ORLANDO — Mitchell’s Devin McCaffrey knew it would be easy to flourish at the Class 2A state meet.
After all, he had won three gold medals in his career, including two last season. There was no one to push McCaffrey at the county and region levels. So it was only natural for people to skip the formalities and tab McCaffrey the favorite to win Thursday again in his signature events, the 100-yard butterfly and 100 breaststroke.
In the 100 fly, McCaffrey did not disappoint. He glided through the water like a sleek surfboard, leaving competitors in his wake. McCaffrey won his second straight title in the event in a personal-best 48.86, easily beating Gainesville Eastside’s Wesley Olmsted, who was runnerup in 49.07.
But in the 100 breast, McCaffrey found himself in an unfamiliar position: an underdog in the event he has dominated at the Central Florida YMCA the past two years. McCaffrey entered the race seeded second and was tied with Tallahassee Mosley’s Michael Duderstadt in the preliminaries.
In the final, Duderstadt found another gear and won in 55.08 seconds to beat McCaffrey, who finished second in a personal-best 56.08.
“I obviously wanted to win,” McCaffrey said. “But I’m happy with what I did. I was able to swim in two fast races.”
Time, the medium in which all swimmers succeed or fail, was especially precious to McCaffrey. And he accomplished what we wanted with automatic All-American times and personal bests in both events.
“That’s the biggest thing, to swim my fastest at the end,” McCaffrey said. “I’m also proud of going 8-for-8 in getting to the podium throughout my career at state.”
McCaffrey teamed with Kevin Smith, Jacob Williams and David Smith to finish fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1:39.46.
Land O’Lakes’ Cameron Hilgenberg was fifth in the 50 free (21.42) and eighth in the 100 breast (1:00.54). Teammate Jordan Wheeler was fifth in the 100 fly (51.20) and seventh in the 200 individual medley (1:58.26).
Mitchell had two girls with third-place finishes, Amanda Maser in diving (394.55 points) and Taylor Anderson in the 50 free (24.01). Land O’Lakes’ 200 free relay team of Connor McKay, Mackenzie Koth, Andrea Mapugay and Krystin Demsher finished seventh in 1:42.78.
At YMCA Aquatic Center, Orlando
Girls
Teams: 1. Chiles 304.5, 2. Suncoast 161, 3. Martin County 151, 4. Holy Names 142.5, 5. Gulf Coast 140, 6. Ponte Vedra 88, 7. Washington 87, 8. Osceola 82, 24. Mitchell 36, 26. Land O’Lakes 33, 28. Lakewood 24, 42. Strawberry Crest 7, 45. Dunedin 3
Individuals: Diving: 1 Tillo (Sta) 411.65, 3 Maser (Mit) 394.55; 200 medley relay: 1 Chiles 1:46.96 (Williams, Lombardi, Yambor-Maul, Barnard); 200 free: 1 Williams (Chi) 1:47.54; 200 IM: 1 Burns (Col) 2:00.82, 14 Williams (LOL) 2:13.34; 50 free: 1 Bindi (GB) 23.39, 3 Anderson (Mit) 24.01; 100 fly: 1 Yambor-Maul (Chi) 55.21; 100 free: 1 Bindi (GB) 50.81, 13 Anderson (Mit) 53.95; 500 free: 1 Valley (LR) 4:40.97; 200 free relay: 1 Martin County 1:37.48 (Burdge, Murray, Lacusky, Arnold), 7 Land O’Lakes 1:42.78 (McKay, Koth, Mapugay, Demsher); 100 back: 1 Haan (GC) 54.43; 100 breast: 1 Haila (Cre) 1:02.95; 400 free relay: 1 Chiles 3:29.71 (Williams, Yambor-Maul, Lombardi, Barnard), 14 Land O’Lakes 3:49.84 (Demsher, Koth, McKay, Williams)
Boys
Teams: 1. Belen Jesuit 221, 2. Mosley 151, 3. Gainesville 145, 4. Barron Collier 113, 5. Fort Myers 102, 6. Lakewood Ranch 88, 7. Robinson 84, 8. Fort Lauderdale 82, 12. Jesuit 73.5, 13. Mitchell 69,13. Land O’Lakes 69, 20. Lakewood 47, 33. Osceola 20, 46. Wesley Chapel 4, 50. King 2
Individuals: Diving: 1 Jackson (Ruth) 447.55; 200 medley relay: 1 Mosley 1:36.05 (Whitehead, Duderstadt, Ratliff, Pridgen), 4 Mitchell 1:39.46 (K. Smith, McCaffrey, Williams, D. Smith), 9 Land O’Lakes 1:41.63 (Wheeler, Hilgenberg, Adams, Pawlak); 200 free: 1 Ballestas (Bel) 1:38.10; 200 IM: 1 Duderstadt (Mos) 1:50.01, 7 Wheeler (LOL) 1:58.26; 50 free: 1 Olmsted (Eas) 20.73, 5 Hilgenberg (LOL) 21.42; 100 fly: 1 McCaffrey (Mit) 48.86, 5 Wheeler (LOL) 51.20; 100 free: 1 Dressel (CHS) 44.10; 500 free: 1 Samuelson (FM) 4:25.33, 5 Bryant (Osc) 4:32.80; 200 free relay: 1 Belen Jesuit 1:27.24 (Ballestas, Guso, Banciela, Avallone); 100 back: 1 Dressel (CHS) 50.08, 15 Smith (Mit) 54.83; 100 breast: 1 Duderstadt (Mos) 55.08, 2 McCaffrey (Mit) 56.08, 8 Hilgenberg (LOL) 1:00.54, 13 Zeleznock (WC) 1:01.59; 400 free relay: 1 Belen Jesuit 3:09.69 (PerezCosta, Alvarez, Guso, Ballestas)