Eastside boys win their 10th straight district title

The Eastside boys swim team captured the the Class 2A District 5 championship on Wednesday.
The Eastside boys swim team captured the the Class 2A District 5 championship on Wednesday.
Courtesy of Jonathan Allen

Coming into the swimming and diving season, Eastside head coach Jonathan Allen knew that winning a 10th consecutive district title was going to be tougher.

That’s because Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), last year’s Class 2A state champion, moved into the Rams’ district this fall.

So, Allen went to work right away to try and find an edge.

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“The moment we saw the new district assignments last spring we knew it was going to be very difficult to win,” he said. “The first thing I did was ask kids at school if anyone had considered diving. I knew BK didn’t have any divers so those would be free points.”

Senior Jeremy Broad-Wright, one of their captains, did his best to recruit new members.

“Thankfully, Dylan (Dean) and Matheus (Ribeiro do Valle) joined without prior experience, and worked all season to get the 11 required divers down,” Allen said. “We still needed the perfect swim lineup, so we came up with a plan which allowed for maximum team scores while still showcasing the guys’ best events.”

The plan worked, as the host Rams edged the Crusaders, 511-505, on Wednesday at the Dwight H. Hunter Pool in Gainesville to win the FHSAA 2A-District 3 title.

“It was a total team effort, and we needed every single person to do their part,” Allen said. “Pretty satisfying when a complex plan is executed to perfection.”

It was the 10th straight district title for Allen and the Eastside boys, who were state runners-up last year to Bishop Kenny.

“I wanted this one badly,” Allen said. “Nine in a row was big, but being able to hit double digits, especially in this way, was pretty special. I’m so proud of these kids. I think back to the hundreds of kids over that span who have contributed to the streak. I’ve been very fortunate.”

While the two divers helped make the difference, Dean defeated Ribeiro do Valle, 283.35- 209.40, to win the 1-meter diving competition, junior Eric Gong made big contributions by winning the 100-yard fly (51.87 seconds) and the 200-yard free (1 minute, 48.26 seconds).

“Eric had a huge day,” Allen said. “He, Abraham (Burangulov) and I have been scheming for this meet for weeks and I’m really proud of how he performed. He is his biggest critic, but I think he gained some confidence moving forward.”

Burangulov, another captain, was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team which finished second (1:38.60) behind Bishop Kenny (1:36.87), and the 400-yard free relay team which also finished second (3:16.41) behind the Crusaders (3:14.50).

The senior was second in the 50-yard free (22.68) and the 100-yard breast (1:00.01).

The Rams placed well in the distance events as sophomore Chris Jeong (4:42.40) and freshman Alexander Han (4:43.49) finished first and second, respectively, in the 500-yard free.

“Alex and Chris both finished ahead of the previous school record (Wesley Olmsted, 2013) in the 500 free, with Chris setting the new mark,” Allen said. “Those two have been a big lift for us especially since they’re willing to take on one of the tougher events. You have to be mentally tough to compete at that level in the 500 and they already have that edge as underclassmen.”

Gong, Burangulov, and Jeong were a part of last year’s 200-yard medley relay state championship team which set a school record.

Up next is the 2A-Region 1 meet next week, followed by the 2A state championship meet on Saturday, Nov.16, meaning the Rams and Crusaders will see each other again.

“I don’t think they saw us coming, to be honest,” Allen said. “They are a really good team and now we’ve lost the element of surprise. I expect the kids to continue to compete at a high level and we’ll try to go toe-to-toe with them the next two weeks.”

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