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Crescimbeni Wins 2 Titles At State

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By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

ORLANDO - For the first time in a long time, a local swimmer not named Tommy Wyher or Chelsea Nauta had a chance to claim the spotlight at the Class 1A state swimming championships. Calvary Christian senior Jose Crescimbeni took advantage of the opportunity.

Much like the way Wyher and Nauta did the previous four years as swimmers at Jesuit and Tampa Prep, respectively, Crescimbeni turned in dominating performances Thursday night at the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center in claiming a pair of individual state titles.

Crescimbeni's time of 48.70 in the 100 butterfly finals was nearly two seconds faster than runner-up Cameron Martin of Clearwater Central Catholic (50.59), and his performance in the 100 backstroke final was equally as impressive, with his time of 51.18 almost two seconds faster than runner-up Jason Khoury of Tampa Prep (53.10).

"I'm very excited, very thrilled. I got to win my first two state titles and the first two state titles for my school," said Crescimbeni, whose times in both races were personal bests. "So to do that, I'm very thankful I had a chance. I was just looking forward to doing my best."
Hillsborough County swimmers were kept off the top podium. Berkeley Prep's Jonathan Jordan, the runner-up in both 500 freestyle; Tampa Prep's Grace Fredlake, the runner-up in the 200 individual medley, and Khoury were the closest county swimmers to winning an individual title. Tampa Prep's boys 200 medley relay and 200 free relay teams of Khoury, T.J. Hall, Samuel Gagne and Matt Stumpf also finished as a runner-up.

Jordan also finished third in the 200 free in 1:40.64, that coming after he turned in the fastest time in the event during the morning's preliminaries. In both the 200 and 500 free finals, Jordan finished behind champion Austin Detra of Sarasota Christian.

"Those were two good times for me; my two best times," said Jordan, a senior who took home his first two state medals. "This is a really fast state meet. Those are some of the fastest times in the nation. I'm happy with my performance."

Jordan wasn't the only local swimmer to claim multiple medals.

St. Pete Catholic's Kelsey Krauss grabbed a pair, finishing second in the girls 50 free (23.95) and third in the 100 butterfly (56.98), as did CCC's Martin, who also finished second in the 200 individual medley (1:51.75) in addition to his runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly.

Stumpf took home three, one for each of Tampa Prep's runner-up relays and a third for his third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Teammate Khoury followed suit with three as well.

Tampa Prep's boys had the best team finish among local squads. The Terrapins finished fourth, 219 points back of Jacksonville Bolles, which won its state-record 20th consecutive boys team championship and 30th overall. Jesuit took fifth with 115 points, four back of Tampa Prep.

Jacksonville Bolles' girls also won the team title, their 17th straight. Berkeley Prep was the top local finisher in 12th, while Tampa Prep took 13th.

Jesuit's Andrew Werdine, who swept region titles in both the 50 and 100 free, qualified for the finals in both events and finished seventh in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 free. Teammate Vinny Donnelly took sixth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 500 free. Donnelly and Werdine also swam a leg on Jesuit's fifth-place 400 free relay team.

Tampa Prep sophomore Kaliya Burton-Akright finished fifth in the girls 1 meter diving competition, while teammate Anna Lisa Drummond (10th), Berkeley Prep's Marni Tuchman (seventh) and Northside Christian's Jordann Windschauer (eighth) also finished in the top 10. Berkeley Prep junior Kyle Dent took eighth in the boys 1 meter diving.

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 657-4533 or aadkins@tampatrib.com.

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