HS Roundup: Cape Coral, Barron Collier sweep county swimming championships

Here is a roundup of Southwest Florida high school sports held the week of Oct. 2-7

FRIDAY

LCAC Swimming Championships

Cape Coral swept the LCAC swimming championships for the third consecutive year.

Melissa Blaine, Emma Best and Hayden Tedhams were multi-event winners for the Seahawks at the FGCU Aquatics Center on Friday, and the powerhouse program took all but one relay titles.

“I was kind of coming in this year not really knowing what to expect and hoping our kids were going to swim well and they did, so we’re really excited,” Cape Coral head coach Dianne Kimble said.

The Cape girls dominated, with Blaine, a former state champion, winning the 200 IM and 500 free races. Best notched victories in the 100 fly and 200 free. The Seahawks were also helped by wins from Daynna Franklyn in the 50 free and Ale Figueroa in the 100 back.

The Riverdale girls came in second with senior Izabella Wreski capturing the title in the 100 breast. Estero senior Lily Drons won the 100 free – the Wildcats came in third place for the girls.

It was tighter among the boys with the Estero boys putting together a strong performance to take second place. The Wildcats won the 400 free relay, and sophomore Hunter Seluk took first in the 200 IM and the 100 breast. The team also got wins from Nicholas Kirby in the 100 fly, Parker Seluk in the 100 free and Josef Florek in the 100 back.

“We knew that Estero was going to give us a good run for our money,” Kimble said. “A lot of the teams – we’re all kind of even now. We’ve all graduated a lot of swimmers, so we’re all going a little smaller.”

Tedhams was the only individual winner for the Cape Coral boys, getting wins in the 200 free and 500 free, but it was the consistency across the board from swimmers like Mason Menassa, Aayden Dugan and Jacob Cainas who proved crucial for the outcome.

Riverdale came in third place for the boys, and North Fort Myers’ Jacob Terry proved himself the fastest sprinter in Lee County, winning the 50 free in 22.49.

“They train really hard together,” Kimble said of her team. “They’re a great group of kids and they push each other, so that’s been fantastic. I think that was the edge was they were just determined to come in here and win the title.”

Girls Team Scores: 1. Cape Coral, 578; 2. Riverdale, 261; 3. Estero 241; 4. North Fort Myers 212; 5. Cypress Lake 155; 6. Fort Myers 107; 7. Bonita Springs, 98; 8. (tied) Gateway and Dunbar, 81; 10. South Fort Myers; 72. 11. Mariner, 42; 12. East Lee County, 18; 13. Ida Baker, 14.

Boys Team Scores: 1. Cape Coral, 488; 2. Estero, 394; 3. Riverdale, 249; 4. Fort Myers, 213; 5. North Fort Myers, 172; 6. South Fort Myers, 102; 7. Ida Baker, 83; 8. Cypress Lake, 57; 9. Bonita Springs, 46; 10. Dunbar, 43; 11. Gateway, 7; 12. Mariner, 4.

Girls Top Finishers - 200 Medley Relay: 1. Cape Coral (Figueroa, Blaine, Best, Franklyn), 1:56.32; 2. Riverdale (Peterman, I. Wreski, Aviles, M. Wreski) 2:03.03. 200 Free: 1. Emma Best, Cape Coral (2:02.01); 2. Lily Drons, Estero (2:02.57). 200 IM: 1. Melissa Blaine, Cape Coral (2:10.01); 2. Sophie Pellegrino, Cape Coral (2:21.90); 50 Free: 1. Daynna Franklyn, Cape Coral (25.74); 2. Tina Zavalaga, Cape Coral (26.76). 100 Butterfly: 1. Emma Best, Cape Coral (1.00.66); 2. Sydney Eastman, Cape Coral (1:02.30). Girls 100 Free: 1. Lily Drons, Estero (56.43); 2. Daynna Franklyn, Cape Coral (57.92). 500 Free: 1. Melissa Blaine, Cape Coral (5:07.02); 2. Katia Bushko, Estero (5:21.89). 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Cape Coral (Zavalaga, Ferro, Eastman, Pellegrino), 1:46.78; 2. Estero (Drons, Bushko, Lewis, Alfano), 1:54.41. 100 Back: 1. Ale Figueroa, Cape Coral (1:04.87); 2. Madelyn Peterman, Riverdale (1:09.42). 100 Breast: 1. Izabella Wreski, Riverdale (1:11.31); 2. Sophie Pellegrino, Cape Coral (1:13.58). 400 Free Relay: 1. Cape Coral (Best, Eastman, Pellegrino, Blaine), 3:51.29; 2. Estero (Drons, Bushko, Lewis, Alfano), 4:09.19.

