JACKSONVILLE – Fleming Island High senior freestyler Jack Neeley displayed some early post-season flash with a district title win in the 50 freestyle at the district 1-4A championship meet held Friday at Cecil Field Aquatic Center, but junior teammate Andrew Heinton proved nearly as lethal by crashing in just .18 seconds behind Neeley’s winning 22.21 split.

Region 1-4A championships
Wed., Nov 1 at O’Connell Center in Gainesville Class 4A championships Fri., Nov. 10 in Stuart
In the region rankings, in the 50, Neeley is fifth (22.21) with Heinton eighth (22.39) with Seminole senior Ryan Ackerson tops with a 21.65.
“Those two guys will be battling throughout the region and at state for a podium spot,” said Fleming Island coach Jordan Bright, who looks to top his second place Class 4A finish last year with one graduated star; John Hutton, being spelled early by newcoming Jacob Thompson, who took Hutton’s leadoff spot and joined Heinton, Neeley and Nick Hackett in crunching Mandarin in that gold medal defending 200 free relay event. Fleming Island posted a winning 1:28.95 split to oust Mandarin’s 1:30.54 as the runnerup.
In the region, Seminole posted a top time of 1:28.33 for their 200 freestyle relay.
Heinton returned to the pool to take second in the 100 free at 49.17, just .07 off the top mark set by Luke Dingfield of Mandarin.
In the region, Heinton is eighth ranked with Neeley at 14th with a 50.16 split.
Hackett, the defending state champion in the 200 free and the 100 butterfly, came in second in both with Julian Hill of Buchholz winning the 200 in 1:42.21 with
Hackett at 1:42.29 and having to battle back on the last leg to close an early gap opened by Hill. Hill later won the 500 free. The pair is ranked first and second for the upcoming region championships.
“Nick has two weeks to get to his 1:38 split,” said Bright. “This is not the meet to peak at.”
In the 100 butterfly, Hackett was nearly one second off the mark to Buchholz’s Mason Wilby who won in 49.53 to Hackett’s 50.84. Thompson was third behind Hackett in 53.76. Wilby and Hackett are ranked 1-2 in the region with Thompson seventh and junior Conner Flagg’s 56.05 at 13th.
In the 100 backstroke, freshman Dominic Miller put his name in the hopper as a threat for a state medal with a third place finish at 57.08 with Wilby winning in 52.66.
Fleming Island’s relay quartet also finished second in the 400 free relay behind Buchholz.
In the boys team scores, Buchholz scored 394 points to beat Mandarin’s 355. Fletcher fought to third with 353.50 with Fleming Island fourth at 308.
For the girls, Buchholz, Mandarin and Fletcher also went 1-2-3 with Buchholz a dominant 506 points over Mandarin’s 375. Fleming Island was fifth with 260.
Fleming Island senior Corrina Laird finished fifth in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free with freshman Emma Grimm taking seventh in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 100 breaststroke, freshman Sarah Grimm taking sixth in the 100 backstroke and senior Annika Dasher placing fifth in the 500 freestyle.


District 3-3A/Region 1-3A

Oakleaf swim sprinters head to regions

JACKSONVILLE - Oakleaf High swimming moved to Class 3A this year and got away from competing with the likes of Fleming Island and Seminole High, but the competition in Class 3A, mainly districtr 3-3A and eventually region 1-3A proved to be even stiffer with the Knights getting region placement from four athletes after districts last week at Cecil Field Aquatic Center.

Region 1-3A hosted by Tallahassee Chiles High School Wed., Nov. 1 (10 a.m.) at Morcom Aquatic Center
Class 3A championships Sat., Nov. 11 in Stuart.

Freshman Ethan Schroeder, sophomore Kelsie Craig, and freshman Lauren Galloway all made the region rosters in two events apiece while diver Trinity Kaviani, a freshman, made the cut in her event.
Craig returns to regions with a 20th-ranked 2:23.33 split in the 200 individual medley and an 11th-ranked 1:11.48 in the 100 breaststroke. Craig finished 12th at districts in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
Galloway got two nods to regions with a 20th-ranked 26.86 split in the 50 free and a 17th-ranked time of 58.25 in the 100 free. Galloway was 12th at districts in the 100 free and also the 50 free.
Schroeder, fifth at districts in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free, also will compete in both sprints with a 14th-ranked 100 free time of 51.91 and a ninth-ranked time of 23.31 in the 50 free.
Kaviani, fourth at districts in diving, ranked ninth in the region with her total of 341.20.
Middleburg senior Curtis Allen, a 100 free sprinter, made the final region spot at 25th with a 53.92 time.

Region 1-2A/Class 2A state championships

OPHS Coutant, CHS Stotler top seeds for 2A swim medals

PANAMA CITY BEACH - Clay High freshman Sara Stotler and Orange Park High junior Jacob Coutant got top finishes at the region 1-2A swim championships last week and have put themselves as top draws for medals at the upcoming Class 2A state championships to be held in Stuart on Fri., Nov. 3 at the Sailfish Splashpark.
Stotler, the region champion in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, will be one of the top three ranked swimmers at the Class 2A meet with less than a second separating Stotler from the top time in both events.
In the 200 free, Stotler won in 1:51.15 at regions with the top state time at 1:50.13. In the 100 butterfly, Stotler won the region title in 55.96 over Wolfson senior Hannah Sykes with Stotler topping Sykes at the districts as well. Top time in that event is 54.47 from junior Emily Cordovi of Gulliver Prep.
Stotler’s sister, Anna, a junior, also will travel to the Class 2A championships with a fourth at region in the 100 free in 55.52 and a 12th at region in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.02. Stotler’s times get her a 17th ranking at state with the top time at 51.69 and a 23rd rank in the backstroke.
Clay freshman breaststroker Elysia Addison also heads to state with her seventh at regions time of 1:10.29. The top state time is 1:06.95 from Cali Wilson of Gulf Breeze.
Clay is also sending two relay squads to the state meet; the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay.
Coutant returns to the state meet in his two events after finishing third at regions in the 200 free in 1:46.51 behind region champion Christian Oja of Choctowhatchee’s 1:43.90. Coutant is ranked 11th for the state meet with Oja third and the top time at 1:42.79.
Coutant also will compete in the 100 butterfly with a sixth at region split of 52.40 behind region champion Tyler Watson of Paxon’s 51.27. Top time for state is Gulliver Prep senior Trahem Gribble at 50.15.
Also from Orange Park, sophomore Daniel Hinkle will swim the 500 free at state after his fourth at regions in 5:07.27. Hinkle will be ranked 23rd for state with the top time at 4:35.46 from junior Brendan Driscoll of Tampa Jesuit.


Region 1-1A/Class 1A

SJCDS Rogers lone swimmer to state vs. Bolles

JACKSONVILLE - St. Johns Country Day School sophomore Nick Rogers placed fourth in the 100 butterfly at the region 1-1A championships held Thursday at Bolles and earned a start at the Class 1A swimming championships set for Sat., Nov. 4 in Stuart.
Rogers, fourth at regions in 51.83 seconds, is ranked 10th for the state meet. Top time for the 100 butterfly is Bolles’ swimmer Ariel Spektor with a 49.79, an All-American C split time. Three of the top times ranked for the state come from region 1-1A with Spektor the top time, Episcopal’s Cole Crane second at regions ranked third and Bolles Jake Adcock third at regions ranked sixth at state.
Rogers also advanced in the 100 breaststroke with an eighth place finish at regions in 1:01.99 earning him a 23rd ranking for the state meet.