Swimming powerhouses Pine Crest School and Bolles School will enter this weekend’s FHSAA 1A and 2A state championships in Stuart as the defending champions in their respective divisions and are looking again to repeat in 2020 after an anything-but-normal school year.
Pine Crest will head into Saturday’s 2A state championship meet with the top seeded times in the girls 200 medley and 200 free relay, as well as sophomores Julia Podkoscielny in the 200 IM and 100 back, Riley Botting in the 100 breast, and junior Hanna Elks Smith in the 50 free. Georgia Tech commit Josh Hanks is also the top seed in the 50 free and 100 breast on the boys side.
Wisconsin commit Blair Stoneburg of Jensen Beach is also seeded first in the 200 and 500 free, as Morgan Tankersley’s state records are potentially in reach for her.
The 1A state meet has been moved from Friday to Monday due to Tropical Storm Eta affecting the central part of the state on the gulf side. Bolles has a state winning streak dating back to 1988 on the boys side and 1991 on the girls side.
The Bolles girls have top seeds with LSU commit Sasha Ramey in the 200 IM and Manita Sathianchokwisan in the 50 free, while the boys lead the way in all three relays, and with Andres Dupont Cabrera in the 200 free and William Heck in the 100 breast.
The meet will also feature Kings Academy junior Josh Zuchowski, who has set a number of national age group records in his career, as well as Erika Pelaez, last year’s 1A state champ in the 50 and 100 free as an eighth grader. Zuchowski has won the last two 1A state titles in the 100 back and was last year’s champ in the 200 IM.