Boys Top Finishers - 200 Medley Relay: 1. Cape Coral (Tedhams, Menassa, Wilson, Cainas), 1:44.50; 2. Estero (Florek, H. Seluk, Kirby, P. Seluk), 1:44.89. 200 Free: 1. Hayden Tedhams, Cape Coral (1:47.88); 2. Nicholas Kirby, Estero (1:48.64). 200 IM: 1. Hunter Seluk, Estero (2:05.07); 2. Aayden Dugan, Cape Coral (2:09.00); 50 Free: 1. Jacob Terry, North Fort Myers (22.49); 2. Jacob Cainas, Cape Coral (22.97). 100 Butterfly: 1. Nicholas Kirby, Estero (55.02); 2. Cole Wilson, Cape Coral (58.17). 100 Free: 1. Parker Seluk, Estero (50.44); 2. Jacob Cainas, Cape Coral (52.49). 500 Free: 1. Hayden Tedhams, Cape Coral (4:46.45); 2. Gio Medina, Estero (4:47.89). 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Cape Coral (Cainas, Menassa, Wilson, Tedhams), 1:34.19; 2. Estero (P. Seluk, Somers, Kirby, Medina) 1:34.55. 100 Back: 1. Josef Florek, Estero (56.72); 2. Gio Medino, Estero (59.73). 100 Breast: 1. Hunter Seluk, Estero (1:05.36) 2. Sebastian Brites, North Fort Myers (1:06.93). 400 Free Relay: 1. Estero (Somers, Medina, H. Seluk, Florek), 3:31.50; 2. Cape Coral (Wright, M. Menassa, M. Menassa, Dugan) 3:31.50.

THURSDAY

Volleyball

Barron Collier 3, Gulf Coast 0: Ever since a season-opening loss to Canterbury, the Barron Collier volleyball team has been locked in.

The Cougars managed to cruise to a sweep of rival Gulf Coast, winning 25-13, 25-21, 25-17 over the Sharks (15-6) to move to 11-2 on the season.

“We’ve been making really good adjustments, trying to be ready for the end of the season,” Barron Collier coach Yamil Del Valle said. “Mentally, we’re preparing. We still have 12 more games before the end of the regular season. We leave tomorrow for five really good games. They’re ready. They’re prepared. They’ve done exactly what we’ve asked them.

“This is one more game for us. At the end of the day, this is not the trophy we want. We want to go all the way, and they know mentally, they need to go one game at a time. They understand what we’re here for.”

Barron Collier showed signs of establishing a more well-rounded attack, as setter Ava Zehnder managed to incorporate Sofia Locadia and Mia Weintraub into the attack when they were called on at the middle hitter positions. It took attention off of Aisha Keric, who entered Thursday leading the team in kills with 156, 70 kills ahead of Charlotte Mongin for the No. 2 spot on the team.

Locadia and Weintraub combined for 13 kills and 10 blocks up front, with Zehnder dishing out a team-high 32 assists. Keric had 14 kills on 20 attempts in the game.

