GAINESVILLE - The Fleming Island High swimming and diving team is primed to add a few more medals to the school's trophy case, as defending state champions Noah Stotler and William Shoesmith won convincingly at their District 3-3A Championship meet on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

In District 1-4A at Planet Swim in Ponte Vedra, Oakleaf got top finishes from senior Brylee Wood, who was fifth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 50 free. Julius Freytag finished 10th in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free. The Oakleaf girls' 200 free relay was sixth, while the boys were fifth. Oakleaf's region meet will be Friday, Oct. 30 at Lake Brantley.

In District 2-3A at Tallahassee Chiles, Orange Park's boys and girls both finished third, while the Middleburg boys and girls were fifth, and the Ridgeview boys were seventh and the girls were eighth.

In Gainesville, the Fleming Island boys team finished a strong second to Ponte Vedra, 480-345, while Bartram Trail finished third at 290. The Fleming Island girls were a close third behind Ponte Vedra's 576 points, while Bartram Trails finished with 325, followed by Fleming Island at 315.

Stotler and Shoesmith both smashed the field - 200 free and 100 free for Stotler, and the 500 free and 200 individual medley for Shoesmith. The regional championship on Oct. 27 may present a challenge for both swimmers.

Stotler was the Class 3A champion in the 200 free last year at Clay. He won with a 1:39.49 time, easily ahead of Ponte Vedra's Chase Kendall's time of 1:44.76.

Shoesmith was also dominant in the 200 IM with nearly and eight second gap - 1:53.91 to 2:01.72 - ahead of Lecanto's Ethan Seguin.

In the 100 free, Stotler won by almost three seconds with a 46.22 split to Ponte Vedra's Aaron Yang's 48.59.

Shoesmith and Kendall duked it out in the 500 free, with Shoesmith accelerating in the final laps to win in 4:31.81. Kendall was clocked at 4:35.17.

In the 100 butterfly, Ridgeview transfer Jackson Strickland exploded to win in 53.89 seconds. He also finished third in 100 backstroke.

The trio of Stotler, Shoesmith and Strickland also teamed with Grant Robertson and Jake Hall to take the top times in the 400 free relay and the 200 free relay. Fleming Island was third in the 200 medley relay.

For the girls, bright spots came from sophomore Ellie Strombeck, who was second in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 200 free; sophomore Klara Shoesmith, who was second in the 200IM and sixth in the 100 breaststroke; and Natalie Kendall, who was fifth in the 50 free. The Golden Eagles also posted top 10 finishes in the 100 free by fourth-place Kinsey Yarbrough and sixth-place Caroline Kuhl. Audrey Hall finished sixth in 100 backstroke, while Kendall was 11th.

The girls 100 breaststroke featured three local swimmers in the top 10 with Shoesmith in sixth, Fleming Island's Summer Van Wagenen in seventh and Clay's Kaya Davis in ninth.

In District 2-3A, Orange Park put three swimmers in top 10. Taylor Mandigo was in third in the 200 free and fourth in the 500 free. Abrielle Benoit was eighth and Autumn Hill was 10th.

In the boys 200 free, the Raiders were 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th, led by senior William Crawford.

Orange Park sophomore Isaac Gutierrez got a second-place finish in the 200 IM, while Tyler Nelson was seventh.

In the 50 free, mainstay Jordan Leak was fourth for the girls, while Dakota Blake was fifth for the boys. Leak was also fifth in the 100 free and Adelle Crawford was sixth. In the boys 100 free, Abraham Yeykal was eighth.

Raiders junior Princeton Williams took home fourth in the 100 fly, while Rylan Taylor was sixth. Williams also combined with Zephan Leak for a third- and fourth-place finish in the 100 breast, led by Leak in third.

Middleburg's top finishes were an eighth in the 200 free and ninth in the 100 back by senior Sawyer Hampton. The Broncos also posted a 10th in the 100 fly from Max Zarczynski, and an 11th in the 100 breast and 200 free from Alyssa Crook.

Ridgeview got an eighth in 50 free and 12th in 100 free by Neveen Trevino.