Prep roundup (Oct. 5)
It was a clean sweep for the Fort Walton Beach swim teams on Monday, as both Viking squads took home first-place honors at the Northwest Florida Invitational at the Washington Aquatic Center.
Natalie Lenderman (200 free), Samantha Laughlin (100 free) and David Stevens (100 free) each captured first-place finishes individually, while the Vikings’ girls 400 free relay team also won its event to spearhead Fort Walton Beach to a 258-206 advantage over Washington, which finished second.
On the boys’ side, the Vikings tally of 291 points was well ahead of second-place Choctawhatchee’s 243 for the day. The Indians’ girls (193) finished third, three spots ahead of sixth-place Niceville (97).
Niceville’s boys placed seventh with 86 points.
Aside from its top finishers, Fort Walton Beach received a horde of top-five finishes. On the girls’ side, Brooke Arrington (third, 1 meter diving), Nichole True (fifth, 1 meter diving), Linsi VerSteeg (third, 200 free; third 500 free), Jamie Gantert (fourth, 200 IM; fourth 100 breaststroke), Laughlin (second, 50 free), Megan Drake (fourth, 100 butterfly) and Natalie Lenderman (second, 100 back) each finished inside the top five.
Zach Duvall (third, 1 meter diving), Garrett Tippets (fourth, 1 meter diving), Joseph Mackenzie (second, 200 IM; fifth, 100 butterfly), Jordan Day (third, 200 IM), Cameron Cain (fourth, 200 IM), Stevens (third, 50 free), Joshua Simmons (fifth, 50 free), Michael Braseth (fourth, 500 free), Levi Wilke (fifth, 500 free), Joshua Williams (fourth, 100 back) and Justin Hunt (third, 100 breaststroke) earned at least one top-five finish for the Vikings boys.
Choctawhatchee’s boys team was led by first-place individual finishes by both Alex Strom (200 free) and Michael Whitehurst (100 breaststroke).
Whitehurst (second, 200 free), Christian Johnston (second, 500 free; fifth, 200 free), Bryce Munz (fifth, 200 IM), Patrick Whitehurst (third, 100 back; fourth, 100 butterfly) and Ryan Adams (100 free) captured top-five finishes for Choctaw’s boys while Mary Heapy (second, 200 IM), Cheryl Corvo (second, 100 butterfly; third, 50 free) and Alyssa Sheffield (fourth, 500 free) did likewise on the girls’ side.
Niceville’s Ross Spock took first in the 50 free, 500 free and 100 backstroke to lead the Eagles.
Alexis Elliot (second, 200 IM; fifth, 100 breaststroke), Dallas Montgomery (fourth, 100 free), Haley McWilliams (second, 500 free) and Lyndsey Schwab (fifth, 100 back) were the other Eagles to place within the top five in their respective events.
Top five local finishers:
Boys team scores: 1. FWB 291, 2. Choctawhatchee 243, 3. Washington 201, 4. Pensacola 130, 5. Pace 109, 6. Arnold 101, 7. Niceville 86, 8. West Florida 47, 9. Catholic 46, 10. Mosley 29, 11. Tate 22.
1 meter diving: 3. Zach Duvall (FWB), 4. Garrett Tippetts (FWB), 9. Ari Palanjian (FWB), 15. Robert Barkley (FWB). 200 medley relay: 1.Choctawhatchee A 1:46.45, 3. FWB A 1:47.83. 200 free: 1. Alex Strom (C) 1:48.30, 2. Michael Whitehurst (C) 1:50.70, 5. Christian Johnston (C) 1:53.73. 200 IM: 2. Josephy Mackenzie (FWB) 2:13.32, 3. Jordan Day (FWB) 2:18.33, 4. Cameron Cain (FWB) 2:23.50, 5. Bryce Munz (C) 2:26.40. 50 free: 1. Ross Spock (N) 21.85, 3. David Stevens (FWB) 22.87, 5. Joshua Simmons (FWB) 23.97. 100 Butterfly: 4. Patrick Whitehurst (C) 56.30, 5. Joseph Mackenzie (FWB) 57.73. 100 free: 1. David Stevens (FWB) 50.01, 4. Dallas Montgomery (N) 53.33. 500 free: 1. Alex Strom (C) 4:50.67, 2. Christian Johnston (C) 4:59.45, 4. Michael Braseth (FWB) 5:22.90, 5. Levi Wilke (FWB) 5:37.46. 200 free relay: 2. Choctaw A 1:36.00. 100 back: 1. Ross Spock (N) 53.20, 3. Patrick Whitehurst (C) 57.56, 4. Joshua Williams (FWB) 58.03. 100 breaststroke: 1. Michael Whitehurst (C) 1:05.57, 3. Justin Hunt (FWB) 1:11.04. 400 free relay: 1. Choctawhatchee A 3:29.13, 2. FWB A 3:31.81, 5. Niceville A 4:16.28.
Girls team scores: 1. FWB 258, 2. Washington 206, 3. Choctawhatchee 193, 4. Arnold 184, 5. Pace 109, 6. Niceville 97, 7. Pensacola 70, 8. Catholic 61, 9. West Florida 60, 10. Tate 59, 11. Mosley 15.