“I know they can get up, and I know they can score,” Zehnder said. “They’re very hard to defend. Whenever I can, I just try to get it to them. I know they’ll take care of it.”

Gulf Coast coach John Alvarez expected better from his team Thursday night having played the Cougars already, but the Sharks were unable to execute in key moments. Gulf Coast showed life in the third set, taking a 6-1 lead on Barron, but the Cougars went on a 6-0 run to take the lead and never looked back.

“It was awful,” Alvarez said. “We just didn’t follow the gameplan. We had one in place, and we definitely were not the team that played this past weekend at the Wildcat Invite. It happens. It’s high school sports. It shouldn’t be pretty all the time, but the good thing is, we get the opportunity to compete again. The girls either learn from those mental lapses, those mental mistakes, and we compete better next time, or we can expect the same results.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It was bad. It was ugly. We had moments where we were doing things well, but the consistency was not there.”

Alvarez stressed consistency, believing that this team is not far off from peaking at the right time. The first-year coach hopes that Thursday’s loss to the Cougars is an aberration, as the Sharks were swept for just the third time in the last 10 years by their rivals.

“… There’s a lot to this game, right,” Alvarez said. “It’s personal for a lot of them. We know what the elephant in the room is, with Aisha taking off on them and going over there. For some of them, it’s mental and that plays into it a bit. The rivalry plays into it. We’re right there. We’re competitive. It’s just the consistency. That’s the biggest difference between coaching high school and coaching college in the past.

“The athletes you have in college, mentally, they’re a different type of competitor. The high school kids, they’ve got so much going on for them to keep that consistency. It’s hard to demand that from them. Hopefully this hurts, and they use this as fuel to get back in the gym, and keep working hard to not feeling this way again.”

The Cougars will trek to Venice to play in the Battle at the Beach this weekend against Bishop Kenny, Clearwater Central Catholic, and Viera in pool play, while the Sharks will travel to Riverview on Tuesday before hosting Canterbury on Thursday.

— Alex Martin

First Baptist 3, Bishop Verot 1: The Lions came away with a 25-18, 25-21, 13-25, 24-26 win over the Vikings to move to 16-3 on the season. Peyton Garrick led the attack with 19 kills and 18 digs, while Zara Stewart added 17 kills and 18 digs. Laila Stewart dished out 26 assists, while Jade Rau had 21 digs at the libero position.

Estero 3, North Fort Myers 0: The Wildcats cruised to a 25-13, 25-16, 25-17 win over the Red Knights. Gia Rosencrans led Estero with 9 kills and 5 blocks, while Sofia King had 20 assists, 4 kills, and 3 blocks.

Oasis 3, Evangelical Christian 0: Oasis won in straight sets 25-10, 25-21, 29-27. Jordan Baksh had 16 kills, Abbigale Llewellyn had 3 blocks, and Valentina Calleja had 13 digs and 3 aces.

CCAC Swimming Championships

The Log will stay in the Cougar Den for another year after Barron Collier won both the boys and girls sides as well as the combined score in the CCAC Swimming Championship. Here are the complete team scores as well as top finishers from Thursday's meet.

Boys Team Scores: 1. Barron Collier, 493; 2. Naples, 472; 3. Aubrey Rogers, 376; 4. Gulf Coast, 240; 5. Palmetto Ridge, 147; 6. Lely, 88; 7. Immokalee, 70; 8. Golden Gate, 62.

Girls Team Scores: 1. Barron Collier, 561; 2. Naples, 493; 3. Aubrey Rogers, 330; 4. Gulf Coast, 227; 5. Lely, 191; 6. Palmetto Ridge, 92; 7. Golden Gate, 50; 8. Immokalee, 1.

