Streaks, Devils Shine At Swim Meet

Going up against some of the top swimming teams in the area, the Sebring and Avon Park boys and girls squads showed they had plenty of talent in Saturday's meet at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

The Sebring boys placed second in the 10-team meet to Lakeland George Jenkins, while the Blue Streak girls finished third.

"I'm pleased with our performance," said Sebring coach Pat Caton. "We weren't at full strength because some kids were taking the SAT test and some others were sick.

"The competition was tough and we know we have to improve because George Jenkins is loaded this year."

Blue Streak senior Megan Wolfe finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.53, which broke her own school record for the event.

The Blue Streak quartet of Wolfe, Julie Kirsch, Kate Bryan and Paige Giller finished third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:06.90.

Wolfe, Kirsch, Giller and Samantha Spiegel won the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:51.17 and the same foursome finished second in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:09.77.

Kirsch also claimed fourth in the 100 freestyle with a 1:03.85, while Giller finished third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.21.

Sebring's Kim Perez won the 25 freestyle in 15.10, while Brittany Ware came in third in 16.32.

The Blue Streaks' talented quartet of Matthew Vickers, Bryan Kirsch, Brian Miller and Josh Heflin won the boys 200 medley relay with a time of 1:53.64.

The same foursome placed second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.76 and also took second in the 400 freestyle in 4:02.90.

Miller finished third in the 200 individual medley in 2:28.02, while Colton Statler came in fifth with a 2:50.21.

Vickers took third in the 100 backstroke in 1:07.78 and Michael Bickman finished sixth in the 100 butterfly in 1:17.08.

Heflin finished first in the 100 freestyle in 56.59 and Kirsch won the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.04.

The Avon Park boys finished seventh and were led by sophomore Pablo Pantoja who finished third in the 50 freestyle with a 26.78, while freshman Nolan Jahna finished in 27.85.

Pantoja combined with John Chittum, Kyle Jahna and Nolan Jahna to finish fourth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:52.97.

The Red Devil quartet of Drew Sedlock, Nolan Jahna, Mitchell Guerndt and Lee Tanner came in eighth in the 200 medley relay in 2:19.41.

Avon Park senior Autumn Roberts swam a 3:03.32 in the 200 freestyle.

"We don't have as many swimmers as the other teams," said Avon Park assistant coach Quinlan Wolfe. "But the kids are working hard to improve.

"We're a young team, we're gaining experience with each meet and we're building to be at our best for districts."