Sarina Steele and Eli Christ each won three gold medals as the Harmony Longhorns won both the boys and girls Orange Belt Conference swimming championships at Makinson Aquatic Center in Kissimmee Thursday.
Steele doubled in the 50 (25.46 seconds) and 100 freestyle (56.35) and also swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay team. She also swam anchor on the second place 200 free relay to have a hand in 50 of Harmony’s winning 155 points.
Celebration (117) was second; followed by Gateway (113), St. Cloud (64), Tohopekaliga (41) and Osceola (61).
The Longhorns continued their long domination of the women’s OBC championship and have now won nine of the last 11 team titles and their 14th overall.
On Wednesday, the 1-meter diving portion of the championship was held and led by Meredith Wagner’s school-record first-place total (284.90), the Longhorns saw Kacey Singagoga (226.75), Avery Ferreira (161.26) and Glory Shorette (154.05) all place in the top five. That gave Harmony a 25-3 lead over Celebration before the swimming portion of the event even began.
Steele and Wagner were the only two individual winners for Harmony on the girls’ side but the Lady Longhorns won relay titles in the 200-medley and placed in the top three in eight of 12 events.
Other gold medalists in the girls’ competition were St. Cloud’s Theresa Fortuno in the 200 free (2:16.59) and 500 free (5:53.70), Gateway’s Maryam Elfakir in the 200 IM (2:28.63), and Osceola’s Abigail Maniace in the 100 fly (1:04.24).
Although Eli Christ put on a show in winning the 200 free (2:02.14), 100 free (55.09) and swimming a leg on the winning 400 free relay on the boys side, it was the Harmony’s divers that allowed the Longhorns (153.50 team points) to unseat three-time defending champion Celebration (146.50). St. Cloud (63) was third; followed by Gateway (59), Osceola (55) and Tohopekaliga (6).
Led by Nick Vishudanaud’s first place total of 234.15, the Longhorns swept the podium in 1-meter dive event and that gave Harmony a 22-0 lead over Celebration heading into Thursday’s swimming events. In addition to Christ and Vishudanaud, the Longhorns won the 200 IM Relay with Hunter Boro, Evan Christ, Aaron Stephenson, and Carter Nicholson (1:54.27) and the 100 breast with Stephenson (1:07.42). Harmony’s victory was also due in part to its dominating efforts in the 100 free, where the Longhorns took the top four spots and scored 27 of a possible 37 points. Overall the Longhorns found themselves on the podium in nine of 12 events.
Other OBC champions on the boys side included Osceola’s Luis Garale in the 200 IM (2:23.77); St. Cloud’s Silas Corchado in the 500 free (5:36.50), and Celebration’s 200 free relay team of Igor Lunegov, Noah Fermin, Ethan Cruz and Adrian DaSilva (1:46.18). Osceola’s Rosser Jurgens was a double gold medalist taking both the 100 fly (59.56) and 100 breast (1:01.99).
“The athletes on both teams came together and did what needed to be done,” Harmony coach Lee Stephenson said. “We had a little adversity in the middle of the meet and we just came together and did what we had to do. Our next goal is just getting ready for districts, it will be difficult and we haven’t won a district championship in a while but this team will give it’s all and compete.”
Of the 26 total events, the Harmony divers provided 47 team points in the two, 1-meter events—accounting for almost 23 percent of the Longhorns’ 308.5 combined points.
“No question our divers were able to provide a big team boost,” Harmony diving coach Stephanie Clark said. “But the main thing is that we are an overall team. Many of our swimmers were here last night supporting our divers and our divers were here today cheering on the swimmers.”
Despite losing a lot of talent including state champion Felipe Costa to graduation, Celebration’s Kelly Walton said she was proud of both her team’s runner-up finishes. “We had a lot of kids come out and swim their season or personal bests today. I’m so proud of how far this team has come this year. Hurricane Ian disrupted our schedule a little as far preparation for this meet, but we will continue to work hard and get ready for districts.”
