheiro 20:07.69; 13-14, 1. Alicia Mancilla, Gulliver 17:46.54; SOFLO: 10. Alexandra Crespo 19:46.90.
BOYS
200-meter freestyle relay:
11-12, 1. South Florida Aquatic Club “A” 1:55.16 (Leonardo Mateus, Eiza Gantus, Michael Arias, Rafael Rodriguez), 2. Metro Aquatics 1:55.66, 3. Hialeah 1:55.90, 10. SOFLO “B” 2:09.89 (Nicolas Rossi, John Paul Handal, Roberto Garrido, Ji Hoon Lee).
400-meter freestyle relay:
13-14, 1. Metro Aquatics 3:57.80 (Fernando Rodriguez, Andres Solares, Adrian Aguilar, Joaquin Mulet), 2. Azura 3:59.90, 3. SOFLO “A” 4:00.11 (Kevin Porto, Samuel Quintero, Juan Osorio, Ervin Marin).
200-meter individual medley:
10-and-under, 1. Joshua Zuchowski, Jupiter 2:39.38; SOFLO: 10. Zackary Harris 2:56.48, best time, 25. Alejandro Mateus 3:14.64, best time; 11-12, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 2:23.37, best time; SOFLO: 4. Leonardo Mateus 2:29.94, best time, 10. Jie Hoon Lee 2:43.10, best time, 13. Eiza Gantus 2:44.78, best time, 15. Michael Arias 2:46.69, 20. John Paul Handal 2:49.52, 26. Nicolas Rossi 2:52.77, best time; 13-14, 1. Alberto Gomez, Miami Dade 2:11.38; SOFLO: 3. Ervin Marin 2:17.59, best time, 23. Samuel Quintero 2:32.41, best time, 24. Juan Osorio 2:32.64, best time, 31. Gabriel Segui 2:35.66, 33. Brandon Moran 2:37.95, best time.
50-meter backstroke:
10-and-under, 1. Joshua Zuchowski, Jupiter 34.32; SOFLO: 26. Alex Golding 43.08, best time, 27. Alejandro Mateus 43.14, 43. Tanner Gibson 47.25; 11-12, 1. Elvis Kotikovski, Azura 30.83; SOFLO: 16. John Paul Handal 37.87, 34. Marcos Vazquez 40.53; 13-14, 1. George Lubian, Flying Fish 29.85; SOFLO: 3. Kevin Porto 30.56, best time.
50-meter breaststroke:
10-and-under, 1. Victor Valdes, HSC 39.26; SOFLO: 19. Alex Golding 47.93, 31. Mark Andre De Gracia 51.79; 11-12, 1. Santiago Gomez, Metro Aquatics 37.29; SOFLO: 4. Eiza Gantus 39.68; 13-14, 1. Felipe Urrutia 32.78; SOFLO: 12. Brandon Moran 37.22, 15. Gabriel Segui 37.73.
200-meter freestyle:
11-12, 1. Gavin Smith, North Palm Beach 2:35.13; SOFLO: 4. Joe Hoon Lee 2:43.67, best time; 13-14, 1. Miguel Cancel, Miami Swimming 2:09.48.
100-meter freestyle:
10-and-under, 1. Joshua Zuchowski, Jupiter 1:06.72; SOFLO: 11. Zackary Harris 1:12.87, 23. Alex Golding 1:16.16, best time, 40. Alejandro Mateus 1:21.50; 11-12, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 59.40; SOFLO: 8. Michael Arias 1:04.03, best time, 11. Eiza Gantus 1:04.89, best time, 34. Nicolas Rossi 1:09.50, best time, 39. John Paul Handal 1:11.01; 13-14, 1. Ervin Marin, SOFLO 55.56, best time; SOFLO: 7. Kevin Porto 58.17, 23. Juan Osorio 1:00.75, best time.
1500-meter freestyle:
11-12, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 17:09.39, record; SOFLO: 2. Leonardo Mateus 17:45.14, best time; 13-14, 1. Kevin Porto, SOFLO 17:10.67; SOFLO: 9. Samuel Quintero 18:12.80, best time.
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com
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