1 meter diving: 3. Brooke Arrington (FWB) 170.70, 5. Nichole True (FWB) 161.10. 200 medley relay: 2. Choctawhatchee A 2:02.51, 4. Niceville A 2:14.17. 200 free: 1. Natalie Lenderman (FWB) 1:59.64, 3. Linsi VerSteeg (FWB) 2:18.53. 200 IM: 2. Alexis Elliot (N) 2:33.64, 3. Mary Heapy (C) 2:33.97, 4. Jamie Gantert (FWB) 2:35.43. 50 free: 2. Samantha Laughlin (FWB) 25.49, 3. Cheryl Corvo (C) 25.59. 100 butterfly: 2. Cheryl Corvo (C) 1:02.66, 4. Megan Drake (FWB) 1:08.12. 100 free: 1. Samantha Laughlin (FWB) 55.08. 500 free: 1. Olivia Strom (C) 5:22.13, 2. Haley McWilliams (N) 5:49.01, 3. Linsi VerSteeg (FWB) 6:04.36, 4. Alyssa Sheffield (C) 6:06.31. 200 free relay: 2. FWB A 1:47.79, 3. Choctawhatchee A 1:48.50. 100 back: 2. Natalie Lenderman (FWB) 1:01.56, 4. Paige Regelman (FWB) 1:10.27, 5. Lyndsey Schwab (N) 1:12.48. 100 breaststroke: 1. Olivia Strom (C) 1:13.71, 4. Jamie Gantert (FWB) 1:18.88, 5. Alexis Elliot (N) 1:19.03. 400 free relay: 1. FWB A 3:56.30, 3. Choctawhatchee A 4:19.39, 5. Niceville A 4:23.92.
VOLLEYBALL
Baker 3, Pace 0: Alyssa Horn and Kaylee Bradley both had six kills as the Gators built their flawless record to 10-0.
Jennifer Ellis added five kills and Lauren Griffith had 10 assists for Baker, which plays host to Northview on Thursday.
Scores: 25-22, 25-12, 25-17
Leading hitters: Baker: Alyssa Horn 6 kills, 1 assist, 1 block; Kaylee Bradley 6 kills, 2 aces; Jennifer Ellis 5 kills; Lauren Griffith 10 assists.
Calvary Christian 3, West Florida Baptist 0: Leah Lovelace had nine kills and six assists to help lead the Patriots past West Florida Baptist in straight sets and put the finishing touches on a perfect 8-0 jaunt through Panhandle Christian Conference play.
Calvary (13-2) received eight assists and seven kills from Rochelle Neau, eight digs apiece from April Bailey and Elizabeth Bankston. Calvary also secured the top seed in this weekend’s regional tournament,t where it opens play Friday against East Hill.
Scores: 25-18, 25-18, 25-21.
Leading hitters: CC: Leah Lovelace 9 kills, 6 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces; Rochelle Neau 7 kills, 8 assists, 2 digs, 2 aces; Elizabeth Bankston 2 kills, 1 assist, 8 digs; April Bailey 8 digs.
CROSS COUNTRY
Sherman Eller couldn’t help but be pleased with his teams’ showings over the weekend.
Pitted with a difficult field of teams, both Niceville cross country teams turned in top-five finishes in Saturday’s Gulf Coast Cross Country Stampede in Pensacola with the boys’ team taking second in the 39-team field.
Niceville’s girls, meanwhile, finished fourth out of 31 teams.
Robert Burnett finished 11th to lead the Eagles on the boys’ side while it was an 11th-place finish by Laura Nelson that helped pace the girls team. Nelson edged teammate Marsel Mosley, who finished 12th.
Crestview’s Lauren Day finished 16th to help the Bulldogs to a 15th-place team finish.
Navarre’s Robert Mann led all local runners by placing seventh (16.40) to help the Raiders earn a sixth-place team finish.
Crestview’s boys’ team, which finished 23rd, was led by Jacob Gourlie (47th).
Official results were not posted until early Monday due to a timing malfunction.
Boys: 2. Niceville: 11. Robert Burnett 16:49, 19. Michael Cooper 17:07, 20. Cody Skarupa 17:09, 32. Jaosn Riggs 17:27, 39. Joseph Bernier 17:35. 6. Navarre: 7. Robert Mann 16:40, 13. Haden Cody 16:52, 69. Anthony Herman 18:29, 78. Trent Beck 18:35, 94. Tanner Furr 19:03. 23. Crestview: Jacob Gourlie 17:50, 152. John Lovito 20:02, 177. Jonathan Mctyre 20:52, 221. Johnathan Redmon 22:27, 229. Tyler Carter 22:55.
Girls: 4. Niceville: 11. Laura Nelson 20:05, 12. Marsel Mosley 20:10, 46. Abby McCool 21:47, 77. Casey Luzius 23:03, 78. Kristin Denison 23:04. 15. Crestview: 16. Lauren Day 20:25, 63. Katrina Silva 22:36, 68. Taylor Polk 22:41, 97. Elise Jenkins 23:54, 206. Jessica Lilly 40:00. 19. Navarre: 56. Kristen Cross 22:20, 62. Karlee Tyler 22:34, 120 Chelsea Chandler 24:48, 142. Kendryx Aldrich 25:55, 161. Katy Morrow 40:00.
