DP Swimming Sets Records at Spruce Creek Record Breaker; Football Cruises at Homecoming

DP Men’s Swimming set four meet records on the way to a dominating first place finish at the Spruce Creek Recordbreaker Invitational. Sophomore Evan Staton finished with two individual first place finishes, shattering the 50 freestyle meet record in 22:01 and crushing the field in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.51). Junior John Meisenheimer followed up a gold medal finish in the 100 fly (54.69) with a  4:52.14 victory in the 500 freestyle, demolishing the previous meet record by over seven seconds. DP took the top two slots in the 200 freestyle with Ian Supra taking the gold in 1:53.09 and Eduardo Macias the silver in 1:54.51.In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Gabe Baytan took top honors with a time of 2:12.60 with sophomore Ryan Messinger finishing with a bronze. In the 200 freestyle relay, Ian Perkins, Eduardo Macias, Ian Supra and Evan Staton captured the gold medal in a meet record time of 1:30.03, nearly four seconds faster than the previous mark. In the day’s final event, John Meisenheimer, Evan Staton, Ian Supra and Ian Perkins set the meet record in the 400 freestyle relay by seven seconds with a time of 3:16.70. 

Women’s Swimming captured gold medals in six of 11 events and set two meet records en route to a second place finish in the nine team event. Senior Angela Algee won the team’s first individual gold medal with a 2:11.96 finish in the 200 individual medley while sophomore Sunny Zhu earned the bronze at 2:21.72 and sophomore Rikki Price was fourth at 2:29.00.  Sophomore Emily Kliewer won individual gold in the 100 fly (1:00.07) and the silver in the 200 freestyle (1:59.66). Junior Cindy Cheng not only set a personal best in the 100 backstroke but also shattered the meet record with a gold medal time of 59.59. Freshman Blake Broullire won her first gold medal for the Panthers with a 1:12.17 finish in the 100 breaststroke while Heather MacNeil (1:14.07) and Sunny Zhu (1:14.08) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. The Panthers brought home the gold medal in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. In the 200, Cindy Cheng, Emily Kliewer, Allie Magrino and Angela Algee just missed the meet record but finished with a winning time of 1:41.94.  DP finished the day by breaking the meet record in the 400 freestyle relay with Allie Magrino, Blake Broullire, Cindy Cheng and Angela Algee coming in at 3:40.64, over three seconds faster than the previous record. 

At the Overbay Monte Carlo Invitational in Winter Springs, Women’s Cross Country placed second in the 15 team event led by seniors Bridget Blake and Amber Johnson. Blake finished first in the field of 111 runners with a time of 19:42 and Johnson, who came off a tremendous runner-up finish last week in Gainesville, placed second, just two seconds off the pace at 19:44. Senior Abbey Baron crossed the line in 22:57 (24th), freshman Annika Sison was 32nd at 23:16 and junior Maddie Dolengowski completed the DP scoring with a 37th place finish in 23:27. Also competing for the Panthers were senior Melissa Lore (43rd at 23:45) and junior Amina Onyame (66th at 25:07). 

Men’s Cross Country continues to improve as they finished fourth in the 19-team Overbay Monte Carlo Invitational. Junior Adam Lawrence finished 14th in the field  at 18:05. Sophomore Coulson Canty’s time of 18:19 was good for 21st place with sophomore Tommy DiMauro (32nd at 18:57), junior Anthony Rojas (33rd at 19:06) and Jan Hildenbrandt (51st at 19:40) rounding out the scorecard. Freshman Darren Washington (20:16) and junior David Taylor (24:51) also competed for the Panthers.

Friday night at Winter Springs,Women’s Volleyball (7-4) won the first game against the host Bears, 25-19, but lost the next three, 26-24, 25-16, 25-21. Ionna McKenzie finished with eight kills and three blocks and Hannah Schaible registered eight digs, four blocks and five kills. JV Volleyball improved to 7-4 with a two-game sweep of host Winter Springs, 256-24, 25-23. Rachel Scime tallied 14 service points and four aces while Silvana Del Aguila and Rebecca Colon were the defensive standouts. 

Also on Friday DP Football crushed visiting Hollywood MacArthur 35-7 in a rainy Homecoming game.  Senior quarterback Stephen Maloney completed his first three passes for touchdowns and senior running back Eric Harrell blasted his way for 101 yards and two touchdowns in just one half of work.   Despite a driving rain, DP (4-0) scored on their first five possessions with an average starting field position at the McArthur 29 yard line.

On the Panthers’ opening possession, Eric Harrell carried seven times for 35 yards and a pair of first downs to the McArthur 13. Facing third and seven, Maloney fired to the far side of the field for Zach Autiello and the senior juggled the pass, pulled it in and took it to the house from 13 yards out to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. After Chadwick Williams recovered his third fumble of the season at the McArthur 16, Eric Harrell needed just one snap for a 16-yard touchdown run, DP’s second touchdown in just ten seconds, for a 14-0 lead. After the defense forced another punt, Maloney and the Panthers went to work at the McArthur 29. Four carries by Harrell drove DP down to the ten to set up Maloney’s second touchdown pass of the night, a ten yard fade to Denzell Hanna in the back of the endzone. With 23 seconds left in the first quarter, DP staked themselves to a 21-0 lead.

The Panthers added to their lead in the second quarter, taking advantage of a fumbled punt snap by McArthur to get good field position.  The drive ended with a another touchdown pass from Maloney to junior Roderick Proctor.  Later in the quarter sophmore Jamari Smith, recently promoted from the JV, intercepted a McArthur pass, and four plays later Eric Harrell barrelled into the end zone from seven yards out for his ninth touchdown of the season.  DP took a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, and that was all they needed for the win.