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Plant's Anderson, Newsome's Taylor Capture State Crowns

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By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2007

ORLANDO - It was a familiar place for Plant's Meg Anderson, while Newsome's Jason Taylor is hoping to make it one.

Both standout junior swimmers from Hillsborough County found their way to the top of the medals podium Friday night at the Class 2A state swimming and diving championships at the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center. Anderson claimed the title in the girls 100 freestyle in 51.83 seconds, while Taylor took home the boys 100 butterfly crown in 51.16.

It was Anderson's third career individual title, adding to a collection that includes 50 freestyle titles the previous two years, and one that put her into elite company as just the second girls swimmer in program history to win three individual titles. Meanwhile, it was Taylor's first state title and the first title for a Newsome swimmer in the program's five-year history.

"This feels really good. This was definitely a goal I wanted to achieve," said Taylor, who claimed four medals total on the night, one each with Newsome's 200 medley relay (silver) and 400 free relay (bronze) teams and another as the runner-up in the 100 backstroke.

Added Anderson: "It's just exciting because all the work that I've done has paid off."

While Taylor and Anderson found their way to the top of the podium once, a pair of girls from across the bay accomplished it twice. Northeast junior standout Megan Romano captured state titles in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke to become the first Vikings girls swimmer to win four individual state titles, while Seminole sophomore Kaitlin Frehling won the 50 free and 100 butterfly titles, the first two individual titles of her career and the first for a Warhawks girls swimmer since 1998.

Northeast's P.J. Bennett also was a Pinellas County title winner, taking the boys 1-meter diving competition.

Romano dominated in defending her 200 freestyle title by finishing in 1:46.70, just outside former Delray Beach Atlantic standout Rhiannon Jeffrey's national mark of 1:45.49 set in 2002 and more than three seconds better than runner-up Chelsea Franklin of Fort Myers Cypress Lake (1:50.17). Romano was even more impressive in capturing the 100 backstroke title, finishing in a state-record time 54.41, which edged sisters Kelli and Katie Kyle of Newsome, who took second and third, respectively.

"It's very exciting. I came in with some goals in mind and I got my goals so I'm happy with what I did," Romano said. "I wanted to post my best times, and that's what I did."

While Frehling's margins of victory weren't as impressive, her results were just as much. She upset Plant's Anderson, the two-time defending 50 free champ, in her first individual event, and followed with a near one-second victory in the 100 fly over Lake City Columbia's Hillary Leonard, finishing in 56.64. Newsome's Kelli Kyle was third in the 100 fly in 57.68.
Newsome posted top-five finishes in both the boys and girls team standings, taking fifth in the girls and fourth in the boys. Seminole (sixth), Northeast (seventh) and Plant (eighth) also finished in the top 10 in the girls team standings, while Northeast (seventh) posted a top-10 finish in the boys. Boca Raton won the girls team title with 256 points, while Miami Belen Jesuit won the boys with 275.5 points.

Middleton senior Claire Page finished as the state runner-up in the girls 1-meter diving competition with 406.95 points, less than 10 points behind champion Kirsty Shepler of Ponte Vedra Beach Nease (415.95). Tarpon Springs' Jennifer Botsch was third, while Newsome's Alexa Wollach finished fifth in the event.

Sunlake junior Brad Morrison took third in the boys 100 backstroke, as he did last year as a swimmer at Land O' Lakes, Newsome's Aleks Ans finished fourth in the boys 200 individual medley, and Newsome's Sharla Milne posted top-five finishes in both the girls 200 freestyle (fifth) and 500 free (fourth).

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

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