West Broward Girls Shine At Class 3A State Meet; St. Thomas Boys Second

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Written by Sharon Robb

Leonie Davies, Amber Hunter and sisters Marcella and Melissa Marinheiro put West Broward High School on the map Thursday night at the FHSAA Class 3A Swimming and Diving Championships at the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando.

The four-year-old Pembroke Pines-based high school finished tenth among the field of 51 girls teams with 83 points, finishing ahead of older, more established teams Boca Raton, Douglas, Nova and St. Thomas Aquinas.

The only other South Florida team among the Top 10 was Miami Palmetto, third with 114 points.

"We are still not very popular on campus, but hopefully this will help," said Davies, making her third state meet appearance. "We are better than the football team."

Said Hunter, a sophomore making her state debut: "I'm hoping West Broward gets known as a swimming school. Hopefully, we made a statement and established ourselves. We are trying to get ourselves out there."

In front of a standing-room-only crowd at the indoor facility, the West Broward swimmers, all members of the South Florida Aquatic Club at the Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines, scored points in both individual and relay events with only four swimmers.

The foursome finished fifth in the 400-yard freestyle in a season-best 3:35.78 (previous best was 3:38.52, No. 3 ranked in the county) to pick up 28 points and added another six points with a 14th place finish in

the 200-yard medley relay in 1:56.00.

Melissa Marinheiro, a freshman making her state debut, finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.98 and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:00.32, slower than her career-best time of 4:57.53 in morning prelims.

"I am happy with my first state meet," Melissa said. "I have been practicing a lot. I am happy with the results. I made "A" finals and got my times. I was hoping I would make finals. The 500 was definitely tough dropping time in the morning and then coming back at night. They definitely went out fast at night. I have to train more to keep up next time.

"I wasn't nervous being at my first state meet, but it was definitely nerve wracking and it was awesome, too. I definitely want to come back to states."

Melissa compared the state meet to the Brazilian Junior Nationals which she will race in two weeks. "I am excited to go back and see my friends," she said. "These are definitely the two biggest meets of my life."

Older sister Marcella Marinheiro, a junior, also making her state meet debut, was eighth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:53.90 and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke in 58.22, a best time. Her previous best was 58.62.

"I am really  happy," Marcella said. "I trained really hard and good results came so I am really happy.

"We did really well as a team and beat St. Thomas. This is the best I have done so I am very happy. Our relay was great. We want to make states next year and do better."

Hunter was thrilled for her teammates.

"It's exciting for me to compete with the other girls," Hunter said. "It was a fun experience. It was great we finished tenth. We only have so many girls to begin with. We weren't really sure what to expect. We set goals for ourselves. We're happy with how each of us did. I am so proud of everybody. We all did really well. We were really pumped up.

"This was really fun for me," Hunter said. "I've never been at this level before. It's a fun experience. I wasn't intimidated, I was more nervous."

Competing at her third state meet, Davies was the most experienced and steadying influence on her team.

"I think it's great we finished tenth," Davies said. "It was such a team effort. I was really happy we all relied on each other. It wasn't really intimidating being here, it was more motivating. It was totally a good nervous. We were hoping to do well. You can do anything you want if you work hard and really want it."

Sarasota Riverview won the girls team championship with 214 points.

St. Thomas Aquinas boys' team finished runner-up in the boys' final standings with 192 points. It was the Raiders' best state finish since 2004 and just four years after the team finished 54th at states. Boca Raton was fourth with 174.

Palm Harbor won its second boys team title in the history of the school with 235 points.

In addition to the Marinheiro sisters, Hunter and Davies, several other SOFLO swimmers did well in championship and consolation finals.

St. Thomas Aquinas junior Brandon Goldman swam two career-best times in morning prelims. He posted a 1:54.40 (previous best 1:57.58) in the 200-yard individual medley and 52.92 (previous best 53.14) in the 100-yard backstroke. In championship finals he was seventh in the 200-yard IM in 1:55.28 and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke in 53.11.

