Wolfe Shatters Record At Heartland

Times fell and records were shattered as some of the best swimmers in the state converged on the Green Dragon pool for the annual Heartland Invitational on Saturday.

With teams like Fort Myers Bishop Verot and North Port at the event, the local swimmers were able to compare their times against some of the fastest swimmers the region has to offer.

Sebring's Megan Wolfe shattered the Blue Streak record in the 500-yard freestyle (5:22.59), breaking her old record (5:36.67) by nearly 13 seconds.

Jackie McCaw of Bishop Verot (5:15.83) finished first in the event, with Okeechobee's Savannah Asmussen (6:12.94) took home the bronze.

"She's been swimming really well lately," Megan's father Marvin Wolfe said. "She's getting her times down and we have her in a training schedule that'll help her be at her peak during districts."

In the girls division, Bishop Verot (565) was the top team at the event defeating Sebring (491) and Lake Placid (375.5) with Avon Park (98)coming in seventh.

North Port High School (389.2) took the top spot in the men's division, as they edged host Lake Placid (385.3) with Hardee (368.4) rounding out the top three.

Sebring (300.6) and Avon Park (202.5) placed fifth and sixth respectively.

Wolfe, along with teammates Katie Bullard, Kristi Livingston and Paige Giller, also took first in the 200-yard medley relay (2:05.01) and second in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:49.29).

Livingston took third (27.58) in the 50-yard freestyle -- an event that was dominated by the Vikings of Bishop Verot who placed watched Stephanie Peacock (25.09) and Danyelle Russell (27.36) take the top two spots.

Lake Placid's Marbelly Creel showed that she belonged among the top butterfly swimmers in the state, as the Green Dragon senior finished second (1:12.15) in the vent to Bishop Verot's Kristen Wasko (1:09.11).

Teammate Tammi Beach had an impressive day in the pool, as she finished third (1:01.02) in the 100-yard freestyle, just a fraction of a second ahead of Sebring rival Julie Kirsch (1:02.64), who came in fourth, while Avon Park's Brittany Murphy (1:06.71) finished sixth.

Beach also had another bronze finish in the 200-yard freestyle (2:13.21) again finishing behind a pair of Bishop Verot swimmers (Jackie McCaw (2:03.47) and Erin Black (2:07.84).

Sebring's Samantha Spiegel (2:23.99) placed fourth in the event.

Blue Streak junior Katelyn Bryan (1:16.15) took second in the 100-yard backstroke, while Giller took home the silver (1:16.47) in the 100-yard breaststroke.

In the diving competition, Avon Park freshman Jamie Wirries (251.10) edged out Lake Placid's Shannon Cummings (246.70), while Sebring's Nickie Golde (234.20) rounded out the top three.

Wirries is showing an impressive array of dives for a freshman, as she takes over for former Red Devil Heather Barnes as the next state hopeful for Avon Park.

In boys diving,

Frostproof's Caleb Hardy and Avon Park's John Chittum matched each other dive for dive, but in the end Hardy (322.25) squeaked by Chittum (317.70) as both divers are improving and adding new dives as they gear up for the district finals.

"I've added a few dives and am really happy at where I'm at in the season," Chittum said. "I'm focused on continuing the tradition of a Red Devil diver at the state finals and proving that I'm one of the top divers in the state."

Sebring's Bryan Kirsch blazed a trail through the pool for an easy first place finish (1:08.32) in the 100-yard breaststroke over North Port's Ryan Batties (1:14.70) and Okeechobee's Nathan Candler (1:18.18), who placed second and third, respectively.

Lake Placid sophomore Kevin Smit look solid against some tough competition in taking thrid place (2:24.34) in the 200-yard individual medley and fourth (1:05.12) in the 100-yard butterfly.

The LP sophomore was impressed with the level of competition put forth by the visiting teams and looks forward to the forthcoming intense schedule as the Green Dragons make their way toward the district finals in three weeks.

"My goal at the beginning of the season was to make it to regionals," Smit said. "I'm focused on lowering my times and it was good to see where I stand against better swimmers and know where I need to be."

Lake Placid's Robert Greene was also impressed by teams like Bishop Verot after he competed in his sprint events, summing up the experience with simplicity.

"They're really fast," Greene said. "I was swimming some really good times, but it goes to show you that I have to continue to work if I want to get to that level."

Greene finished third in the 50-yard freestyle (24:53) with Bishop Vertot's Kyle Ficker (23.31) taking first and Hardee's Tyler Robertson (23.40) finishing in second.

Greene finished a distant fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (55.59), as Ficker again took the top spot (50.85) nearly five seconds ahead of the Green Dragon senior, with Robertson taking second (51.85) and North Port's Shane Dougherty (53.58) rounding out the top three.

Green Dragon teammate Dylan Callahan-Weber (1:10.22) was barely edged out by North Port's Jesse Martin (1:09.74) in the 100-yard backstroke, with Hardee's Dylan Justice (1:14.56) placing third.

Sebring's Mathew Vickers finished third (5:43.98) in the 500-yard freestyle for the Blue Streaks