By Sharon Robb
STUART, November 23, 2018—Jacksonville Bolles swimmers gave their head coach Jon Sakovich one last parting gift at the recent FHSAA State 1A Swimming and Diving Championships at Sailfish Splashpark Aquatic Athletics Center.
Bolles extended its state championship streak to a national record 31 years for the boys and 28 years for the girls to finish the season as the state’s all-time high school swimming dynasty.
Sakovich announced before the season he would be stepping down from his head coach and aquatics director job he held since 2015. He joined the Bolles staff in August 2000 assisting with all aspects of the swimming program.
Bolles girls won the team title with 381 points followed by Pine Crest with 303 and St. Andrew’s with 244.
Bolles boys team won with 373 points. Jacksonville Episcopal was second with 221 points, its best finish since 1980. It was also Jacksonville’s first one-two finish for swim teams since 1977. Pine Crest was fifth with 201.
After a third place finish at last month’s Woodson Invitational, the Bulldogs looked beatable for the first time. However, Bolles rose to the occasion when it mattered the most.
Bolles’ depth and key wins in the 200-yard medley relay, 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay clinched the girls’ victory.
The boys were just as dominant with double winner Paul DeGrado in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke and Bolles’ wins in the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Pine Crest was led by junior Andrea Santander winning the 100-yard freestyle race in 49.69 seconds. She was the only individual winner for the girls team.
The girls’ team also had top-five finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:45.29, third with Julia Podkoscielny, Sara Lin, Esther Lin and Hanna Elks Smith); 200 IM (Santander, 2:01.34, second), 50 freestyle (Rachel Botting, 23.48, fourth), 1-meter diving (Ishani Singh, 444.20, third), 100 butterfly (Alexandra Meszaros, 56.08, fourth), 200 freestyle relay (1:34.83, third with Rachel Botting, Alexandra Meszaros, Andrea Santander, Hanna Elks Smith), 100 breaststroke (Sara Lin, 1:05.26, fifth), 400 freestyle relay (3:26.75, second with Rachel Botting, Alexandra Meszaros, Julia Podkoscielny and Andrea Santander).
On the boys’ side, Pine Crest freshman Kevin Mendez defended his title winning the one-meter diving title with a score of 533.75.
Pine Crest’s boys also posted top-five finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:35.15, fourth with Elvis Kotikovski, Matthew Petreski, Jacob Silberman and Joshua Hanks), 1-meter diving (Denny Gulia-Janovski, 498.40, third), 100 butterfly (Nicholas Vale, 50.19, fourth), 100 backstroke (Elvis Kotikovski, 50.90, fourth; and Vale, 52.58, fifth).
Junior Maia Goldstein of NSU University School won the girls 1-meter diving title with 504.90 points. Mary Smutny of Cutler Bay won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.08 and was second in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.79.
STATE 1A RESULTS
GIRLS TEAM TOTALS
1. Jacksonville Bolles 381, 2. Pine Crest 303, 3. St. Andrew’s 244, 4. Trinity Christian 208, 5. Lake Highland Prep 109, 6. Trinity Prep 101, 7. NSU University School 98, 8. Windermere Prep 93, 9. tie, Berkeley Prep 86, Episcopal 86, 11. PK Yonge 81, 12. Cutler Bay 68, 13. Montverde 61, 14. Calvary Christian 51, 15. King’s Academy 47, 16. Oxbridge 40, 17. St. John Neumann 33, 18. tie, Academy at the Lakes, 32, Bradenton Christian 32, 20. Shorecrest Prep 29, 21. Maclay 27, 22. South Florida Heat 19, 23. Bishop Verot 18, 24. Westminster Academy 17, 25. Ransom Everglades 16, 26. Holy Trinity 11, 27. LaSalle 4, 28. Admiral Farragut 3, 29. Community School 2, 30. Sarasota Christian 1.
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
200-yard medley relay: 1. Bolles 1:43.50, 2. St. Andrew’s 1:44.97, 3. Pine Crest 1:45.29 (Julia Podkoscielny, Sara Lin, Esther Lin, Hanna Elks Smith).
200-yard freestyle: 1. Mary Smutny, CB 1:46.08, 2. Nicole Gomez, TC 1:48.86, 3. Alixandra Roy, LH 1:50.82.
200-yard individual medley: 1. Jennifer Secrest, OX 2:00.62, 2. Andrea Santander, PC 2:01.34, 3. Sasha Ramey, JB 2:01.60.
50-yard freestyle: 1. Chade Nersicio, TC 22.66, 2. McKenna Smith, AC 23.29, 3. Madeline Burt, STJ 23.37.
