ORLANDO -- Belen Jesuit senior Pablo Morejon had been there before, standing atop the podium and hoisting a state championship trophy into the air.

But Saturday's title carried more importance. This victory had more meaning than the rest.

The Wolverines edged Boca Raton to claim their third consecutive 2A Florida state swimming championship on Saturday, becoming the first Dade boys' team to do so since Miami Springs won its third straight in 1967.

But Morejon was overwhelmed with thoughts of coach Kirk Peppas, who had to follow the meet from his hospital room after suffering a mild stroke earlier this season.

''It's motivation and all of our inspiration, truly,'' Morejon said. ``When I was swimming, he was mostly what I was thinking about. He's our driving force right now.''

Peppas hasn't been able to coach since the stroke, but he checked himself out of the hospital Tuesday to deliver a message to his team.

He met them in a wheelchair at the pool where the Wolverines practice, and he told his guys he was proud of them and that they'd have to stick together without him by their side.

The speech moved Morejon to tears, and it set the tone for another great state performance for Belen.

''I broke down crying,'' Morejon said. ``It was like my dad visiting me before my big journey to state. It's awesome. He gave us a pep talk what he normally say to us. It was like there was no difference, no change. It was what I needed for this meet.''

Peppas went back to the hospital following the talk, and he followed the results as they were posted on the Internet.

''I'm proud of the team for showing that Dade County has great swimming that's competitive,'' Peppas said from his hospital room.

Belen was the two-time champion entering the meet, but the Wolverines faced stiff competition to overcome Boca Raton.

Belen's 200-yard freestyle relay team was disqualified because of a scorecard error at regionals while Boca Raton qualified all three of its relays. That meant Belen was at a 40-point disadvantage before the meet even started.

The Wolverines won the 200 medley relay to open the meet, Morejon took fifth in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and Andy Vazquez took second in the 100 butterfly.

Sophomore Carlos Omana did his part to eliminate the deficit by coming through with Belen's strongest individual performance. He won the 200 individual medley and took second in the 100 backstroke.

Those results left Belen trailing Boca Raton by two points heading into the final event, the 400 freestyle relay.

Belen led as Omana left the blocks for the anchor leg, and he clinched the state title by stretching the Wolverines' lead.

''I just thought to myself, 'I've got to bring it home fast. I'm not letting them down,''' Omana said.

Boys' 2A state championship: 1. Belen Jesuit 200; 2. Boca Raton 188; 3. Fort Walton Beach 130; 4. Northeast 128; 4. Sebastian River 128; 9. Fort Lauderdale. 200-yard medley relay: 1. Belen Jesuit, 1:38.01; 2. Boca Raton, 1:39.36; 3. Fort Lauderdale, 1:39.75. 200 freestyle: 1. Scott Sommer, Forest High School, 1:37.95; 2. Jason Taylor, Newsome, 1:38.63; 3. Tim Martinelli, Sebastian River, 1:40.91; 4. Andy Vazquez, Belen Jesuit, 1:42.67; 5. Tyler Sell, West Broward, 1:42.80; 6. Hibai Iriondo, Fort Lauderdale, 1:42.84. 200 individual medley: 1. Carlos Omana, Belen Jesuit, 1:51.33; 2. Scott Ervin, Chiles, 1:51.50; 3. Cameron Chambers, Northeast, 1:56.11. 50 freestyle: 1. Matthew Schlytter, Nease, 20.62; 2. Zach Edwards, Bishop Kenny, 21.24; 3. David Humphrey, Sebastian River, 21.25; 5. Pablo Morejon, Belen Jesuit, 21.51. 1 meter diving: 1. Robert Kyle Lloyd, Gulf Coast, 457.20; 2. Cody Talbot, Satellite, 446.25; PJ Bennett, Northeast, 435.15. 100 yard freestyle: 1. Scott Sommer, Forest, 44:57; 2. Matthew Schlytter, Nease, 44.71; 3. Tim Martinelli, Sebastian River, 46.18; 5. Pablo Morejon, Belen Jesuit, 46.61. 100 butterfly: 1. Stephen Czaja, Boca Raton, 50.05; 2. Andy Vazquez, Belen Jesuit, 50.69; 3. Charles Castagna, Clearwater, 50.94. 500 freestyle: 1. Jason Taylor, Newsome, 4:23.42 (state record); 2. Tyler Sell, West Broward, 4:32.98; 3. Alex Strom, Choctawhatchee, 4:34.50; 7. Hibai Iriondo, Fort Lauderdale, 4:44.09. 200 freestyle relay: 1. Fort Walton Beach, 1:28.20; 2. Harmony, 1:28.33; 3. Satellite, 1:28.92. 100 backstroke: 1. Brad Morrison, Sunlake, 51.87; 2. Carlos Omana, Belen Jesuit, 52.27; 3. Charles Castagna, Clearwater, 52.74. 100 breaststroke: 1. Spencer Waganaar, Satellite, 58.95; 2. Donald Gerlach, Pedro Menendez, 59.96; 3. Joel Widmer, Fort Lauderdale, 1:00.13; Julio Lopez, 7. Belen Jesuit, 1:02.04. 400 freestyle relay: 1. Belen Jesuit, 3:11.56; 2. Northeast, 3:12.04; 3. Fort Walton Beach, 3:14.24.

