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Grimm grabs first; Heinton second at swim districts

By Randy Lefko
Posted 10/31/18

CECIL FIELD – Fleming Island High swimming graduated a bucketload of talent last year, but senior freestyler Andrew Heinton remains and the fleet flyer grabbed two second place finishes in his …

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Grimm grabs first; Heinton second at swim districts


Posted

CECIL FIELD – Fleming Island High swimming graduated a bucketload of talent last year, but senior freestyler Andrew Heinton remains and the fleet flyer grabbed two second place finishes in his specialties at the district 1-4A swmming and diving championships on Friday at Cecil Field as he gears up for a strong region and state run.

Top two finishers per event advance with the final eight swimmers selected by time once all four districts have completed their championship meets.

“We are a very young and inexperience bunch compared to last year,” said Bright, who coached a three-peat gold medal performance in the 200 free relay in the past three Class 4A championships with Heinton the lone returner from that amazing foursome; Jack Neeley (FAU), Nick Hackett (UF) and John Hutton (UNLV) with Jacob Thompson the fifth man in after Hutton graduated in 2016. “We’ll be competitive into the regions, but state is going to need swimmers to really step up. We’ll see.”

In the showcased 200 free relay, Fleming Island took fourth behind Fletcher, Buchholz and Mandarin.

In the 50 free, Heinton finished second to Fletcher freshman sensation Larry Salls with a 22.19 split to Salls’ 21.82. Heinton is ranked eighth in the region with Salls third.

In the 100 free, Heinton blasted a 48.98 split for second to Mandarin senior Luke Dingfield’s 48.67 in a dramatic final finishing surge by both swimmers. Heinton is ranked seventh in the region with Dingfield at sixth.

“This is one of the fastest districts around and we are one of the smallest schools in 4A,” said Bright. “We’ve held our own over the past years though.”

Fleming Island’s girls opened up the meet with a scintillating win in the 200 medley relay with Sarah Grimm, Emma Grimm, Abree Clark and Christine Johnson blasting a 1:51.57 time beating Deland by almost five seconds. The win ranked Fleming Island fifth in the region.

Emma Grimm would return to win gold in the 100 breaststroke over Camden Pickering of Spruce Creek. Grimm is ranked 17th in region with Julia Sheffler at 20th.

The girls 200 free relay; with Reagan Crosby replacing Abree Clark, took second to Buchholz by just a second. Crosby is ranked 23rd in the region 100 free.

“We have fast girls, just not a lot of them,” said Bright. “We have to pick and choose who goes where to maximize points.”

For the boys, the 200 medley relay took fourth (ninth in region), with top five finishes from Robbie Jones, fifth in 100 butterfly (19th in region); fourth in 200 free relay (ranked 10th in region) and Josh Conomea, fourth in 100 breaststroke (24th in region). The 400 free relay is ranked 11th.

For the girls, top five finishes came from Emma Grimm, third in 50 free (15th in region); Christine Johnson, fifth in 100 butterfly (12th in region); Sarah Grimm, fourth in 100 backstroke (ranked 12th in region); Julia Sheffler, third in 100 breaststroke and fourth in 400 free relay. Johnson is 19th ranked in the region for the 50 free with Sarah Grimm ranked 21st. The 200 free relay is ranked fourth in the region. The 400 free relay is ranked ninth.