High school swimming: Barron Collier captures CCAC championship, Gulf Coast takes second

The wait for Barron Collier High School swimming coach Matt Nelson was agonizing. The last time the Cougars won the overall team competition at the Collier County Athletic Conference swimming & diving meet was 2009.

It’s the second year in a row where Barron Collier and Gulf Coast were neck and neck. Last year, the Cougars were actually crowned the champion before a miscalculation was discovered and the Sharks rightly won their ninth straight title.

This time, Nelson's wait was worth it. Barron Collier officially captured the overall crown. 

“Last year was awfully close,” Nelson said. “I’m always proud when our boys or girls win, but when they come together and win the overall, it sets the log apart.”

Collier County schools have come together since 1980 to try and capture the Log, which is the trophy given to the team that wins the overall team score.

Nelson said the key was how seriously the swimmers took this event, narrowly edging Gulf Coast by 13 points.

“They showed up and were more focused than I’ve seen them this year,” Nelson said.

On the girls’ side, Gulf Coast took first place by 39 points followed by Barron Collier and Naples. For the boys, Barron Collier dominated outscoring second-place Gulf Coast by 52 points.

Barron Collier’s Isabella Marsala and Madison Feehery won two events each for the girls. Marsala took the 200-yard and 500 freestyles, while Feehery won the 50 free and 100 breaststroke. Barron Collier's girls also won the 200 medley relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

On the boys’ side, Gulf Coast’s Emmett Gillen and Barron Collier’s Oscar Madsen and Mason Laur won two events each. Gillen won the 50 free and 100 free. Madsen won the 200 free and 500 free while Laur won the 200 IM and 100 fly.

“My girls outperformed what they were expected to do by a mile,” Gulf Coast coach Rachel Elliott said. “I’m so proud because we fought harder today than ever. The boys, too.”

Elliott said the girls’ success had a lot to do with their thought process heading into the meet.

“We sat down Thursday and pulled out score sheets,” Elliott said. “We looked at the best opportunities to score points and our depth from swimmers two, three and four was great.”

To add insult to injury, Elliott had two of her records broken dating back to 2009. Barron Collier’s Madison Feehery broke Elliott’s in the 50 free and Maquinn Havig broke the 100 free.

“Both of my records,” Elliott said with a laugh. “That’s going to happen.”

Collier County Athletic Conference meet

at Norris Pool

Combined Team Scores

1. Barron Collier 1,043.5; 2. Gulf Coast 1,030.5; 3. Naples 658; 4. Palmetto Ridge 416; 5. Lely 321; 6. Golden Gate 122

Girls

Team scores

1.Gulf Coast 562.5; 2. Barron Collier 523.5; 3. Naples 382; 4. Palmetto Ridge 192; 5. Lely 155; 6. Golden Gate 53

Results

200-yard medley relay — 1. BC 1:52.14, 2. GC 1:52.92, 3. N 2:01.07; 200 free — 1. Isabella Marsala, BC, 2:04.57, 2. Rylie Noe, BC, 2:06.41, 3. Haley Slaboch, GC, 2:12.37; 200 IM— 1. Zoe Hendrickx, BC, 2:13.03, 1. Rachel Moran, GC, 2:13.03, 3. Emery Muller, BC, 2:14.78; 50 free — 1. Madison Feehery, BC, 24.44, 2. Brooke Boling, GC, 24.72, 3. Maquinn Havig, BC, 25.32; 1-meter diving — 1. Olivia Ricard, GC, 469.15, 2. Abby Katz, N, 299.40, 3. Brooke Sowerwine, BC, 260.95; 100 fly — 1. Olivia Owens, GC, 1:00.27, 2. Zoe Hendrickx, BC, 1:01.20, 3. Elizabeth Chevaldova, PR, 1:03.15; 100 free — 1. Maquinn Havig, BC, 53.96, 2. Brooke Boling, GC, 54.67, 3. Emery Muller, BC, 54.68; 500 free — 1. Isabella Marsala, BC, 5:29.70, 2. Lily Poorman, N, 5:41.24, 3. Emma Dobrydney, GC, 5:42.24; 200 free relay — 1. BC, 2. GC, 3. N; 100 back — 1. Ryle Noe, BC, 1:02.89, 2. Elizabeth Chevaldova, PR, 1:04.09, 3. Haley Slaboch, GC, 1:06.43; 100 breast — 1. Madison Feehery, BC, 1:07.65, 2. Rachel Moran, GC, 1:07.86, 3. Olivia Owens, GC, 1:08.41; 400 free relay — 1. BC, 2. GC, 3. N

Boys

Team scores

1. Barron Collier 520; 2. Gulf Coast 468; 3. Naples 276; 4. Palmetto Ridge 224; 5. Lely 166; 6. Golden Gate 69

Results

200 medley relay — 1. BC, 2. GC, 3. Lely;  200 free — 1. Oscar Madsen, BC, 1:47,49, 2. Gavin Brylowski, GC, 1:56.61, 3. Anthony Pascual, GC, 2:00.28; 200 IM — 1. Mason Laur, BC, 1:56.20, 2. Jason Ang, GC, 2:10.96, 3. Collin Roy, GC, 2:13.67; 50 free — 1. Emmett Gillen, GC, 22.08, 2. Andrew Garner, BC, 22.26, 3. Colton Rasmussen, PR, 22.63; 1-meter diving — 1. Peter Learned, BC, 260.45, 2. Matt Zehnder, BC, 207.70, 3. Luke Forbis, GC, 179.45; 100 fly — 1. Mason Laur, BC, 52.09, 2. William Eriksson, BC, 58.24, 3. Erik Eisold, N, 59.65; 100 free — 1. Emmett Gillen, GC, 48.51, 2. Colton Rasmussen, PR, 48.65, 3. Anton Sunyak, BC, 49.75; 500 free — 1. Oscar Madsen, BC, 4:46.57, 2. Gavin Brylowski, GC, 5:14.44, 3. Jeremiah Villasante, BC, 5:36.73; 200 free relay — 1. BC, 2. N, 3. PR; 100 back — 1. Anton Sunyak, BC, 57.64, 2. Jason Ang, GC, 58.77, 3. William Erikkson, BC, 1:01.23; 100 breast — 1. Andrew Garner, BC, 1:09.24, 2. Luca Gurgenidze, Lely, 1:06.14, 3. Gareth Rosal, N, 1:07.45; 400 free relay — 1. BC, 2. GC, 3. N