Key West, Varela and Braddock High Schools traveled to Founders Park on Sept. 18 for a quad meet with the Coral Shores Hurricanes.
The event was scored using the dual meet style, meaning each team was compared to each of the other teams individually. Braddock’s boys and girls outswam the rest of the competition at the meet. Key West’s boys placed second and Coral Shores’ boys came in third. Coral Shores’ girls came out ahead of Key West and Varela.
Individually, Coral Shores’ Layne Smith won the 500 free. Smith touched the wall a minute and a half before the next finisher, then narrowly missed another first place in the 200 free. Smith came in second, five one-hundredths of a second behind a Braddock swimmer. Abbie Sargent won the 100 breast event and was a close second in the 200 IM race. The Lady ’Canes’ 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams took second. Smith, Sargent and Allegra Fucaraccio swam legs on both teams. Sofia Figueredo participated on the medley team and Larkin Dunn did the same on the freestyle team.
The Hurricane divers put on a show, winning the top three spots in the girls division and top two in boys. Rachel Rusch was first, with Mae Turner and Julia Rusch in second and third, respectively. Aaron Lykins won for the boys with Merrick Dunn in second.
The Lady Conchs’ Hadley Bardoni and Reeghan Davis each claimed a runner-up spot. Bardoni was second in the 500 free and Davis in the 100 free. For the gentlemen, Hugo Blinckmann claimed third-place finishes in the 50 free and 100 breast events.
Key West’s 400 freestyle relay teams both claimed second places. The boys team was composed of Max Blinckmann, Santiago Gonzalez, Jacob Perez and Sebastian Camargo. The girls’ team included Bardoni, Davis, Mary Searcy and Tessa Hughes.
Key West wasted no time before the next competition, diving in two days later at their home pool. The Bucs of South Dade effectively walked the plank when they faced the Conchs on Sept. 21 at the College of the Florida Keys pool. The girls outscored the Bucs 113-48 and the Conch boys won 123-27.
Many Key West athletes won multiple races, with Key West sweeping the top three places in several events. The Conchs won every single relay on Sept. 21, showing their depth as well as their speed. Hugo Blinckmann, Mary Searcy, Santiago Gonzalez, Eli Morris, Hadley Bardoni and Perez won all four events they entered.
Individual race winners for the Lady Conchs included Searcy (200 free and 100 back), Bardoni (200 IM and 500 free), Coblie Turner (100 fly), Aly Camargo (100 free) and Camila Linares (100 breast).
Searcy, Linares, Bardoni and Camargo teamed up to win the 200 medley relay. Tessa Hughes, Molly Martinez, Reeghan Davis and Camargo won the 200 freestyle relay and Bardoni, Searcy, Hughes and Davis won the 400 freestyle relay.
Boys individual winners were Gonzalez (100 and 200 free), Morris (200 IM and 100 back), Hugo Blinckmann (50 free and100 breast), Thomas Horvath (100 fly) and Perez (500 free).
For the relays, Kieran Smith combined forces with Blinckmann, Perez and Morris to win the 200 medley while Perez, Blinckmann, Gonzalez and Johnny Picco cruised to a first place in the 200 freestyle relay. In the final race of the afternoon, Perez, Morris, Gonzalez and Jason Frankel finished the 400 freestyle relay more than 30 seconds ahead of the next team.
Key West is headed to Ocala for the Florida Swimming Pool Association (FSPA) Invitational Sept. 27-28, an event head coach Lori Bosco and her teams look forward to every year. This year’s race could be helpful should any Conchs qualify for the state meet; the FSPA is being held in the same facility where states will occur mid-November.
Photos by DOUG FINGER/Keys Weekly
