Vikings headline strong showing by area teams at district swim meet

PENSACOLA — Heading into Friday’s District 1-2A swim meet, Fort Walton Beach coach Pam Braseth knew the competition her team was set to face would be exceptionally fast. Her Vikings proved to be faster than every team but one.

The Vikings finished second in the competitive district on both the girls’ and boys’ sides, trailing only Mosley in both cases. The strong performance means that several Vikings qualified for the state meet, along with numerous swimmers from Choctawhatchee, Niceville and Navarre.

On the girls’ side, Niceville finished third, Navarre finished fifth and Choctaw finished sixth. The Choctaw boys finished fourth, followed by Navarre in sixth and Niceville in eighth.

In order to qualify for regionals, a swimmer had to finish in the top eight individually or top 16 as a relay team.

“Overall, the meet went very well,” Braseth said. “The guys showed they were ready to step up and the girls used this as a point of pride after losing the county championship.”

Choctaw’s Olivia and Alex Strom were the biggest individual winners, as Olivia won the girls’ 200 free and 500 free and Alex won the boys’ 200 and 500 free. Choctaw also got a first-place finish from its 400 free relay team of Alex Strom, Cody Bryson, Michael Whitehurst and Patrick Whitehurst.

Qualifiers for the Vikings on the boys’ side included Levi Wilke (200 free, 500 free), Michael Braseth (200 free, 500 free), Joseph Mackenzie (200 IM, 100 fly), Jordan Day (200 IM), Cody Haeusler (50 free), Anthony Devine (100 fly), Joshua Williams (100 back) and Justin Hunt (100 breast).

Boys relay teams that qualified for Fort Walton Beach included the 200 free relay team of Day, Devind, Michael Rogers and Zach Duval, the 200 medley team of Williams, Hunt, Mackenzie and Rogers and the 400 free relay team of Mackenzie, Duval, Day and Frank Bruechner.

On the girls’ side Emma Gladstone (200 free, 500 free), Olivia Johnson (200 IM, 100 breast), Brooke Arrington (50 free), Paige Regelman (50 free, 200 fly) and Katherine Stone (50 free) all qualified for the Vikings.

The Fort Walton Beach girls’ 200 free relay team of Stone, Regelman, Johnson and Arrington and 400 free relay team of Regelman, Stone, Arrington and Megan Drake also qualified.

“We wanted a district trophy,” Braseth said. “It was fun to watch them come together and motivate each other.”

The third-place Niceville girls also had several state qualifiers, including Haley McWilliams (200 free, 500 free), Rachel Gold (200 free, 100 fly), Catherine Carden (200 free), Milbrey Parke (200 IM), Alexa Birmingham (100 fly, 500 free), the 400 free relay team of Gold, Carden, Birmingham and McWilliams, the 200 free relay team of Gold, Parke, McWilliams and Phoebe Anders and the 200 medley relay team of Laura Nelson, Birmingham, Parke and Anders.

On the boys’ side Dallas Montgomery (50 free, 100 free), Chase Turner (500 free) and the 200 medley relay team of Bradley Ringler, John Snell, Matt Markwardt and Montgomery earned a trip to state.

In addition to Olivia and Alex Strom’s big day, Choctaw had several other qualifiers. On the girls’ side, Amelia Strom (200 IM, 100 breast), Jaide Lewis (50 free, 100 free), the 200 free relay team of Amelia Strom, Olivia Strom, Lewis and Jacquelin Schlagter and the 200 medley relay team of Samantha Shaw, Olivia Strom, Amelia Strom and Lewis all made the cut.

For the Indian boys, Michael Whitehurst (200 IM), Patrick Whitehurst (100 fly), Bryson (100 free), the 200 medley relay team of Alex Strom, Bryson, Michael Whitehurst and Patrick Whitehurst and the 200 free relay team of Kenny Hosking, Michael Whitehurst, Patrick Whitehurst and Bryson all are heading to state.

The Navarre girls got qualifying efforts from Taylor Day (50 free), Baylen Maynard (500 free, 100 back), Cat Bower (100 breast), the 400 free relay team of Day, Bower, Hunter Moorer and Hannah Edwards, the 200 free relay team of Maynard, Bower, Day and Madison Smeidendorf and the 200 medley relay team of Maynard, Day, Bower and Smeidendorf.

The Raider boys’ Chandler Moorer (50 free), Chris Hodge (100 breast), 400 free relay team of Hodge, Moorer, Forrest Kieffer  and Justin Wymore and 200 free relay team of Kyle Griffin, Justin Wymore, Kieffer and Moorer punched their tickets to state as well.

Rocky Bayou Christian School, competing in the District 1-A tournament on Friday, got a regional-qualifying effort from the 400 freestyle relay team of Elizabeth Sober, Brittany Tiller, Suzi Sober and Anouk Beuerle. The Knights finished seventh overall on the girls’ side and ninth on the boys’ side.

All in all, the effort showed the continued growth of area swim teams when compared to their counterparts from across the state.

“We have always had hard-working and motivated swimmers in the area,” Braseth said. “They want to represent the area well when they swim against other areas, but they also want to compete hard against each other.”