BREAKING NEWS: LP Senior Earns Consolation Finals Bid

ORLANDO - Lake Placid senior Michael Wilkes earned a pair of top 15 finishes during the preliminary meet at the Class 1A state swimming and diving finals at the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando today.

Wilkes finished with a time of 22:32 in the 50-yard freestyle to place 15th and lift him to the consolation finals, but was off of his school record pace of 21:74 that earned him a trip to the state finals.

"I had a bad turn and that little mistake is what cost me," the LP senior said.

Later, Wilkes placed 14th in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing in 49.56, which bested his time of 49.78 in last weekend's Region 2 finals.

"I'm real pleased with his performance," LP coach Tom Creel said. "He came into the meet 19th in the 100 and now he's 14th. Now we're just looking for a good showing in the consolations and finish on a good note."

When asked about Wilke's troubles in the 50 free, Creel talked about the pressure that this event can bring.

"There is no margin for error when you get to state," he said. "A little slip and it will cost you sometimes just a fraction of a second, but that can mean the difference between first and fifth at this level."

In the diving competition, Avon Park's Miguel Ortiz had a goal to have a good showing in front of the best swimmers the state has to offer.

Oritz' wishes came true with an impressive 15th place finish with an array of higher difficulty dives that pushed him past some stronger divers.

"I worked on nailing my higher difficulty dives before regionals," the AP senior said. "I really wanted to make the final cut and I worked hard to make it happen."

Ortiz finished with a score of 291 in front of a tough panel of judges, that scrutinized every diver's nuances.

"It is a totally different animal when you get to state when it comes to judges," Avon Park dive coach Shane Wiries said. "A diver who scored 370 at regionals will score 320 here with the same dives."