ORLANDO — After 200 yards of slicing through the water, Academy of the Holy Names and Stuart Martin County, the freestyle relay teams in adjacent lanes who were twinned throughout the race, sprinted in a mad dash toward the wall.
The Jaguars’ chances of winning a third straight Class 2A state title in the event came down to two-hundredths of a second. After all that distance, they were going to champion or runnerup by the length of a hand.
The Holy Names foursome of Olivia Kirkpatrick, Konner Brewer, Tori Litschgi and Clare Fleming all had the fastest splits of their careers.
They finished the race in a personal-best 1 minute, 37.50 seconds, improving upon their previous best by 1.6 seconds from last year’s state meet.
But Fleming was out-touched at the wall by Macey Arnold. Martin County won in 1:37.48.
“The girls didn’t like losing that race,” Jaguars coach Bill Shaffer said. “But if we’re going to get beat, you want it to be like that. Every one of those girls swam the fastest they’ve ever swam before.”
The four came back to place fourth in the 400 free relay in a school-record 3:36.82.
“We were a little surprised that we lost the 200 free relay,” Brewer said. “We wondered if we took one less breath if that would have made a difference. We were obviously disappointed with the loss, but we all swam fast. We all know we’ll work really hard to get back on top.”
Besides the 200 and 400 free relays, Holy Names set three other school records: Fleming in the 50 free (24.48) and Shae Timmons in the 200 individual medley (2:10.71) and 100 breast (1:07.30).
Fleming also was sixth in the 100 free (53.03).
Robinson’s John Nolte was third in the 50 free and 100 free, setting personal records in both.
“I can’t really complain,” Nolte said. “Two third-place finishes is great. In the last race (the 100 free) the two guys in each lane beside me were ahead. But I swam fast. At the end, I just closed my eyes, didn’t breathe and went for it.”
Nolte finished by teaming with Ross Brown, Alex Sparks and Connor Brown to finish third in the 200 free relay. Jesuit’s Dart Hutson was fifth in diving and Austin Sellers was seventh in the 100 breast.
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, 42. Strawberry Crest 7
Individuals: Diving: 1 Tillo (Sta) 411.65; 200 medley relay: 1 Chiles 1:46.96 (Williams, Lombardi, Yambor-Maul, Barnard), 6 Holy Names 1:52.77 (Driscoll, Shumake, Kirkpatrick, Cogdill); 200 free: 1 Williams (Chi) 1:47.54; 200 IM: 1 Burns (Col) 2:00.82, 10 Timmons (AHN) 2:10.71, 12 Nuyianes (AHN) 2:12.97; 50 free: 1 Bindi (GB) 23.39, 11 Fleming (AHN) 24.48, 14 Litschgi (AHN) 24.75; 100 fly: 1 Yambor-Maul (Chi) 55.21, 12 Kirkpatrick (AHN) 59.71; 100 free: 1 Bindi (GB) 50.81, 6 Fleming (AHN) 53.03, 14 Litschgi (AHN) 54.45; 500 free: 1 Valley (LR) 4:40.97, 10 Gallastegui (SC) 5:05.10; 200 free relay: 1 Martin County 1:37.48 (Burdge, Murray, Lacusky, Arnold), 2 Holy Names 1:37.50 (Kirkpatrick, Brewer, Litschgi, Fleming); 100 back: 1 Haan (GC) 54.43; 100 breast: 1 Haila (Cre) 1:02.95, 10 Timmons (AHN) 1:07.30, 13 Shumake (AHN) 1:08.51; 400 free relay: 1 Chiles 3:29.71 (Williams, Yambor-Maul, Lombardi, Barnard), 4 Holy Names 3:36.82 (Brewer, Litschgi, Nuyianes, Fleming)
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, 50. King 2
Individuals: Diving: 1 Jackson (Ruth) 447.55, 5 Hutson (Jes) 371.85; 200 medley relay: 1 Mosley 1:36.05 (Whitehead, Duderstadt, Ratliff, Pridgen), 8 Jesuit 1:41.46 (Marston, Sellers, Schaettle, Jennings); 200 free: 1 Ballestas (Bel) 1:38.10; 200 IM: 1 Duderstadt (Mos) 1:50.01, 11 Marston (Jes) 2:00.36; 50 free: 1 Olmsted (Eas) 20.73, 3 Nolte (Rob) 21.15, 13 Jennings (Jes) 22.18, 15 Brown (Rob) 22.41; 100 fly: 1 McCaffrey (Mit) 48.86, 15 Chao (King) 53.77; 100 free: 1 Dressel (CHS) 44.10, 3 Nolte (Rob) 46.40, 15 Jennings (Jes) 49.10; 500 free: 1 Samuelson (FM) 4:25.33; 200 free relay: 1 Belen Jesuit 1:27.24 (Ballestas, Guso, Banciela, Avallone), 3 Robinson 1:29.13 (R. Brown, Sparks, C. Brown, Nolte); 100 back: 1 Dressel (CHS) 50.08; 100 breast: 1 Duderstadt (Mos) 55.08, 7 Sellers (Jes) 59.96; 400 free relay: 1 Belen Jesuit 3:09.69 (PerezCosta, Alvarez, Guso, Ballestas), 9 Robinson 3:16.17 (R. Brown, Sparks, C. Brown, Nolte), 10 Jesuit 3:17.10 (Marston, Shaffer, Parker, Jennings)