100-yard butterfly: 1. Jennifer Secrest, OX 54.10, 2. Madeline Burt, STJ 54.62, 3. Mary Kelley, EP 55.69.
100-yard freestyle: 1. Andrea Santander, PC 49.69, 2. Mary Smutny, CB 49.79, 3. Adair, JB 49.90.
500-yard freestyle: 1. Leah DeGeorge, JB 4:49.78, 2. Nicole Gomez, TC 4:52.88, 3.Lain Shahboz, PK 4:53.38.
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Trinity Christian 1:34.25, 2. Bolles 1:34.39, 3. Pine Crest 1:34.83 (Rachel Botting, Alexandra Meszaros, Andrea Santander, Hanna Elks Smith).
100-yard backstroke: 1. Lain Shahboz, PK 54.95, 2. Anna Freed, BRCH 55.42, 3. Mary Kelley, EP 55.45.
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Shayna Fetes, SA 1:03.07, 2. Jenessa Schwarz, TC 1:03.62, 3. Carly Schwab, JB 1:04.49.
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Bolles 3:25.14, 2. Pine Crest 3:26.75 (Rachel Botting, Alexandra Meszaros, Julia Podkoscielny, Andrea Santander), 3. Trinity Christian 3:27.44.
1-meter diving: 1. Maia Goldstein, NSU 504.90, 2. Nicole Stambo, BERK 476.00, 3. Ishani Singh, PC 444.20.
BOYS TEAM TOTALS
1. Jacksonville Bolles 373, 2. Jacksonville Episcopal 216, 3. St. Andrew’s 216, 4. Berkeley Prep 214, 5. Pine Crest 201, 6. Trinity Prep 150, 7. Tampa Prep 113, 8. Montverde 82, 9. King’s Academy 81, 10. PK Yonge 76, 11. Bishop Verot 67, 12. Providence 65, 13. Clearwater Central Catholic 61, 14. Shorecrest Prep 53, 15. Out Of Door 51, 16. Maclay 48, 17. Northside Christian 44, 18. St. Stephen’s 36, 19. St. John’s Country 29, 20. Evangelical Christian 26, 21. Windermere Prep 15, 22. NSU University School 14, 23. All Saints 13, 24. Florida High 12, 25. Bishop Snyder 9, 26. tie, Canterbury 7, Cypress Creek 7, 28. tie, St. Edward’s, Lake Highland Prep, Cutler Bay, 6, 31. Westminster Academy 4, 32. tie, Trinity Christian, Community School 2.
BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
200-yard medley relay: 1. Bolles 1:33.43, 2. St. Andrew’s 1:33.81, 3. Berkeley 1:34.71.
200-yard freestyle: 1. Luke Uttley, TRIN 1:37.86, 2. Tomas Piza, SA 1:39.70, 3. Trevor McGovern, PK 1:40.01.
200-yard individual medley: 1. Paul DeGrado, JB 1:49.59, 2. Joshua Zuchowski, KA 1:50.21, 3. Jace Crawford, EP 1:51.56.
50-yard freestyle: 1. Sterling Crane, EP 20.32, 2. Jan Collazo Torres, TRIN 20.38, 3. Matthew Dieffenthaller, BERK 20.64.
100-yard butterfly: 1. Sterling Crane, EP 47.76, 2. Nick Rogers, STJC 49.18, 3. Joshua Balbi, SA 49.65.
100-yard freestyle: 1. Luke Uttley, TRIN 44.87, 2. Matthew Dieffenthaller, BERK 45.02, 3. Jan Collazo Torres, TRIN 45.03.
500-yard freestyle: 1. Caleb Kravitz, SHOR 4:29.27, 2. Brendan Peacock, EVLC 4:29.41, 3. Jace Crawford, EPIS 4:30.00.
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Berkeley 1:23.63, 2. St. Andrew’s 1:24.64, 3. Bolles 1:25.02.
100-yard backstroke: 1. Joshua Zuchowski, KA 49.20, 2. Trevor McGovern, PK 49.56, 3. Joshua Balbi, SA 50.05.
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Paul DeGrado, JB 54.76, 2. Cobi Lopez Miro, JB 55.85, 3. Ryaan Hatoum, BERK 57.16.
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Bolles 3:05.41, 2. Episcopal 3:06.16, 3. St. Andrew’s 3:06.75.
1-meter diving: 1. Kevin Mendez, PC 533.75, 2. Nicholas Carlin, TP 523.80, 3. Denny Gulia-Janovski, PC 498.40.
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com
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