St. Thomas Aquinas, with Goldman swimming leadoff, was third in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:37.74. Goldman touched second on his backstroke leg in 24.44.

Emma Lincoln of Cypress Bay won the consolation 200-yard freestyle two seconds faster than her morning prelim time in 1:52.72. Lincoln was also sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 52.20.

Taravella junior Keegan Boisson-Yates was second in the consolation 50-yard freestyle in a best time 21.56 (22.04 previous best).  He was seventh in the 100-yard freestyle in another best time of 46.59 (47.26 previous best).

Mauricio Hidalgo of Douglas was seventh in the 100-yard butterfly in 53.39, a best time (53.85 previous best).

The competition continues Friday with the Class 1A meet, historically the fastest competition in meet history. Defending champion Jacksonville Bolles is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as team champions.

SOFLO will have seven swimmers in the field including Pine Crest freshman Tyla Martin, making her state meet debut; University of Florida-bound Luke Torres of American Heritage; Lindsey Sauer of South Florida Heat; Marco Hosfeld of University School; and Steph Campo, Jenna Diamond and Natasha Payamps of Coral Springs Charter.

It will also mark the final state meet appearances of California-bound Lauren Driscoll and Florida-bound Lindsey McKnight.

The state meet final is being webcast live on FHSAAsports.com and live results can be found on fhsaa.org.

GIRLS TEAM TOTALS

1.Sarasota Riverview 214, 2. Palm Harbor 145.5, 3. Miami Palmetto 114, 4. Tampa Plant 111, 5. Spruce Creek 106, 6. Countryside 103, 7. Buchholz  101, 8. Dr. Phillips 93, 9. Olympia 84, 10. West Broward 83, 11. Jupiter and St. Thomas Aquinas 78, 13. Oviedo 76, 14. Newsome 68, 15. Lake Brantley 66, 16. Tampa Wharton 64, 17. East Lake and Boca Raton 63, 19. St. Petersburg 41, 20. Seminole 39.5, 21. Hagerty 39, 22. Orlando Boone 33, 23. Reagan, Sarasota and Lyman 30, 26. Northeast 27, 27. Coral Reef 24.5, 28. East Ridge and Fleming Island 24, 30. Winter Park and Cypress Bay 23, 32. Winter Springs 20, 33. Seminole 19, 34. Nova 18, 35. Wiregrass 17, 36. Wellington 15, 37. John I. Leonard and Viera 13, 39. Douglas , West Orange and Plant City 11, 42. East Bay 8, 43. Deerfield Beach 7, 44. Palm Beach Central 6, 45. South Plantation 5.5, 46. Hialeah Gardens 5, 47. Lake Howell and Ferguson 4, 49. Atlantic Coast 3, 50. Miami Beach 2, 51. Park Vista 1.

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200-yard medley relay: 1. Lake Brantley 1:48.58 (Brittany Lacroix, Breanna Nguyen, Michelle Pope, Chloe Soler), 2. Miami Palmetto 1:48.71, 3. Jupiter 1:48.84; SOFLO: 10. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ashley Monaghan, Marie Borrelli, Mikaela Michalowitz, Sophia Oliva), 12.  Douglas 1:55.10 (Emily Greenwood, Selina Voelkel, Kristina Nork, Anne Kuczynski), 14. West Broward 1:56.00 (Marcella Marinheiro, Melissa Marinheiro, Amber Hunter, Leonie Davies).

200-yard freestyle: 1. Taylor Katz, Riverview 1:47.24, 2. Michelle Turek, Palm Harbor 1:48.11, 3. Kendal Casey, Spruce Creek 1:48.46; SOFLO: 6. Melissa Marinheiro, West Broward 1:52.98, 8. Marcella Marinheiro, West Broward 1:53.90, 9. Emma Lincoln, Cypress Bay 1:52.72.

