Mater Lakes boys win gold, girls take silver at Class 2A state swimming championships

Mater Lakes Academy knew it was on the cusp of history.

Bears swimming coach Sarah Smith held her face as the final relays kicked off. The school just needed to finish the job and the boys would earn gold and the girls would win silver — both being the best marks reached in program history.

The girls won the 400-yard freestyle relay, and the boys secured second in the event. Just like that, hardware was going back to Miami-Dade County.

“We came (to the state championship) last year, and we had a really strong team last year, and we started to see that it would be possible for us to do this,” Smith said. “We have really great captains as well, and they were in on the vision, and so we’ve been building this vision actually since states last year.”

The boys team ended the day with 221 points, nine more than second-place Bishop Kenny, and the girls had a second-best 208 points, trailing Academy of the Holy Names’ 279-point outing. The boys team didn’t get an individual title at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training center, and the girls got two, but the team’s improved number of athletes helped them reach Saturday’s heights, Smith said.

The boys had four second-place finishes. Senior Alfredo Dominguez swam a 1:39.89 in the boys 200-yard freestyle and a 49.45 in the 100 butterfly. The relay teams also earned silvers with a 1:26.18 in the 200 free relay and a 3:08.23 in the 400 free relay.

“(Winning) feels really special,” Dominguez said. “Going from sophomore year having like five people on the team, it’s just really special to see this team how we’ve grown and how we’ve worked together.”

The girls had two gold medals, three silvers and one bronze. Freshman Jia Amores snatched first with a 54.91-second time in the 100 fly, and the 400 free relay, which finished with a 3:34.97, secured the other gold medal.

Jia and junior Jenesys Amores earned silvers in the 100 backstroke (55.98) and 200 free (1:53.24), respectively. Junior Anais Gedeon got third in the 50 free with a time of 23.86 seconds.

“(The girls’ success) felt awesome — the excitement, the happiness, it helped me go faster in my races,” Jia Amores said.

The Gulliver Prep girls team came in third with 160 points and a gold, silver and bronze medal.

Senior Gio Musiello won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:04.20. The 200 medley team secured silver with a 1:48.65-minute time, and the 400 free relay team finished in a third-best 3:37.01.

“I’m very grateful having had (my teammates) throughout this entire experience,” Musiello said. “We’ve all been through many ups and downs together as a team… I couldn’t have wished to do it with anyone else.”

MAST Academy’s boys also earned a few medals on its way to a sixth-best 131 points. The 200 free relay finished with gold after swimming a 1:25.17. Sophomore Jake Kotz-Agramonte finished with a second-best 46.06-second time in the 100 free. Junior Gabriel Martinez earned bronze with a 49.82-second 100 fly.

Belen Jesuit was also represented with a gold medal by junior Chris De Angulo, who finished the 100 breastroke with a time of 57.24.