They accomplished it in different ways, but the Harmony boys and girls teams repeated as Orange Belt Conference Swimming and Diving Champions at Makinson Aquatic Center Thursday.
Harmony girls (156) outdistanced second place Celebration (126) and third place Gateway (98) to win their fourth consecutive OBC crown and ninth in 10 years. The Harmony boys (179) out-pointed Celebration for their second straight title; St. Cloud (93) was third and Gateway (64) fourth.
Harmony’s girls' superior depth made the difference. The Lady Longhorns didn't win any individual races but won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and picked up four seconds, three thirds, five fourths and two fifth-place finishes to score valuable points and overcome the Storm for the team title.
The one-meter diving event, held Wednesday, provided the Lady Longhorns with a good lead going into the Wednesday swimming program. Meredith Wagner (280.05 points), Haley Burth (252.20), and Kacey Sinagoga (251.4) swept the top three spots to give Harmony a 22-point lead over Celebration heading into Thursday.
“Our team was really cohesive as unit and our depth showed,” Longhorns girls coach T.J. Walters said. “We didn’t win a single individual swimming event but we won two relays and the diving event. Stephanie (Clark) did a great job with both the boys team and the divers and that made a big difference in our team victories tonight.”
In finishing second on the girls side, Celebration led all OBC teams with five individual event wins. Theresa Fortuno (200 free, 500 free) and Sarah Venegas (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke) took double gold; while Tatum Anderson won the breaststroke. Fortuno finished with three titles, teaming with Anderson, Anna DeVault and Sophia Galvao with win the 200 IM relay.
Gateway won three events, including a double by Selma Elfakir (50 and 100 free), and Momo Sutton in the 100 butterfly.
Finishing on top of the podium was the key to the Longhorn boys’ title. Aaron Stephenson (200 IM, 100 breast, 200 and 400 relays) and Hunter Boro (100 free, 100 back, 200 IM relay and 400 free relay) each took home four gold medals to lead Harmony to the 47-point win. Eli Christ won the 200 free and Angel Acevedo took the diving competition. Counting three relay victories, Harmony won nine of the 12 events.
“We had a pretty small boys team in terms of numbers,” Clark said. “The key was almost everyone hit or bettered their times they were shooting for in the meet and that was important factor.”
As with the girls team, the one diving event played a key role in boys win. Acevedo (191.4), Ethan Medley (171.10) and Robert Harris (147.50) went 1-2-3 to give the Harmony boy’s side a 20-point lead heading into Thursday.
Celebration and St. Cloud had the other individual winners in the boys meet. The Storm’s Mahmoud Morsy (100 butterfly) and Quetin Mootz (500 free) were victorious in those events; while St. Cloud’s Silas Corchado win the 50 free.
All-important district meets will be held Oct. 23-28. “Our goal will be to stay together as team and keep improving. It’s going to get a lot tougher at districts and hopefully we’ll be able to push some swimmers through to regionals on both the boys and girls teams,” Walters added.
Final Team Results (Boys): Harmony 179, Celebration 132, St. Cloud 93, Gateway 64, Tohopekaliga 24
Final Team Results (Girls): Harmony 156, Celebration 126, Gateway 98, St. Cloud 66, Tohopekaliga 38, Osceola 11
Girls All-OBC Medalists
200 Medley Relay: Harmony (Sarah Venegas, Tatum Anderson, Anna DeVault, Sophia Galvao) 2:08.50; Gateway (2:17.15), St. Cloud (2:17.67)
200 Free: Theresa Fertuno (St. Cloud) 2:14.95; Kielee Magner (Harmony), Tatum Anderson (Celebration)
200 IM: Sarah Vanegas (Celebration) 2:30.68; Anna DeVault (Celebration); Angelina Ramos (Gateway)
50 Free: Selma Elfakir (Gateway) 26.17; Molly Clark (Harmony), Sophia Galvao (Celebration)
1-Meter Dive: Meredith Wagner (Harmony) 280.5; Haley Kurth (Harmony), Kacey
Sinagoga (Harmony)
100 Butterfly: Momo Sutton (Gateway) 1:12.27; Ryleigh Boro (Harmony), Anna DeVault (Celebration)
100 Free: Selma Elfakir (Gateway) 58.70; Sophia Galvao (Celebration), Molly Clark (Harmony)
500 Free: Theresa Fortuno (St. Cloud) 6:04.98; Kielee Magner (Harmony), Olivia Morris (St. Cloud)
200 Free Relay: Harmony (Molly Clark, Kielee Magner, Hannah Lilley, Brooke Haskett) 1:53.26; Celebration, Tohopekaliga
100 Back: Sarah Venegas (Celebration) 1:07.73; Celine Cruz (Osceola), Nuria Torres (Harmony)
100 Breast: Tatum Anderson (Celebration) 1:23.37; Angelina Ramos (Gateway), Hannah Lilley (Harmony)
400 Free Relay: Harmony (Molly Clark, Kielee Magner, Hannah Lilley, Brooke Haskett) 4:15.40; Gateway, Celebration
Boys All-OBC Medalists
200 Medley Relay: Harmony (Hunter Boro, Evan Christ, Mason Shafer, Ephrain Torres) 1:50:18; Celebration, St. Cloud
200 Free: Eli Christ (Harmony) 1:57.57; Ryan Odom (Celebration), James Ozerovitch (Celebration)
200 IM: Aaron Stephenson (Harmony) 2:07.50; Mahmoud Morsy (Celebration); Rosser Jurgens (St. Cloud)
50 Free: Silas Corchado (St. Cloud) 23.18; Evan Christ (Harmony), Mason Shafer (Harmony)
1-Meter Dive: Angel Acevedo (Harmony) 191.40, 2. Ethan Medley (Harmony), Robert Harris (Harmony)
100 Butterfly: Mahmoud Morsy (Celebration) 57.79; Claudio Gil (Celebration), Mason Shafer (Harmony)
100 Free: Hunter Boro (Harmony) 50.29, Rosser Jurgens (St. Cloud), Samuel Yaw (Celebration)
500 Free: Quentin Mootz (Celebration) 5:25.04; Eli Christ (Harmony), Silas Corchado (St. Cloud)
200 Free Relay: Harmony (Aaron Stephenson, Ephrain Torres, Evan Christ, Eli Christ) 1:35.69; Celebration, St. Cloud
100 Back: Hunter Boro (Harmony) 1:00.15), Tommy Barden (Harmony), Levi Butler (St. Cloud)
100 Breast: Aaron Stephenson (Harmony) 1:04.67; Quentin Mootz (Celebration), Ethan Cruz (Celebration)
400 Free Relay: Harmony (Mason Shafer, Hunter Boro, Eli Christ, Aaron Stephenson) 3:30.05; St. Cloud, Gateway
