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District Swimming and Diving Preview

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By KATHERINE SMITH

ksmith@tampatrib.com

Published: October 29, 2009

As district swimming and diving kicks off this week around the Tampa Bay area, we take a look at the Hillsborough County teams competing.

Class 3A-District 4

WHEN/WHERE: Today (diving) 11 a.m. at Copeland Park Pool, Friday (swimming) 9 a.m. at New Tampa YMCA

TEAMS: Bloomingdale, Brandon, Freedom, Gaither, George Jenkins, Lakeland, Newsome, Plant City, Riverview, Tampa Bay Tech, Wharton

OUTLOOK: Newsome and Wharton should battle for the overall championships, but Bloomingdale and Tampa Bay Tech will have some individuals vying for titles, including the Bulls' D.J. Waite and the Titans' Teo Boscaino. The Bulls also will get points from diver Nick Wing-Holt. Newsome's boys are led by Jacob Bukaweski, Tim Foster and Hayden Parker. Chad Ankers, Patrick Gilbreath and Jordan Rees lead the Wharton boys. On the girls' side, the Wolves are led by Kati Kyle and Kylie Piche, while Danielle Albright, Blair Kuethe and Megan Smith lead Wharton.

Class 3A-District 5

WHEN/WHERE: Friday (diving) 1 p.m., Saturday (swimming) 9 a.m. at Clearwater's Long Center

TEAMS: Alonso, Chamberlain, Clearwater, Countryside, East Lake, Largo, Northeast, Palm Harbor University, Pinellas Park, Plant, Seminole

OUTLOOK: Since the spring, Plant coach Gil Gonzalez has talked about how difficult the competition is in the Panthers' new class and district. The boys are up against defending state champion Palm Harbor University, while the girls will battle Countryside, last year's third-place team. The Panthers' girls team comes into the meet undefeated with the county's top 200 (1:53.17) and 400 (3:41.79) free relay times and the top 500 free time by Elin Slaatmo (5:00.66) and 100 breaststroke (1:08.47) by Emily Clifford. Plant's John Deedrick has the boys' top 500 free time (4:42.86).

Class 2A-District 8

WHEN/WHERE: Saturday (swimming) 9 a.m. at Berkeley Prep

TEAMS: Academy of the Holy Names, Armwood, Blake, Durant, East Bay, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Jesuit, King, Leto, Sickles, Spoto

OUTLOOK: Academy and Jesuit are the favorites, but they will be tested by Hillsborough and Sickles. The Jaguars feature senior Molly Sheridan, the county's top 50 free sprinter, while Jesuit is led by Chris Swanson and Dylan Attal. Hillsborough's boys, fresh off their upset of Wharton at the Western Conference meet, feature Jamie Perez and David DeSena. Sickles' boys are led by one of the county's top sprinters, Trey Went III. The girls competition should have one of the closest races of the meet, between Sickles Cristina DeCisneros and Spoto's Giorgie Graves in the 100 fly. The Gryphons girls also feature Katie Cook and Katie Westbrook. Durant's Erin Hofrichter will be one of the top competitors in the distance events.

Class 1A-District 7

WHEN/WHERE: Today (swimming) 9 a.m. at Berkeley Prep

TEAMS: Bayshore Christian, Berkeley Prep, Calvary Christian, Clearwater Central Catholic, Lennard, Middleton, Robinson, Seffner Christian, Steinbrenner, Strawberry Crest, Tampa Catholic, Tampa Prep

OUTLOOK: Overall titles should come down to a battle between Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep. In their recent dual meet, the Bucs boys prevailed while the Terps girls were the winners. Berkeley's boys are led by Will Miller and Andreas Hatoum. Tampa Prep features one of the youngest competitors, but also one of the best in seventh-grader Rasmus Skjaerpe. In the girls competition, Berkeley Prep is led by Laura Jordan, who is looking to advance to her fourth consecutive state meet. Tampa Prep features Emily Siewert.

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