Golding, Rodriguez Lead SOFLO On Day One Of FGC Senior Championships

By Sharon Robb

PEMBROKE PINES, March 23, 2018—Defending champion and host South Florida Aquatic Club kicked off opening day of the Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships with a strong showing in its home pool.

SOFLO leads the combined team standings with 996 points followed by Metro Aquatics with 961.5 and East Coast Aquatic Club with 890 in what’s expected to be a tight battle over the final two days. Thirty-one teams are in the field.

SOFLO’s Kathleen Golding and Rafael Rodriguez were multiple winners with all best times.

Rodriguez, 16, was a triple winner in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:50.50, 100-yard individual medley in 53.15 and 500-yard freestyle in 4:35.60. He has 72 points in high point.

Golding, 17, won the 100-yard freestyle in 49.38, 100-yard individual medley in 56.36 and was second in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:49.48, the first time she cracked the 5-minute barrier in the distance event. She has 69 points in high point.

Casey Moya, 17, broke 30 seconds in the 50-yard breaststroke in 29.09, shaving 1.10 seconds off his previous best time.

“The kids swam well and were the best team tonight performance-wise,” said SOFLO head coach Chris Anderson. “It’s going to be a close meet. I didn’t expect us to be leading after the first day.”

Other Top 4 SOFLO finishers:

Lance Lesage, third, 200-yard backstroke, 1:53.65, time drop.

Ricardo Roche, fourth, 200-yard backstroke, 1:52.51, time drop; fourth, 500-yard freestyle, 4:42.00.

Kelley Heron, third, 200-yard backstroke, 2:02.72; fourth, 100-yard individual medley, 59.75.

Jennifer Rodriguez, third, 50-yard breaststroke, 30.68.

The meet continues Saturday with the prelims at 8:30 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.

FRIDAY RESULTS
COMBINED TEAM TOTALS

1. South Florida Aquatic Club 996, 2. Metro Aquatics 961.5, 3. East Coast Aquatic Club 890, 4. Gulliver 873.5, 5. Pine Crest 429, 6. Miami Swimming 354, 7. TS Aquatics 340, 8. YMCA of South Florida 302, 9. Azura 261, 10. Jupiter Dragons 227.

BOYS TEAM TOTALS

1. Metro Aquatics 674.5, 2. SOFLO 573.5, 3. East Coast 331, 4. Gulliver 239.5, 5. TS Aquatics 221, 6. Miami Swimming 210, 7. Azura 163, 8. Jupiter Dragos 156, 9. Pine Crest 133.5, 10. YMCA of South Florida 127.

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200-yard freestyle relay:
Open, 1. Metro Aquatics 1:25.98, 3. SOFLO A 1:26.68 (Luke Lezotte, Heath Brames, Rafael Rodriguez, Juan Serna), 9. SOFLO B 1:29.80 (Casey Moya, Michael Arias, Lance Lesage, Kevin Porto).

400-yard freestyle relay:
Open, 1. Metro Aquatics 3:07.18, 5. SOFLO A 3:14.15 (Heath Brames, Juan Serna, Rafael Rodriguez, Kevin Porto), 8. SOFLO B 3:20.46 (Michael Arias, Juan Diaz, Lance Lesage, CJ Kopecki).

200-yard backstroke:
15-16, 1. Elvis Kotikovski, PC 1:52.08; SOFLO: 3. Lance Lesage 1:53.65, time drop, 8. Leonardo Mateus 1:59.53, 17. Nicolas Munoz 2:04.22, time drop; Open, 1. Miguel Cancel, Unattached 1:45.52; SOFLO: 4. Ricardo Roche 1:52.51, time drop; 13. Juan Diaz 2:01.33.

100-yard freestyle:
15-16, 1. Reese Branzell, LLL 47.27; SOFLO: 5. Juan Serna 48.21, 9. Michael Arias 49.47, 17. Lance Lesage 50.49; Open, 1. Jorge Depassier, Azura 45.62; SOFLO: 8. Heath Brames 47.73, 10. Kevin Porto 48.26.

200-yard butterfly:
15-16, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 1:50.50, time drop; SOFLO: 7. John Paul Handal 2:02.01, 9. Joseph Lee 2:03.24 13. Leonardo Mateus 2:03.45, 20. Juancamilo Rivero 2:15.28; Open, 1. Miguel Cancel, Unattached 1:47.60; SOFLO: 6. CJ Kopecki 1:55.60.

50-yard breaststroke:
15-16, 1. Juan Pablo Pineda, SOFLO 27.55, time drop; Open, 1. Teo Darias, Gulliver 26.47; SOFLO: 11. Casey Mora 29.09, time drop.

