Pine Crest boys secure third, girls take eighth at Class 1A state swimming championships

Pine Crest School’s swim team didn’t know what it was in store for at the Class 1A state swimming championships Friday night at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training center.

The boys team ended up at third with 160 points, while the girls took eighth place with 93 points.

Jacksonville Bolles came in first with 626 points by the boys and 605.5 by the girls.

The relays were the main source of points for Pine Crest. The boys took sixth in the 200-yard medley relay (1:36.99) and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:27.88). The girls earned fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:48.05) and fifth in the 200 free relay (1:37.78).

“Going into the states, we really didn’t expect to finish as high as we did,” Pine Crest coach Mariusz Podkoscielny said following the meet. “I feel like we’ve overachieved. The kids raced really hard.”

NSU University School got good returns from some of its top swimmers. The program earned a few trips to the top of the podium due to the swimming of its sophomore swimmers. Representing the boys team, Juan Vallmitjana snatched third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:38.51 before earning second in the 500 free, finishing in 4:24.02.

“I’m really happy with how I did this year,” Vallmitjana said. “I’m going to keep training and then next year come back harder and try to win (the 500 free).”

NSU teammate Maria Camila Perez surprised herself, taking third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.61. The 100 back is her main event in the high school season, but she didn’t anticipate taking home bronze.

“I went in with the mindset that I was just going to try to win even though I knew that some girls had much faster times,” Perez said. “When I touched the wall, and I saw I got third, I was really happy.”

Gianluca Alberani, the school’s head coach said this was a big year for the program and Vallmitjana and Perez contributed greatly. The school set 11 new school records throughout the season, and the pair of sophomores was responsible for 10 of them.

“We have a very young team,” Alberani said. “The next two years, especially with these two guys here as sophomores medaling, are looking very, very good.”

Miami Ransom Everglades saw a couple top-eight finishes from senior Nohan Gomez in the 100 fly and the 100 back, but senior Kiera Rampersad had the best finish of the day.

Rampersad took home second in the 100 fly with a time of 54.76 seconds.