Hardman wins 2 more medals at state plus all the Polk highlights from region swim meets
OCALA - Lake Wales senior Mary Leigh Hardman wrapped up her high school career with two more individual state medals, and McKeel freshman Bryce Palmer won her first high school medal on Friday at the 2023 FHSAA Class 2A State Swimming and Diving Championships at FAST in Ocala.
Hardman finished third in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.86 behind Tampa Holy Names' Isabella Dieffenthaller (23.24) and Lely's Caelan Burt (23.66). In the preliminaries, she qualified third behind both swimmers. Hardman's time in the final was just off her time from last season of 23.82 when she finished fourth.
In the 100 free, Hardman finished fourth in 52.22. Dieffenthaller won in 50.16. Robinson's Adeline Clutier was second in 50.82, and Burt was third in 51.47. Hardman swam 51.76 in the preliminaries to qualify third.
Hardman finished her high school career with eight state medals, finishing first three times, second once, third twice and fourth twice.
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In the 100 breaststroke, Palmer qualified seventh and finished seventh in 1:07.3, which was faster than her seed time going into the meet.
Cardosi finishes 3rd in 100 fly plus more Polk highlights from 3A, 4A region meets
George Jenkins junior Dylan Cardosi came away with a third-place and a sixth-place finish in the 4A-3 region meet as the top individual from Polk County.
Cardosi's best finish came in the 100 butterfly where he swam a 50.76 to finish third, less than a half second out of first place. Palm Harbour's Keith Simmons won in 50.44, and Sarasota's Bogdan Zverev was second in 50.53. Earlier in the meet, Cardosi swam a 1:43.55 to finish sixth in the 200 free.
Jenkins senior Luis Perdomo Leyva swam a 48.19 to finish seventh in the 100 free. He also finished tied for 11th in the 50 free, touching the wall in 22.10.
The Jenkins boys 200 medley relay team of Benson Huntley Jr., Perdomo Leyva, Cardosi and Gabriel Bourque finished fifth in 1:41.83.
In the final event of the meet, Huntley, Kyle Hoerl, Perdomo Leyva and Cardosi finished fifth in the 400 free.
Divers McKenzie Hilton finished third and teammate Leah Parker finished fourth as the top finishers in the girls meet. They were a little more than six points apart as Hilton finished with 411.65 points, and Parker had 405.45 points.
For the girls Jenkins freshman Sara Ledezma was eighth (24.91) in the 50 free, and Vanessa Calva was 10th in the 100 breaststroke 1:09.99.
In the 3A-2 region meet, Kathleen junior Ethan Ketchum finished second in the diving competition as the top individual from Polk.
Auburndale's Maomarx Pedroza Belisario finished sixth in the 100 fly in 57.30, and Keegan Long was ninth in the 50 free in 23.51.
Lakeland's Michael Garr took eighth in the 100 backstroke.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hardman wins 2 more medals at state plus Polk's region swim highlights