100-yard individual medley:
15-16, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 53.15, time drop; SOFLO: 12. Juan Pablo Pineda 56.91, time drop, 13. John Paul Handal 57.15, time drop, 16. Joseph Lee 57.51, time drop; Open, 1. Steven Aimable, Azura 51.03; SOFLO: 10. Kevin Porto 56.76, 12. Heath Brames 55.30, 13. CJ Kopecki 55.42, time drop, 15. Luke Lezotte 55.95, 17. Juan Diaz 56.42.

500-yard freestyle:
15-16, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 4:35.60, time drop; SOFLO: 6. Leonardo Mateus 4:48.36, 8. Nicolas Rossi 4:51.76, time drop, 11. Lance Lesage 4:52.82, 16. Michael Arias 4:55.45, time drop, 20. Joseph Lee 4:56.95; Open, 1. Carlos Vasquez, TSA 4:32.70; SOFLO: 4. Ricardo Roche 4:42.00, 6. CJ Kopecki 4:43.38, time drop.

GIRLS TEAM TOTALS

1. Gulliver 634, 2. East Coast 559, 3. SOFLO 422.5, 4. Pine Crest 295.5, 5. Metro Aquatics 287, 6. tie, YMCA of South Florida 175, AquaKids Sharks 175, 8. Miami Swimming 144, 9. TS Aquatics 119, 10. Swim Fort Lauderdale 99.

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200-yard freestyle relay:
Open, 1. East Coast 1:35.54, 2. Gulliver 1:36.99, 3. SOFLO A 1:38.05 (Paige Lane, Katrina Del Vecchio, Kathleen Golding, Jacqueline Lugo), 13. SOFLO B 1:43.15 (Molly Golding, Kelley Heron, Jennifer Rodriguez, Maya Coffey).

400-yard freestyle relay:
Open, 1. East Coast Aquatic Club 3:29.74; 3. SOFLO A 3:34.80 (Paige Lane, Kelley Heron, Kathleen Golding, Jacqueline Lugo), 12. SOFLO B 3:46.40 (Maya Coffey, Kyana Castro, Katrina Del Vecchio, Jennifer Rodriguez).

200-yard backstroke:
15-16, 1. Madison Cummings, ECAC 2:02.78; SOFLO: 15. Michelle Marinheiro 2:24.06; BRST: 16. Shelley Sikes 2:4.73; Open, 1. Carolina Colorado, MVAC 2:00.78; SOFLO: 3. Kelley Heron 2:02.72;

100-yard freestyle:
15-16, 1. Andrea Santander, PC 50.11; SOFLO: 5. Paige Lane 52.71, 14. Jacqueline Lugo 54.63, time drop, 15. Maya Coffey 54.64, time drop, 17. Katrina Del Vecchio 54.99; Open, 1. Kathleen Golding, SOFLO 49.38; SOFLO: 11. Jennifer Rodriguez 55.01, time drop.

200-yard butterfly:
15-16, 1. Madison Cummings, ECAC 2:05.41; SOFLO: 8. Paige Lane 2:12.64, 11. Daniela Curbelo 2:13.96; Open, 1. Mary Smutny, AquaKids Sharks 1:56.93; SOFLO: 13. Molly Golding 2:12.98, time drop.

50-yard breaststroke:
15-16, 1. Chade Nersicio, ECAC 29.49; Open, 1. Mercedes Toledo, Unattached 29.10; SOFLO: 3. Jennifer Rodriguez 30.68, 6. Molly Golding 31.46, 8. Kelley Heron 32.16, 18. Sabrina Osorio 34.50.

100-yard individual medley:
15-16, 1. Chade Nersicio, ECAC 56.69; SOFLO: 11. Katrina Del Vecchio 1:02.01, time drop, 15. Jacqueline Lugo 1:03.49, time drop, 16. Maya Coffey 1:03.93, time drop; Open, 1. Kathleen Golding, SOFLO 56.36, time drop; SOFLO: 4. Kelley Heron 59.75, 6. Jennifer Rodriguez 1:01.26, time drop.

500-yard freestyle:
15-16, 1. Paige MacEachern, ECAC 5:00.03; SOFLO: 2. Paige Lane 5:05.66, time drop; Open, 1. Mary Smutny, AKS 4:45.97; SOFLO: 2. Kathleen Golding 4:49.48.

IF YOU GO

What: Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships.

When: Saturday-Sunday, prelims 8:30 a.m., finals 5 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday.

Estimated Timelines: Saturday, prelims 8:30-11:35 a.m., finals 5-7:20 p.m.; Sunday, prelims 8:30 a.m.-12:05 p.m., finals 4-7:04 p.m.

Where: Academic Village Swimming Pool, 17191 Sheridan St., Pembroke Pines.

Of note: Admission is $5 per session. Heat sheets are free and will be available online at soflomeets.info/seniorchamps and on Meet Mobile. Timed finals for the 500-yard freestyle are Friday and 400-yard individual medley on Saturday. For information call the swim office, 954-538-3721.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com