High school regional swimming: West Port swimmers Rohacs, Opdyke earn berths at state meet
OCALA — West Port sophomore Caleb Rohacs won the 100-yard butterfly and finished second in the 100 Backstroke and senior teammate Lea Opdyke finished fourth in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 500 freestyle to earn state meet berths Saturday at the Class 4A Region 1 Swimming and Diving Championships.
Rohacs will earn his first trip to state after winning the 100 butterfly in 51.31 seconds. His time was a new personal best by 1.32 seconds and earned him a 24th seed at the state meet, which will be held Saturday at the Sailfish Aquatic Center in Stuart.
Rohacs came back to finish second in the 100 backstroke in another personal best time of 52.86 to earn a 10th seed in the state meet.
Joining him at state will be junior teammates Jeffrey Wolfe, Sabian Branch and Justin Sosa and freshman Seth Hyde. Wolfe finished second in the 50 freestyle in a personal best of 22.02; Branch finished fifth in the 200 freestyle in a personal best 1:45.19; Hyde finished seventh in the 500 freestyle in a personal best 4:46.60; and Sosa swam on the 200 medley relay team that finished third in 1:39.47. West Port also qualified for the 400 freestyle relay after finishing fourth in 3:15.37.
West Port finished fifth with a score of 194 points at the Florida Aquatic and Swimming Training Center (FAST). It was its best finish at regionals in school history. Oviedo won the team title for the sixth time in a row with a score of 387.
Opdyke will return to the state meet for the third time in a row. The senior will swim two events, the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, this time after earning berths in the 500 as a sophomore and 200 as a junior. On Saturday, she finished fourth in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.65. That was a personal best by 6.21 seconds.
She came back to set another personal best in finishing seventh in the 500 freestyle in 5:09.81. Opdyke has missed out in qualifying for the finals session of the state meet the past two years, which features the top 16 fastest times from the morning’s preliminary session. She is seeded 18th in both and will have her best opportunity to qualify this year.
West Port finished ninth with a score of 86 in the team competition. It was the Wolf Pack's best finish at regionals in school history. Oviedo won the girls title for the first time since 2019 with 416 points.
Class 4A, Region 1 Swimming and Diving Championships
FAST, Ocala
Results from Saturday’s meet with state seeding places for state meet qualifiers.
Girls
Team Scores
1. Oviedo, 416; 2. Lake Brantley, 311.5; 6. Buchholz, 155.5;9. Westport, 86
Event results
200y Medley Relay, 5. Buchholz (Molly Brooks, Abby Kastensmidt, Lakshmi Garofalo, Emily Zhou), 1:52.89 seeded 15th dropped best by 1.37seconds
200y Freestyle, 4. Lea Opdyke, Sr, West Port, 1:55.65, 18th seed best by 6.21 seconds
100y Butterfly, 7. Molly Brooks, Sr, Buchholz, 58.76 seeded 23rd best by 0.89 seconds
100 y Freestyle, 5. Emily Zhou, So, Buchholz, 54.13 seeded 18th best by 0.90 seconds
200 y Freestyle Relay, 5. Buchholz (Emily Zhou, Abby Kastensmidt, Molly Brooks, Paola Monge), 1:41.30 seeded 15th best by 0.96 seconds
100 y Backstroke, 4. Molly Brooks, Sr, Buchholz, 59.11 seeded 17th best by 1.29 seconds
500y Freestyle, 5. Lea Opdyke, Sr, West Port, 5:09.81, 18th seed, best by 16.55 seconds
Boys
Team Scores
1. Oviedo, 387; 2. Bartram Trail, 349;5. West Port, 194; 8. Buchholz, 102.5
Event results
200 y Medley Relay, 3. West Port(Jeffrey Wolfe, Micah Rohacs, Caleb Rohacs, Justin Sosa), 1:39.47 dropped best by 1.59 seconds seeded 12th
200 y Freestyle, 5. Sabian Branch, Jr, West Port, 1:45.19, 14th seed best by 0.85 seconds
50 y Freestyle, 2. Jeffrey Wolfe, Jr, West Port, 22.02 18th seed best by 0.38 seconds
100y Butterfly, 1. Caleb Rohacs, So, West Port, 51.31, 12th seed best by 1.32 seconds; 5. Jeffrey Wolfe, Jr, West Port, 52.61, 24th seed best by 0.77 seconds
100y Backstroke, 2. Caleb Rohacs, So, West Port, 52.86 10th seed best by 2.21 seconds; 6. Luke Pinter, Sr, Buchholz, 54.66 seeded 20th best by 1.01 seconds
500 y Freestyle,7. Seth Hyde, Fr, West Port, 4:46.60, 19th seed best by 12.08 seconds
400 y Freestyle, 4. West Port (Sabian Branch, Caleb Rohacs, Micah Rohacs, Jeffrey Wolfe), 3:15.37, 12th seed best by 4.07 seconds