200-yard individual medley: 1. Ashlee Linn, Riverview 1:58.80, 2. Sydney Pickrem, East Lake 2:00.55, 3. Chelsea Britt, Boone 2:01.09; SOFLO: 16. Anne Kuczynski, Douglas 2:12.96, 17. Mia Fiorenzi, St. Thomas Aquinas 2:13.95.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Riki Bonnema, Olympia 23.18, 2. Hope Bruens, Boca Raton 23.26, 3. Lauren Hall, Countryside 23.88; SOFLO: 23. Kristina Brennan, St. Thomas Aquinas 25.23.

100-yard butterfly:  1. Angela Algee, Dr. Phillips 54.77, 2. Kayla Moran, Lyman 55.04, 3. Kaitlin Pickens, Seminoles 55.68; SOFLO: SOFLO: 12. Maria Lopez, HG 58.74.

100-yard freestyle: 1. Harper Bruens, Boca Raton 50.39, 2. Michelle Turek, Palm Harbor 51.06, 3. Daniele Johnson, Miami Palmetto 51.07; SOFLO: 6. Emma Lincoln, Cypress Bay 52.20, 19. Anne Kuczynski, DOUG 54.81, 22. Kristina Brennan, STA 55.65.

500-yard freestyle: 1. Taylor Katz, Riverview 4:47.22, 2. Kendal Casey, Spruce Creek 4:51.19, 3. Cameron Davis, Sarasota 4:52.46; SOFLO: 6. Melissa Marinheiro, West Broward 5:00.32.

200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Sarasota Riverview, 2. Oviedo, 3. Palm Harbor; SOFLO: 11. St. Thomas Aquinas (Kristina Brennan, Mia Fiorenzi, Carolina Vargas, Sophia Oliva).

100-yard backstroke: 1. Ashlee Linn, Riverview 53.95, 2. Chelsea Britt, Boone 54.88, 3. Jessica Piper, St. Petersburg 56.72; SOFLO:  7. Marcella Marinheiro, WB 58.22, 19. Emily Greenwood, DOUG 59.99, 24. Maria Lopez, HG 1:02.88.

100-yard breaststroke: 1. Sydney Pickrem, East Lake 1:02.91, 2. McKenna Harris, Spruce Creek 1:04.88, 3. Daniele Johnson, Miami Paletto 1:05.35; SOFLO: 18. Mia Fiorenzi, STA 1:10.11, 21. Ashley Monaghan, STA 1:10.26, 23. Kelly Kealty, TAR 1:13.10.

400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Riverview 3:29.25 (Ashlee Linn, Nancy Hu, Lexy Raybon, Taylor Katz), 2. Palm Harbor 3:34.11, 3. Spruce Creek 3:34.88; SOFLO: 5. West Broward 3:35.78 (Marcella Marinheiro, Amber Hunter, Melissa Marinheiro, Leonie Davies) 3:35.78; 10. St. Thomas Aquinas 3:39.39 (Kristina Brennan, Mia Fiorenzi, Mikaela Michalowitz, Sophia Oliva).

1-meter springboard diving: 1. Shannon Potter, Winter Springs 460.45, 2. Carly Alexander, STA 443.10, 3. Alexis Gonzales, East Lake 432.90; Other locals: 5. Amanda Habig, St. Thomas Aquinas 431.10. 10. Julia Hackett, St. Thomas Aquinas 390.15, 19. Nerissa Scott, St. Thomas Aquinas 237.75, 20. Jennifer Huchler, Cypress Bay 230.90.

