ST. PETERSBURG — The Cardinal Mooney boys swim team has been knocking on the door for three seasons. Before this year, the Cougars were excited to finish second in the Class 1A-District 8 meet every year since 2006. It was significant progress for a small school that hadn’t sniffed a district title since 1994.
Cardinal Mooney kicked down the door Saturday capturing the 1A-8 district crown with a team score of 395 at North Shore Aquatic Center.
The Cougars beat second-place St. Petersburg Shore-crest by 94 points.
“I’m really proud of the boys, but for us, it’s a victory for the whole team,” Cougars coach Alice Smithers said. “Our goal for the team was to get as many kids as we could in the top 16 that meant boys and girls. All of our boys got into the top 16 and that’s all points. We had four guys in the 500-yard freestyle. We had four guys in the (100-yard) Butterfly. Then we won two relays, so that’s a lot of points.”
Cardinal Mooney’s girls team finished seventh with 136 points.
The Cougars will host the 1A-Region 3 swim meet at Sarasota’s Shelby Aquatic Center on Saturday.
Saint Stephen’s had a good showing at the meet as well.
Freshman Will Kazokas won first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.78 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle (49.17 seconds). Seventh-grader Ellen Berdusco took first place in the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.94).
The Falcons finished in the fourth place in the boys (204 points) and girls (239) team categories.
“This is pretty good,” said Saint Stephen’s senior Bianca Pol, who qualified for four events at regionals, including the 200 –yard relay and 100-yard freestyle. “My strategy was to be as nervous as possible to use the nervous energy to succeed.”
Out-of-Door Academy girls team finished in sixth place with 142 points, Bradenton Christian had 23, while the Thunder boys team had 62.
Falcons senior Ian Nora said Saturday’s performance boosts the team confidence heading into next Saturday.
“It’s great for the team, because we are really small this year,” Nora said. “Last year, we lost a lot of swimmers, and it’s great that we have this many swimmers going onto regionals. It’s astonishing actually.”
That’s the sentiments of the Cougars.
“Last year, I was thinking a three-peat would be awesome, and we got the three-peat,” Smithers said. “This year, this is just amazing for our boys. We are a real tight family, and this is good for us.”
When the meet was over and the Cougars had their district title plaque in hand, the boys stood in a line locked arm in arm for a team photo. The flash bulbs were bright like their smiles.
“This feels fantastic,” said Cardinal Mooney Doug Harvey, who finished fifth in the 100-yard breast stroke. “It’s a big accomplishment for us. Swimming is a sport where it’s not so much of competing against others as it is yourself. So it’s a great feeling when you accomplish something for yourself like this.”
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