Last Thursday at the Cecil Aquatic Center, hosted by Wolfson (Jacksonville), the Eastside High School girls won the Class 2A-District 3 Swimming & Diving Championship, while the boys finished second.
The Lady Rams, who last won in 2023, won their 15th district title, which also marked the 25th total for EHS swim and dive teams, with the first being in 2005. The boys have 10, including their 10th straight district title last year.
The Eastside girls, who also won the city title, along with the boys, in September, have yet to lose this season.
“I am so proud of these kids,” said Eastside coach Jon Allen. “Their focus and determination were unmatched. Every athlete had a role in this win. We had 36 entries and every single one scored at least one point for the team.”
The Eastside girls finished ahead of Wolfson, 528-494, to win the title.
“They were fired up once we realized we could catch Wolfson, and they rose to the challenge,” Allen said. “Our district is pretty challenging, so this one feels especially satisfying.”
Junior Elise Panna (200-yard Individual Medley, 100 freestyle), freshman Grace Panna (100 butterfly), junior Juliette Bruijnzeel (500 free) and freshman Sofia Chubina (100 backstroke) all won individual district titles.
“To put ourselves in a position to win, we had to win a few tight races,” Allen said. “Some of them came down to the last few strokes into the wall. Looking at the seeding, we knew if we could win these races, we’d be in a good position.”
The quartet also helped win two relays.
“Elise came up with a big win in the 100 free and anchored the 200 free relay, Grace had a solid 100 fly, and Juliette battled the whole way on the 500 and touched her competitor out at the finish,” Allen said. “Sofia won the back and then turned right around and helped the team win the 400 free relay. With that firepower at the top and then everyone else on the team scoring points in each event, they were not going to be denied.”
Santa Fe (Alachua) finished fifth with 122 points.
The Eastside boys finished second, 513-477, behind 2024 2A state runner-up Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville).
“The boys performed very well,” Allen said. “We knew it would be super challenging to beat BK. They have won state two of the last three years and are loaded with seniors. Our kids gave it everything they had. Sometimes, I wish you could play defense in swimming, but you can’t control how fast your competitors are and they have an elite team this year.”
Senior Eric Gong won the 200 free (1 minute,45.77 seconds), and senior Alexander Han finished first in the 100 fly (51.45), with Gong finishing second (52.74).
Junior Christopher Jeong won a district title in the 500 free (4:46.26), while Han (4:48.23) finished second.
The 200 free relay team of Gong, Han, junior Rheimy Lian and senior Saber Lian finished second (1:34.76) behind Bishop Kenny (1:29.69), while the 400 free relay team of Gong, Han, Jeong, and freshman Anton Burangulov also finished second (3:19.13) behind the Crusaders (3:16.99).
“Still super proud of how we did because there are 12 districts in the state and we could have won 11 of them,” Allen said. “We had lots of individual wins, but they had a little more depth. Our guys certainly did not go down without a fight.”
Up next is the 2A-Region 1 meet on Wednesday in Panama City Beach, which is co-hosted by Arnold High School and Bay High School, followed by the 2A state championship meet on Friday, Nov. 7.
Last year, the Lady Rams finished seventh at the FHSAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships, while the boys finished fourth in the state.