Boys Top Finishers - 200 Medley Relay: 1. Barron Collier (Davey, Wu, Daniyar, Warnken), 1:43:76; 2. Naples (Hyer, Hickmon, Edwards, Rock), 1:49.01. 200 Free: 1. Thor Warnken, Barron Collier (1:56.09); 2. Vanden Sigmond, Naples (2:18.22). 200 IM: 1. Emil Daniyar, Barron Collier (2:04.80); 2. Nathan Edwards, Naples (2:07.19); 50 Free: 1. Nolan Hyer, Naples (23.35); 2. Colman Gillen, Aubrey Rogers (23.57). 100 Butterfly: 1. Thor Warnken, Barron Collier (55.02); 2. Cruz Hickmon, Naples (55.94). 100 Free: 1. Nolan Hyer, Naples (51.36); 2. Coby Werner, Naples (51.36). 500 Free: 1. Emil Daniyar, Barron Collier (5:02.81); 2. Alex Lawson, Barron Collier (5:30.30). 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Barron Collier (Davey, Cederquist, McLaughlin, Werner), 1:36.29; 2. Naples (Edwards, Hickmon, Rock, Hyer), 1:36.87. 100 Back: 1. Nathan Edwards, Naples (58.63), 2. Gavin Davey, Barron Collier (58.67). 100 Breast: 1. Cruz Hickmon, Naples (1:03.87), 2. Charlie Wu, Barron Collier (1:04.69). 400 Free Relay: 1. Barron Collier (Daniyar, Werner, Wu, Warnken), 3:37.87; 2. Naples (Sigmond, Pechokas, Burns, Plummer), 3:58.43.

Girls Top Finishers - 200 Medley Relay: 1. Barron Collier (Bradshaw, Mazzola, Whitney, Lundstrom), 1:58.40; 2. Aubrey Rogers (Weidenmiller, Vetor, Baldwin, Insana), 2:01.96. 200 Free: Gianna Buchana, Naples (2:08.61); 2. Ava Baldwin, Aubrey Rogers (2:08.96). 200 IM: 1. Emilia Mazzola, Barron Collier (2:18.21); 2. Charlotte Mather, Naples (2:22.92); 50 Free: 1. Caelan Burt, Lely (24.58); 2. Fina Hickmon, Naples (24.81); 100 Butterfly: 1. Charlotte Mather, Naples (1:03.15); 2. Sophia Whitney, Barron Collier (1:03.64). Girls 100 Free: 1. Caelan Burt, Lely (53.17); 2. Fina Hickmon, Naples (52.71). 500 Free: 1. Isabel Rasmussen, Gulf Coast (5:28.67); 2. Ava Baldwin, Aubrey Rogers (5:38.40). 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Naples (Layton, Buchanan, Hickmon, Boyd), 1:43.21; 2. Barron Collier (Nash, Alber, Batle, Burt), 1:53.01. 100 Back: 1. Isabel Rasmussen, Gulf Coast (1:05.15); 2. Gianna Buchanan, Naples (1:03.56). 100 Breast: 1. Reese Vetor, Aubrey Rogers, 1:11.06; 2. Emilia Mazzola, Barron Collier (1:14.08). 400 Free Relay: 1. Naples (Hickmon, Layton, Mather, Buchanan), 3:53.03; 2. Barron Collier (Srdanovic, Whitney, Aldred, Bradshaw), 4:02.49.

Boys Golf

Fort Myers def. North Fort Myers, Clewiston: Sam McDonald shot a team-low 38 for the Green Wave in their tri-match win. Ben O'Brien (40), Hayden Palmer (43), Luke Scrabis (46), and Ashton Mora (47) rounded out Fort Myers' scorecard.

Boys Bowling

Ida Baker 3, Bishop Verot 2: Seamus Murray bowled a team-best 225 for the Vikings.

Cape Coral 5, Oasis 0: Charles Broadley rolled a 122 with three strikes and two spares for Oasis, while Jason Pina added a 111 with three strikes and one spare.

Mariner 5, Cypress Lake 0: Seth Schulte rolled a team-high 166 in the Tritons' win, while Chris Smith followed closely with a 164. Bo Laventure added a 162, Mike Testa a 161, and Andre Enslin a 151.

