Harmony’s boys, OHS girls defend conference crowns

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Harmony’s boys have dominated Osceola County swimming by winning six consecutive Orange Belt Conference championships along with five district crowns over the past eight years.
Osceola’s girls have won the past two OBC swimming titles in close decisions over Harmony, but the Lady Longhorns won their first district title last season.
Osceola
Coach Krystle Singleton said it is always difficult to defend an OBC championship, and it is even more difficult after many of those talented swimmers graduated.
“Isn’t that always the case? That’s the way we like it!” she said. “It is definitely a rebuilding year, but we’ve got some strong newcomers on the girls and boys side, and some hard workers to boot.”
Junior Kendall Castillow, the defending OBC 200 IM champ, returns for the Lady Kowboys along with seniors Logan Spurlock, Caitlyn Phelps and Morgan Harris.
Juniors Meg Clancy, Emily Newsome and Rose Donaldson will play key roles, Singleton said, along with freshman Alison Leary.
Where Osceola may gain an edge is in diving, where state qualifier Jordan Parrish, a junior, returns, although she has missed practice recently because of an illness.
“We have a ton of other girls who are looking to step up and make an impact as well,” the coach said.
The boys team also will benefit from having talented divers. Josue Herrera, an AAU nationally-ranked novice, returns after reaching the regionals last year with scant experience.
Seniors Casey Raines and George Gutierrez  join juniors Armando Marino and Elmer Figueroa to lead the Kowboys.
Sophomore Dylan Newsome and freshman Joshua Cancel should provide some depth, Singleton said.
“I’ve had a huge influx of boys and expect them to surprise some people along the way,” Singleton said.
Assistant Coach Steve Lacy returns, and former county swimmers Kristen Miller and Janien Koch also are on the coaching staff.
Ron Minor and Jane Adams are the dive coaches.
Harmony
Coach Terry Brown returns to the Longhorns boys team, but long-time girls coach Lori O’Rourke is working as a volunteer this season. Former St. Cloud High standout T.J. Walters is coaching the Lady Longhorns.
Brown said over half of last year’s dominating Longhorn team graduated. Like Osceola’s Singleton, he said must find new talent.
“It’s a rebuilding year. We do, on the other hand, have a strong nucleus returning. We also have a promising group of new guys that we are very excited to work with,” Brown said.
Regional qualifiers Sam Steele, John Roberts, Luke Roberts, Josh Saute, Peter Swafford and Michael Driscoll all return.
“We hope to be competitive at districts,” Brown said.
Walters is looking forward to his first season as the Lady Longhorns head coach. He also is filling holes in the wake of graduations.
“The majority of the girls team graduated last year. We are excited about the swimmers we have returning. We have a hard working group of girls who are eager to see how they stack up against the rest of the teams in the county,” he said.
Fortunately, last season’s swimmer of the year, junior Katy Davis, is back, along with Lindsey Saute, Kylie Joachim and Jasie Howard.
St. Cloud
Coaches Theresa Creagan and Ethan Rhors take over the Bulldogs program this season.
“We have been very fortunate with the turnout of new swimmers and divers to go along with the veteran swimmers and divers,” Creagan said. “It is this combination of new and old that we look to have a successful season. Everyone is working hard and encouraging each other as they develop their talents in the water.”
The boys roster includes seniors Nicholas Persico, Sam Shipley, Alex Laso Lorenzo, Derek Sanzone, Giancarlo Diaz and Matt Sullivan. Juniors Toryn McKenzie, Devon Willoughby, Lawrence Kime and Dakota Voltolina and sophomores Kevin Rivera, Nick Scavone, Joe Rago and Sebastian Graham also will compete.
The Lady Bulldogs roster includes seniors Ashley Owens, Allison Harper, Abby Schneider, Tiffany Baker, Kirin Turley, Crystal Sanchez, Lyndsie Watkins and Mallory Armstrong.
The juniors are Daniela Rincon, Rya Chabot, Madison Clayton, Kadeisha McCowen, Laure Celis, Alexandra Weston and Kristina Wallace. Sophomores are Lauren Merrell, Marisa Leaton, Carolyn Klar, Jackie Hurley, Katherine Heath, Leeah Schroeder, Haley Weber, Cathy Nguyen, Amanda Martinez and Monica Ederton.
Gateway
Panthers Coach Vonnie Kochensparger said her boys and girls teams have grown in numbers for the 2012 season, but they must replace standouts like Melissa Morgan, who graduated.
“It is definitely a building year with all of our new kids and the loss of last year’s seniors,” she said.
The Lady Panthers will build around seniors Ali Klar (200 and 500 free) and Emilie Exilus (50 and 100 free) and sophomore Emma Byerly (200 and 500 free).
Freshmen Seshani Thirunayagam (breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley) and Daniela Capobianco (fly, IM) are promising newcomers, Kochensparger, beginning her 17th season as the Panthers head coach, said.
The boys team welcomes back Robert Billingslea (freestyle), Nathan Colonna (free, breaststroke), Ryan Grovier (all around), Noah Hendricks (breaststroke and freestyle) and Josh Longfield (backstroke and freestyle).
Walker Brooks (IM, butterfly) and Nico Olarte (fly, free) are among the top newcomers, said the coach.
The boys medley relay broke the school record (1:54.25) against Poinciana last week. Longfield, Brooks, Olarte and Colonna swam.
Gateway swept first place in all events at the Poinciana meet.
Grovier, Luis Nodarse, Tate Fox and Santos Nunez won the 200 free relay and Colonna, Olarte, Longfield and Brooks took the 400 free relay.
Fox (200 free), Brooks (200 IM,100 breast), Olarte (fly), Ivan Cavin (50 free, 100 free), Colonna (500 free) and Longfield (back) all won individual events.
For the girls, Exilus, Capobianco, Thirunayagam and Ocana won the medley relay. Sasha Khiabani, Byerly, Cara Grimme and Starr Vega won the 200 free relay, and Thirunayagam, Khiabani, Ocana and Capobianco won the 400 relay.
Khiabani (200 free), Thirunayagam (200 IM, 100 fly), Ocana (50 free, 500 free), Exilus (100 free, 100 back) and Capobianco (100 breast) won individual races.
Celebration
Coach Kelly George returns for the Storm, who compete in 2A District 7.
The boys team includes seniors Jay Summerville, Luis Ballen and Dominic Williamson, juniors Jeffrey Jarzombek, Andrew Rush, William Marcantel, Brandon Serrano-Malave and Jackson Bruner, sophomores Afredo Parodi and Ryan Lammers and freshmen Hugo LeHelley, Anthony Muniz, Justin Corinealdi and Juan Pons.
Poinciana
Coaches Ken Gibbs and Mike Carroll take over the PHS program. Richard Cardona placed second in the 50 free at Gateway.