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SWIMMING

Swimming: Gulf Coast's Ricard, Barron Collier's Feehery look to go out on top at 3A finals

The Barron Collier swim team, seen here cheering at the Collier County Athletic Conference meet, will send 38 athletes to the Class 3A state finals in Stuart. Gulf Coast will send 35 athletes.

Olivia Ricard has a bright future ahead of her.

She’s one of the top students in her class at Gulf Coast High School, and she has an Ivy League scholarship waiting for her when she graduates.

But before Ricard moves on to Columbia University, she has some unfinished business left in her accomplished high school diving career.

A top-three finisher in the state each of the past two seasons, Ricard has one more shot to grab her ultimate goal – a state championship. The Sharks senior diver is one of 75 Collier County athletes competing at the Class 3A Florida High School Swimming and Diving State Championships on Friday in Stuart.

More:Barron Collier girls win Class 3A-Region 3 meet; Cougars boys second

More:Barron Collier captures CCAC swim title, Gulf Coast takes second

“I’m honestly kind of just going into it with a laid-back mindset because it is my last high school meet ever,” Ricard said. “I want to make the most of it. I don’t want to remember it as something where I was stressed or nervous and have all the fun taken out of it.”

Olivia Ricard

Ricard didn’t start diving until she was a freshman, after doing gymnastics for eight years. She made the state finals that season and came in 24th.

Ricard made giant leap as a sophomore, finishing second in the state in 2016. Last year as a junior, Ricard placed third. She was among the three finalists for the Naples Daily News Girls Swimmer of the Year Award the past two seasons.

More:Gulf Coast's Olivia Ricard diving for gold in 2018

Ricard has earned a spot on Columbia’s swimming and diving team next year. She has a full slate of USA Swimming meets ahead of her this spring and summer.

However, she’d love to close this chapter of her diving career with a state championship medal.

Ricard is seeded second in the girls 1-meter diving at the 3A finals. The only diver ahead of her is Kissimmee-Osceola sophomore Carina Lumia, who placed second in the state last year, one spot ahead of Ricard.

Ricard’s score at regionals, 467.80, is 50 points higher than she scored at last year’s state finals. It would have been good enough to win the 2016 state championship. But the score was 10 points behind Lumia at the regional meet.

“I just have to take a deep breath and dive like I know how to,” Ricard said. “I don’t like to look at my competition because then I start getting into my head. I don’t want to over-analyze. That’s not good.”

Barron Collier is sending 38 boys and girls swimmers to state, while Gulf Coast is sending 35. Naples and Palmetto Ridge have one swimmer each.

One of the Cougars is competing at the 3A finals for the first time, but she’s not new to the state championships. And she also is looking to close out a stellar prep career with a title.

2016 Fall Player of the Year finalist Emma Feehery, Community School of Naples swimming

Emma Feehery won a Class 1A championship in the 500-yard freestyle as a sophomore at Community School in 2016. She transferred to Barron Collier for her senior season this year and his hoping to add another medal before she goes to swim at the University of North Carolina next season.

More:Swimming runs in bloodline for Feeherys, now at Barron Collier

“It’s all gone by insanely fast,” Feehery said of her high school career. “I’m really excited to be at Barron for this last one. I had a great time going (to state) at CSN. Now I’m with a bigger team, one with a great chance to do some things.”

Barron Collier High School's Emma Feehery competes in the Shark Relays at Norris Pool in Naples on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018.

Feehery is seeded fourth in the 500 freestyle, 7 seconds behind top seed Olivia McMurray of Fort Myers High School. She’s also ranked fourth in the 200 freestyle, again behind No. 1 seed McMurray.

Gaining time on McMurray will be tough, especially since the Green Wave swimmer has All-American times in both events. Feehery’s goal is to medal (top eight) in both, which she hasn’t done before. She medaled in the 500 but not the 200 as a sophomore and vice-versa as a junior.

But Feehery also knows nothing is impossible. When she won her 500 freestyle title as a sophomore she was seeded third.