Girls Bowling

Bishop Verot def. Ida Baker (forfeit): Mia Gasperini led the Vikings with a 159 in their default win, while Mia Brooks rolled a 147.

Oasis 5, Cape Coral 0: Katarina Hagler bowled a 220 with six strikes and three spares while Emma Neujahr rolled a career-best 178 with four strikes and four spares in the Sharks' win.

Mariner 3, Cypress Lake 2: Malia Araujo led the Tritons past the Panthers after rolling a 153. Regan Tucker rolled a 139, Alyssa Jenkins a 126, Samantha Contino a 126, and Delaney Tucker a 87.

WEDNESDAY

Volleyball

Naples 3, Aubrey Rogers 2: The Golden Eagles took the CCAC third place game over the Patriots 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-19, 16-14. Sara Posz posted 22 kills, nine blocks, and five digs in the win. Laura Lizcano had nine kills, 10 blocks, and five digs while Elizabeth Peltz dished out 35 assists along with 11 digs.

Seacrest Country Day 3, Riverdale 0: The Stingrays got back in the win column, winning 25-7, 25-12, 25-13 over the Raiders. Nova Southeastern commit Brooke Spurgeon had 12 kills and 7 digs in the win, while Adriana Garcia added 8 kills and 5 aces. Sami Soderlund had 7 kills for Seacrest.

Boys Bowling

Dunbar def. Oasis: Nick Grande bowled a 125 with one strike and three spares in the Sharks' loss, while Charles Broadley followed closely behind, bowling a 124 with one strike and five spares.

Girls Bowling

Oasis def. Dunbar: Katarina Hagler led the Sharks past the Tigers after bowling a 241 with eight strikes and one spare. Lexi Lenius added a 222 with seven strikes and two spares to the winning effort.

TUESDAY

Volleyball

Estero 3, Riverdale 0: The Wildcats won 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 over the Raiders, moving to 13-9 on the season. In the win, Ashlynn Ban and Sophie Perkins had 8 kills apiece, while Sofia King added 18 assists with 3 aces. As a team, Estero had 16 aces.

In the loss for Riverdale, Olivia Znotens finished with 17 kills and 11 digs.

Canterbury 3, Cardinal Mooney 1: Canterbury bounced back on the road Tuesday, downing Mooney in four sets (25-19, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22). North Florida commit Madison Hammermeister posted 16 kills, 10 digs, and 4 aces in the win for the Cougars.

Gulf Coast 3, Immokalee 0: The Sharks won 25-7, 25-6, 25-10 over the Indians, moving to 15-5 on the season.

SFCA 3, South Fort Myers 0: The King's defeated the Wolfpack 25-13, 25-17, 25-19 Tuesday night. Eighth-grade standout Gianna Noah led the attack with nine kills, while Bianka Noah added 10 digs in the win.

Community School 3, Marco Island 1: The Seahawks (16-5) grabbed their 16th win of the season, downing the Rays in four sets. In the loss for Marco Island, Medney Garraux had 16 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces, and 2 blocks, while Madison Stolinas dished out 36 assists. Jenna Ragan had 16 kills and 7 digs.

Evangelical Christian 3, LaBelle 2: The Sentinels won in five sets over the Cowgirls. Ashlyn Anderson had 12 kills in the win, adding 4 aces and 10 digs. Demi Ritchie had 34 digs, with Zaira Mitchell adding 5 blocks.

St. John Neumann 3, Lely 0: The Celtics won 25-16, 25-7, 25-22 over the Trojans on senior night. Mary Alice Hussey posted 6 kills and 2 blocks, while Callee Jones had 6 kills, 5 digs, a block, and an ace. Hailey Scheffler had 13 assists, adding 3 kills and a block to the winning effort.