BOYS TEAM TOTALS

1.Palm Harbor 235, 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 192, 3. Winter Park 181, 4. Boca Raton 174, 5. Riverview 117, 6. Countryside 108, 7. Miami Palmetto 85, 8. Dr. Phillips 79, 9. Seminole 71, 10. Clearwater 66, 11. Cypress Bay and Olympia 57, 13. Timber Creek 54, 14. Jupiter 52, 15. Hagerty 43, 16. Tampa Plant 42, 17. Seminole 41, 18. East Lake 40, 19. Lake Brantley 39, 20. Northeast 38, 21. Venice and Oviedo 37, 23. East Ridge and Bloomingdale 35, 25. Fort Pierce Central and Mandarin 29, 27. Fleming Island 28, 28. Spruce Creek and Dr. Krop 24, 30. Coral Glades and Miami Sunset 23, 32. Miami Columbus 22, 33. Sarasota 21, 34. South Broward and Taravella 20, 36. Vero Beach 19, 37. Fletcher 16, 38. Coral Gables 15, 39. Freedom 13, 40. Ferguson and Dwyer 12, 42. Wharton 10, 43. Charlotte and Reagan 9, 45. Spanish River 6, 46. George Steinbrenner 5, 47. First Coast and Newsome 4, 49. George Jenkins, University High and Douglas 2, 54. Wellington 1.       

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200-yard medley relay: 1. Palm Harbor 1:33.70 (Ryan McRae, David Morgan, Zach Perrotti, Jason Williams), 2. Boca Raton 1:36.90, 3. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:37.74 (Brandon Goldman, Josh Asseraf, Alex Lilley, RJ Moore).

200-yard freestyle: 1. Nick Alexiou, Clearwater 1:36.27, 2. Steyn Funk, Olympia 1:39.56, 3. Derek Pridemore, Venice 1:41.43.

200-yard individual medley: 1. Justin Kaisrlik, East Ridge 1:49.60, 2. Zackary Metka, Seminole 1:50.54, 3. David Morgan, Palm Harbor 1:50.86; SOFLO: 7. Brandon Goldman, St. Thomas Aquinas 1:55.28.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Jason McCormick, Boca Raton 20.82, 2. Avery Warrington, Winter Park 20.85, 3. Jason Williams, Palm Harbor 20.87; SOFLO:  10. Keegan Boisson-Yates, Taravella 21.56.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Jacob Kingsford, Winter Park 50.74, 2. Alex Lilley, STA 50.95, 3. Cole Hensley, Oviedo 50.96; SOFLO: 15. Mauricio Hidalgo, Douglas 53.39.

100-yard freestyle: 1. Steyn Funk, Olympia 45.34, 2. Avery Warrington, Winter Parl 45.35, 3. Jason Williams, Palm Harbor 45.94; SOFLO: 7. Keegan Boisson-Yates, TAR 46.59.

500-yard freestyle: 1. Nick Alexiou, Clearwater 4:24.30, 2. Alexander Katz, Riverview 4:26.59, 3. Derek Pridemore, Venice 4:28.31.

200-yard freestyle relay:  1. Winter Park 1:24.50 (Jacob Kingsford, Ory Tasman, Jeandre Pretorius, Avery Warrington), 2. Boca Raton 1:25.40, 3. Palm Harbor 1:26.03.

100-yard backstroke: 1. Georgi Krastev, Northeast 50.82, 2. Costa de Assis, Fort Pierce Central 51.26, 3. Joshua Oathout, Lake Brantley 51.76; SOFLO: 7. Brandon Goldman, St. Thomas Aquinas 53.11.

100-yard breaststroke: 1. Jason Coombs, Hagerty 54.89, 2. David Morgan, Palm Harbor 56.45, 3. Zackary Metka, Seminole 56.96; SOFLO: 16. Alex Evdokimov, TAR 1:00.47.

400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Winter Park 3:05.35 (Jacob Kingsford, Ory Tasman, Jeandre Pretorius, Avery Warrington), 2. Boca Raton 3:09.08, 3. Countryside 3:09.99.

1-meter springboard diving: 1. Joey Dowd, OLY 496.30, 2. Diego Arostegui, CGL 464.10, 3. Ryan McIntire, FLET 450.10; Other locals: 10. John Harrington, STA 383.80, 11. Joe Subrey, CGL 381.55, 21. Andrew Barker, DOUG 144.05.

Sharon Robb can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.