“I’ve got some rest under me this week, and I’ll have a big team there to cheer me on,” Feehery said. “I just really hope to have fun and not be too sad at the end.”

Class 3A state meet

Where: Sailfish Splash Waterpark and Aquatics Center, Stuart

When: Friday

Area state qualifiers

Barron Collier -- Girls 200 medley relay, 10th, 1:51.62; Boys 200 medley relay, 1st, 1:36.61; Girls 200 freestyle, Emma Feehery, 4th, 1:51.98, Isabella Marsala, 20th, 1:57.76; Boys 200 freestyle, Oscar Madsen, 16th, 1:46.07; Girls 200 IM, Zoe Hendrickx, 7th, 2:09.56; Boys 200 IM, Mason Laur, 1st, 1:52.73; Girls 50 freestyle, Madison Feehery, 3rd, 24.24; Boys 50 freestyle, Jacob Connor, 17th, 22.22; Girls 100 butterfly, Maquinn Havig, 12th, 58.79; Boys 100 butterfly, Mason Laur, 2nd, 50.33; Girls 100 freestyle, Maquinn Havig, 6th, 53.09, Emery Muller, 11th, 53.61; Boys 100 freestyle, Andrew Garner, 5th, 47.38, Anton Sunyak, 7th, 47.51, Jacob Connor, 9th, 47.85; Girls 500 freestyle, Emma Feehery, 4th, 4:57.90, Isabella Marsala, 11th, 5:07.78; Boys 500 freestyle, Oscar Madsen, 6th, 4:40.38; Girls 200 freestyle relay, 2nd, 1:38.72; Girls 100 backstroke, Zoe Hendrickx, 9th, 1:00.19, Rylie Noe, 14th, 1:01.25; Boys 100 backstroke, Anton Sunyak, 12th, 55.29; Girls 100 breaststroke, Madison Feehery, 12th, 1:06.99; Boys 100 breaststroke, Andrew Garner, 1st, 58.53; Girls 400 freestyle relay, 13th, 3:41.53; Boys 400 freestyle relay, 3rd, 3:09.26

Estero -- Girls 200 medley relay, 7th, 1:51.31; Girls 200 freestyle, Giuliana Carlini, 6th, 1:53.26; Girls 200 IM, Kelsey Swartout, 13th, 2:11.22; Girls 100 butterfly, Mikayla Puckett, 17th, 59.01; Girls 100 freestyle, Giuliana Carlini, 2nd, 52.19; Girls 500 freestyle, Kelsey Swartout, 16th, 5:09.30; Girls 100 breaststroke, Mikayla Puckett, 11th, 1:06.76; Girls 400 freestyle relay, 4th, 3:36.58; 

Gulf Coast -- Girls 200 medley relay, 6th, 1:51.28; Boys 200 medley relay, 15th, 1:42.74; Girls 200 IM, Rachel Moran, 8th, 2:10.07; Girls 500 freestyle, Brooke Boling, 12th, 24.92; Boys 50 freestyle, Emmett Gillen, 7th, 21.81; Girls 1-meter diving, Olivia Ricard, 2nd, 467.80; Girls 100 butterfly, Olivia Owens, 15th, 58.84; Girls 100 freestyle, Brooke Boling, 14th, 53.88; Boys 100 freestyle, Emmett Gillen, 11th, 47.98; Girls 200 freestyle relay, 8th, 1:40.85; Boys 200 freestyle relay, 7th, 1:30.51; Girls 100 breaststroke, Rachel Moran, 6th, 1:06.56, Olivia Owens, 16th, 1:07.35

Naples -- Girls 200 IM, Annelise Eisold, 15th, 2:12.58; Girls 100 breaststroke, Annelise Eisold, 23rd, 1:08.51

Palmetto Ridge -- Boys 200 freestyle, Colton Rasmussen, 10th, 1:45.30; Boys 100 freestyle, Colton Rasmussen, 15th, 48.53;