Key West hosted its final regular season meet on Oct. 14. Doral Academy made the trip to the College of the Florida Keys pool to give the Conchs some fierce competition. The Conchs outswam the Firebirds in both the boys and girls divisions, and Key West piled on numerous first-place finishes and personal bests, proving they are peaking right on time for districts.
Key West’s girls swept the relay events. Katelyn Noss, Taylor Gibson, Gracie Lechnar and Aly Camargo teamed up for the top spot in the 200 medley relay, with Noss, Lechnar, Camargo and Reeghan Davis joining forces to win the 200 free relay. Davis then joined Gianna Felini, Megan Fedor and Hadley Badoni to win the 400 free relay.
Lechnar went on to win the individual 200 free and 100 butterfly races. Bardoni won two individual races of her own, the 200 IM and 500 free. Camargo took first in the 100 free, Noss won the 100 back, and Gibson placed first in the 100 breaststroke event.
The boys fared well with a relay sweep, starting with Eli Morris, Anthony Korzen, Charlie Doerfel and AJ Smith in the 200 medley relay. Korzen then teamed up with Santiago Gonzalez, Westley Ellerbee and Jeffrey Hoyt to win the 200 free relay. In the 400 free relay, Hoyt, Ellerbee, Smith and Hugo Blinckmann finished first.
In individual action, Korzen picked up his third first-place of the meet in the 100 breaststroke event. Gonzalez won the 200 free, Doerfel won the 100 butterfly and Ellerbee won the 100 free event. New school record holder AJ Smith tried his luck at a different event, winning the 100 backstroke.
Multiple athletes logged personal best times in the races. Bardoni and Fedor set personal records in the 500 free, along with Camargo and Mary Searcy in the 100 free and Tegan Lavin in the 200 free. For the boys, Westley Ellerbee and Santiago Gonzalez and Jason Frankel PRed in the 100 free. Frankel also had a personal best in the 50 free. Thomas
Horvath and Eli Morris PRed in the 100 back, Jacob Perez in the 500 free, and Devon Soni in the 100 breaststroke.
Coral Shores traveled to Miami Country Day on Oct. 10 to participate in a tri-meet against the Spartans of Country Day and the Riviera Prep Bulldogs. The Hurricanes had some fantastic finishes in their final competition prior to districts, giving them lots of hope to swim on to regionals and states in Ocala this year.
The girls 200 IM and freestyle team of Layne Smith, Abbie Sargent, Allegra Fucaraccio and Riley Cooper beat out the other schools for two first place finishes. The foursome continued to swim past their competition, earning individual wins as well. Cooper finished first in the individual 200 IM, Sargent took first in the 100 backstroke, and Smith picked up a pair of individual victories in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
The boys team also faced stiff competition but Patrick O’Donnell still managed to cruise to two first place finishes. O’Donnell won the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard breaststroke events.
A trip to Ocala will be the goal for both teams, but they will need to get past two more rounds of competition, starting with districts. Coral Shores will swim at Ransom on Oct. 19 for the FHSAA 1A District Championships. Divers will take the plunge on Oct. 20. 2A Key West swam their district meet at Gulliver on Oct. 18 (results not available at press time).