Girls' 2A state championship: 1. Boca Raton 258.5; 2. Nease 146; 3. Plant 137.5; 4. Booker 135; 5. Northeast 124; 12. West Broward 84. 200-yard medley relay: 1. Boca Raton, 1:45.28; 2. Nease, 1:47.79; 3. Northeast, 1:51.79. 200 freestyle: Meg Romano, Northeast, 1:46.06; 2. Chelsea Franklin, Cypress Lake, 1:49.34; 3. Molly Dubrasky, Estero, 1:49.90; 8. Melissa Fernandez, West Broward, 1:55.94. 200 individual medley: 1. McKayla Lightbourn, Booker, 2:03.78; 2. Wesley Blassneck, Lely, 2:07.30; 3. Danielle Kerr, Eastside, 2:08.35. 50 freestyle: 1. Kaitlin Frehling, Seminole, 23.07; 2. Meg Anderson, Plant, 23.60; 3. Megan Wolfe, Sebring, 23.98; 4. Tiffany Oliver, West Broward, 24.01. 1-meter diving: 1. Kirstyn Shepler, Nease, 503.55; 2. Alexa Wollach, Newsome, 500.65; 3. Alex Hagan, Plant, 426.10; 12. Sarah Fisher, Pembroke Pines Charter, 367.70; 13. Erinn Wolfe, Fort Lauderdale, 360.90. 100 butterfly: 1. Kaitlin Frehling, Seminole, 55.47; 2. Alex Merritt, Lincoln, 55.89; 3. Heather Coutts, Bishop Kenny, 56.02; 7. Courtney Marx, Pembroke Pines Charter, 58.62. 100 freestyle: 1. Stacey Stanfield, St. Augustine, 50.96; 2. Rachel Ranson, Satellite, 51.02; 3. Meg Anderson, Plant, 51.06; 4. Tiffany Oliver, West Broward, 51.22; 6. Melissa Fernandez, West Broward, 52.55. 500 freestyle: 1. Molly Dubrasky, Estero, 4:45.36; 2. Chelsea Franklin, Cypress Lake, 4:50.75; 3. Sharla Milne, Newsome, 4:53.95. 200 freestyle relay: 1. Plant, 1:37.62. 2. Boca Raton, 1:38.72; 3. Nease, 1:38.78. 100 backstroke: 1. Meg Romano, Northeast, 54.12; 2. Danielle Smith, Boca Raton, 55.51; 3. Katie Pheil, Forest High School, 57.16. 100 breaststroke: Charlotte Williams, Boca Raton, 1:05.27;

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