Bishop Verot 3, Gateway Charter 0: The Vikings cruised to a sweep over the Griffins, winning 25-4, 25-5, 25-15. Kerrigan Habing and Maddie Knaak had 8 kills apiece, while Jules Schwartz had five kills and Diana Ahkmetova with four. Marissa Peck tallied 11 aces.

Boys Golf

Gulf Coast def. Aubrey Rogers, Estero: The Sharks downed the Patriots and the Wildcats by five and 12 strokes, respectively, in a three-way match at Imperial Golf Club. Jackson Geiger and Aidan Tipple led Gulf Coast after shooting an even-par 36. Bautista Valeiras shot 3-over, while Dominic Wirtz and Nick Allen both shot 5-over. Chris Forsythe's 9-over and Vincent LeVoy's 11-over rounded out the Sharks' scorecard.

Girls Bowling

Mariner 5, Bonita Springs 0: Malia Araujo led the Tritions with a 116, while Alyssa Jenkins (115), Regan Tucker (107), Delaney Tucker (104), and Samantha Contino (81) rounded out the winning effort.

Boys Bowling

Mariner 5 Bonita Springs 0: Seth Schulte rolled a 204 in the Tritons win. Bo Laventure added a 187, Mike Testa a 168, Andre Enslin a 162, and Chris Smith a 204.

MONDAY

Volleyball

Venice 3, Seacrest Country Day 1: In a clash of defending state champions, the Stingrays fell 25-19, 9-25, 26-25, 13-25 to the Indians.

Riverdale 3, Naples 2: The Raiders went the distance with the Golden Eagles, winning 25-15, 17-25, 17-25, 26-24, 17-15. Olivia Znotens carried the load for the Raiders, tallying 33 kills and 13 digs while Kaylynn Campbell had eight kills, 12 digs, and five aces. Emily Grant added 35 assists, nine digs, and four aces to the win.

SFCA 3, Oasis 0: The King's swept the Sharks 25-17, 25-23, 28-26. Gianna Noah tallied a team-high eight kills while Bianka Noah tacked on seven kills to the winning effort. Robbie Warden finished the win with 12 digs. Jordan Baksh led the Sharks with 36 digs and 10 kills, while Natalie McKenna and Sophia Skala added six and eight kills, respectively.

Boys Golf

Barron Collier came out on top of the CCAC Championship at Valencia Golf & Country Club on Monday after four Cougars finished in the top-five. Here are the complete results along with top individual finishers.

Team Scores: 1. Barron Collier (285); 2. Gulf Coast (309); 3. Naples (310); 4. Aubrey Rogers (327); 5. Golden Gate (+73); 6. Palmetto Ridge; 7. Immokalee.

Top Individual Performers: 1. Jake Debroux, Naples (66); 2. Graham Boone, Barron Collier (68); 3. Matthew Gerstemeier, Barron Collier (69); 4. Braden Miller, Barron Collier (73); 5. Aidan MacInnes, Barron Collier (75); 6. Ryan Miller, Gulf Coast (76); T7. Chris Forsythe, Gulf Coast (77); T7. Ryan Dumas, Naples (77); T7. Bautista Valeiras, Gulf Coast (77); T7. Mason Stieler, Aubrey Rogers.

Girls Golf

Barron Collier cruised in the Girls CCAC Championship on Saturday, earning first place by an impressive 33 strokes. Here are the complete results along with top individual finishers.

Team Scores: 1. Barron Collier (328); 2. Gulf Coast (361); 3. Aubrey Rogers (404); 4. Naples (455); Immokalee (DNF); Golden Gate (DNF).

Top Individual Performers: 1. Sara Vitasek, Gulf Coast (75); T2. Kate Freshwater, Barron Collier (79); T2. Olivia Carrero, Naples (79); 4. Rachel Tomodan, Barron Collier (81); 5. Brandy Singleton, Barron Collier (82).

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Southwest Florida high school roundup for the week of Oct. 2-7