ORLANDO — Northside Christian's Jaki St. Louis and Plantation American Heritage's Melissa Cooper were side by side in the Central Florida YMCA pool, their capped heads bobbing in near unison during Saturday's Class A state final of the 100-yard breaststroke.
By the final turn, their synchronized swimming had stopped. Cooper had made the right move at the right moment and touched the wall first to win in 1 minute, 3.59 seconds. St. Louis was runnerup in 1:04.80.
"I really thought I had a chance to win," St. Louis said. "I had the lead but lost it in the final turn. I knew after that it was going to be tough."
St. Louis also took third in the 100 free in 51.98.
"I was seeded sixth in that event, so I was really happy with that," said the senior, who said she will sign with Southern Methodist on Wednesday. "I told myself that I wanted to come home with two medals before I came to the pool."
Shorecrest's Jessica Piper took fifth in both the 200 individual medley (2:06.84) and the 100 back (57.77). She also swam the 200 medley relay along with Rachel Shea, Paige Tripp and Hope Andrews that took eighth in 1:54.46. Piper then teamed with Shea, Andrews and Katy Alexander on the eighth-place 400 free relay (3:43.77).
Andrews was sixth in the 500 free (5:04.02) and teammate Hannah Stein was seventh in diving (414.85). The Chargers' girls scored 107 for seventh overall.
On the boys side, Shore-crest's Jack Stein placed sixth in diving (440.30), and Indian Rocks Christian's Nick Alonso was eighth in the 100 breast (1:01.43).
The meet was dominated by Jacksonville Bolles, which won its 20th straight girls team title (24th overall) and 23rd straight boys title (33rd overall).
Bolles' boys 200 medley relay of Ryan Murphy, Sergio Lujan Rivera, Timmy Romano and Tommy Gutman won in 1:29.79, shattering the state record by eight seconds and breaking the national record of 1:31.22 previously held Cincinnati St. Xavier in 2000.