Rosenthal wins state title, leads Gulliver Prep girls swimmers to state runner-up finish

With Gulliver Prep in second place, the team was minutes away from finishing as the runner-up at the Class 2A state championship.

Junior Reese Rosenthal took the pool in the fourth-to-last event — the girls 100-yard breaststroke. Rosenthal finished in 1:03.13 minutes — the quickest time of the heat — to give herself the state title in the event and cement Gulliver Prep’s second-place finish.

“It’s been a goal of mine for years, and to finally be able to do that, I can’t thank my parents, coaches, anyone that’s supported me, enough,” Rosenthal said. “This is just the first step, hopefully there’s more to come.”

Gulliver Prep was one of the many Region 4-2A teams to show out on the big stage on Friday at the Class 2A meet held at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training Center in Ocala.

American Heritage Plantation finished in fourth on the boys’ side with 124.5 points. Mater Lakes scored a seventh-best 103 points, Pompano Beach came in eighth with 102, and MAST Academy ended with a ninth-place 100 points.

The Gulliver girls finished with 195 points, putting it only behind Tampa’s Academy of the Holy Names, which finished with 316 points. The Pompano Beach girls scored 105 points, good for eighth place, and American Heritage Plantation secured a 15th-best 53 points.

Gulliver Prep secured the state runner-up finish despite graduating several swimmers and this being coach Nick Folker’s first season, so he was proud of his team’s effort.

“For these girls to step up like that,” Folker said, “...total team effort.”

Gulliver Prep also got a strong performance from Giovanna Musiello. The junior placed second in the 200-yard individual medley with her 2:04.32-minute time and third with a 57.15-second finish in the 100-yard backstroke.

Outside of the team’s strong individual performers, Gulliver Prep’s relay teams had a successful day. The Raiders finished the 200-yard medley relay in 1:48.78 minutes for second place, the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:38.64 for second place and the girls 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:38.41 for third.

“The relays were amazing,” Folker said. “It’s huge points, and it shows the depth.”

MAST Academy also had a couple strong relay performances. The Makos secured second on the boys 200-yard medley relay and the boys 200-yard freestyle relay with times of 1:37.47 and 1:26.60 minutes, respectively.

Mater Lakes finished second with a 3:11.59-minute time in the boys 400-yard freestyle relay and third in the boys 200-yard freestyle relay with a 1:26.84-minute time.

While Cardinal Gibbons didn’t land high in the team swimming results, it saw success in its diving efforts. Sophomore Juliet Radich broke out an inward double somersault tuck with a chance to clinch the Class 2A state title in the girls 1-meter dive.

The second-place diver was 12 points behind, so Radich had all but won the title. She executed the stunt and earned one of her highest times, giving her the state title in the event. She ended with 473.65, besting the second-place time of 453.10.

“I was pretty excited, I kind of usually get nervous and excited combined, but I always just try to have fun,” Radich said.

Radich led the pack for the majority of the girls’ diving competition. The second-place finisher kept within reach for most of the event, but Radich held onto her lead, giving her the picture-perfect ending to her season.

“I kind of learned to just have fun with it and go out there and do what I can do,” Radich said. “It felt like a really good ending.”