2 days Ago By Gary Curreri
On her way to the Class 3A state swimming and diving championships in Ocala, Fort Lauderdale junior Sophia Cavaretta had to make a stop Friday morning at the Florida Grand Opera to prepare for the upcoming production of The Magic Flute. Cavaretta and her parents then made the four-hour trip from Fort Lauderdale and arrived about an hour before the diving competition was scheduled to start at the FAST (Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training) facility in Ocala on Friday night. “I was definitely nervous because most of my team came up on Thursday night,” said Cavaretta, who led a 3-4-5 finish for the L’s in the diving competition with a 423.
75 score and helped Fort Lauderdale to a third-place finish in the meet. “I have a pretty significant role this year and I am really excited. It is pretty important to me.
I didn’t get here until (Friday) morning, but I think I did pretty well.” Cavaretta was 30 points behind top finisher Fleming Island senior Ava Brinkman (453.85), and ahead of L’s juniors Hayden Ferenc (385.
10) and Ginger Boardman (365.25). “I am really excited,” said Cavaretta, who also won district and regional championships this year.
“I have been working really hard for this. I got sixth at state last year, so this is huge for me. I put all of my heart into it.
I am proud of my whole team and Hayden and Ginger. We have been diving together for a long time and we are happy for each other regardless of who wins.” The trio helped For Lauderdale’s girls finish third overall with 216 points.
Ponte Vedra won the girls’ Class 3A team title with 312 points and Nease was second with 216 points. St. Thomas Aquinas placed sixth (106 points).
The St. Thomas Aquinas girls finished third in the 200 medley (1:49.80), while Fort Lauderdale was fifth (1:51.
38). Fort Lauderdale’s girls were also fifth in both the girls 200 free relay (1:39.28) and the 400 free relay (3:37.
57). In the 200 girls freestyle event, Fort Lauderdale sophomore Da’Jah German trimmed nearly two full seconds off her county-leading previous best time this season and placed sixth at state with a 1:50.82 clocking.
Fort Lauderdale senior Sydney Cronin also turned in her best performance of the season with a time of 2:09.72 to finish sixth in the 200 IM. Cronin took fifth in the 100 breast (1:06.
83). St. Thomas Aquinas junior Carolyn Levy Powell was third in the 100 back (56.
92) and fourth in 50 free (24.09). Both were her best times this year.
It was a nice bounce-back for Powell who came back from tendinitis in her rotator cuff about 18 months ago. “I think my performance was pretty good,” said Powell, who was injured at the regional meet last year and finished eighth in the 100 back. “I am proud of the overall outcome of both events.
This year was way better. “I had a lot of motivation because I trained my hardest this past year,” Powell added. “I went through a lot of physical therapy to get my shoulder right, so I was definitely prepared for this.
I was more confident that I would swim better. I want to go 55 (seconds) in the 100 back next year and win the state championship.” St.
Thomas junior Lena Lajko was fourth in the 100 butterfly (57.36) and fifth in the 100 back (57.59), while Fort Lauderdale freshman Zoe Schnoeller was seventh in the 100 fly (58.
57) and ninth in the 200 IM (2:10.41). “The girls performed well and finishing third was icing on the cake,” said Fort Lauderdale coach Adam Drucker, who has been the L’s coach since 2018.
“This is the best finish since I have been here. I just wanted them to perform well and that’s what they did. “Sydney is one of our two seniors, and she did exactly what we hoped she would,” Drucker added.
“The three divers are very competitive, and it is fun to watch them work. Sophia won districts and regionals, and it carried over. Hayden was solid and I thought Ginger had one of her better meets.
” Said St. Thomas Aquinas swim coach Duffy Dillon of his team’s performance: “We had a great day. The Top (Class) 4A girls moved down because of enrollment numbers and it was a fast meet.
We had swimmers go their fastest times and they dropped a couple of spots in placing. The Top 8 were faster.” Dillon spent 19 years at Cardinal Gibbons and moved to Colorado in 2017 to coach Fountain Fort Carson High School and then founded the Colorado Dolphins club program.
He returned to South Florida in August. In the Class 4A competition on Saturday, there were several solid performances. West Broward freshman Laila Harran took third in the 50 free (23.
67) and fifth in the 100 free (51.50), while Boca Raton junior Gabia Gelumbickas (23.79) was fifth in the 50 free.
She also took third in the 100 back (56.06). “It was really good,” Gelumbickas said of her performance.
“I was excited coming into the meet. I had a PB (personal best) in the 50, so I was very hyped about that. I felt it was a really good atmosphere with all of the swimmers there.
” Last year Gelumbickas swam in the B Final for the 50 free at state, yet wound up with the sixth fastest time of the night. She swam on one of the relays in her freshman year. “I had goals of finishing in the top 3 in both events and I almost got that,” added Gelumbickas, who scored all 30 of her team’s points as the Bobcats’ girls placed 20th.
“This was kind of a breakout year for me.” West Boca freshman Ava Sedlacek finished fourth in the 1-meter diving (409.60) and Wellington freshman Veronica Metz took seventh in the 500 free (5:03.
18). Cypress Bay freshman Naiyla Di Sarno (1:05.47) was eighth in the 100 breast.
West Broward junior Carley Kaplan was ninth in the 200 free (1:52.09), while the West Broward 400 free relay was second with a 3:37.24 clocking to help the Bobcats tie for 10th with Plant High School with 62 points each.
Sarasota Riverview captured the state championship with 378 points. The Class 1A and Class 2A swimming competitions will be held next week..
