Preps

No quit in 'Canes' Warner

By SHARON GINN
Published December 17, 2004

Caitlin Warner waited patiently for her big moment. And it isn't always easy being patient while you're spending hours staring at the bottom of the pool.

This season, that moment finally came for the Palm Harbor University senior. But Warner can't help but wish it could have come 1.01 seconds sooner. It still smarts a little that she lost her signature race, the 500-yard freestyle, at the Class 3A meet by one second.

Here's a nice consolation: Warner, who also finished third in the 200 free that day, is the Times' Pinellas County girls' swimming and diving athlete of the year.

Just like her 500 freestyle swim at state, it was a close contest. Warner barely nudged out Admiral Farragut sophomore Claire Thompson, who swam the same events at state - albeit in a different classification - and also had second- and third-place finishes. Also in the running was Pinellas Park senior Ashley Gorman, who finished third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 butterfly at the 3A meet.

What made the difference for Warner was what she was able to do for her teammates after exhausting herself in the 500.

Warner shrugged off the disappointment of her close loss, got back in the pool for a warmdown, then mustered the energy to swim a blistering 50-yard leg to help Palm Harbor U. finish sixth in the next event, the 200 free relay.

Warner swam the leg in 24.64 seconds, exceptionally fast for a swimmer who considers herself a distance freestylist.

"It was the adrenaline," Warner said. "You want to go out with a bang."

And she did, said Palm Harbor U. coach Lisa Bitting.

"It was absolutely amazing, but Caitlin is an amazing person," Bitting said. "She's one of those kids that does a lot of club training (for Clearwater Aquatics). But her high school team is very important to her. When it comes to team, she's going to step it up and give it everything she can."

Bitting said one reason Warner finished strong was her surprising second-place finish in the 200 free at districts to her club training partner, East Lake's Jennifer Guyler. Warner had spent a year stewing over not making the state finals in the 200 free as a junior, and the last thing she wanted was to lose momentum late in the season.

"She's a very proud young lady," Bitting said. "That kind of shook her up to realize that no more messing around ... she's going to take names and get it done. Caitlin is the sweetest girl in the world, but when it comes to competition, she gets that game face on - "I'm here to race, and I'm here to win, and you've got to beat me.' "

Warner, who plans to swim in college but is unsure where she will go, will spend the winter training to qualify for next year's USA Swimming senior nationals.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Bitting's Hurricanes team finished seventh at the Class 3A meet, despite losing last year's Times' Pinellas swimmer of the year, Brittany Nauta, to Tampa Prep.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Caitlin Warner, Palm Harbor U.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Lisa Bitting, Palm Harbor U.

200-yard medley relay - Palm Harbor U. (Colleen Bauza, Jessica Deng, Candace Thornburg, Kariann Stevens) 1:51.04

200 freestyle - Claire Thompson, Admiral Farragut 1:49.91

200 individual medley - Dani Brands, St. Petersburg Catholic 2:06.95

50 free - Ashley Gorman, Pinellas Park :23.85

100 butterfly - Ashley Gorman, Pinellas Park :57.43

100 free - Claire Thompson, Admiral Farragut 53.47

500 free - Caitlin Warner, Palm Harbor U. 4:55.69

200 free relay - Palm Harbor U. (Jessica Deng, Candace Thornburg, Kariann Stevens, Caitlin Warner) 1:41.39

100 backstroke - Deidre Novotny, East Lake :58.23

100 breaststroke - Jessica Deng, Palm Harbor U. 1:06.46

400 free relay - Seminole (Lana Douglass, Whitney Roper, Tierney Moses, Teresa Tessier) 3:38.48

Diving (11 dives) - Catherine Smolin, Largo 436.45

200 medley relay - Countryside (Kim Iaquinto, Katie Kastes, Megan Lawrence, Kylie Kastes) 1:53.00

200 free - Caitlin Warner, Palm Harbor U., 1:52.48

200 IM - Christine Thompson, Admiral Farragut 2:08.15

50 free - Jana Wilsey, Clearwater 24.78

100 fly - Teresa Tessier, Seminole :58.13

100 free - Christine Thompson, Admiral Farragut :53.76

500 free - Christine Thompson, Admiral Farragut 4:56.82

200 free relay - Seminole (Kristin Box, Lana Douglass, Whitney Roper, Tierney Moses) 1:42.14

100 back - Dani Brands, St. Petersburg Catholic :59.23

100 breast - Katie Kastes, Countryside 1:09.37

400 free relay - Palm Harbor U. (Caitlin Warner, Colleen Bauza, Candace Thornburg, Kariann Stevens) 3:40.74

Diving (11 dives) - Amanda Breen, Countryside, 397.30

Admiral Farragut - Titilayo Adeleye, Stase Michota. Clearwater - Jill Sears, Eva Strickland. Countryside - Alex Ray. Dunedin - Katy Haley, Nicole Gauzens, Melissa Barrido, Lauren May. East Lake - Jennifer Guyler. Indian Rocks Christian - Amanda Panty. Northeast - Jessie Bardin, Kate Cillian, Sally Decker, Jaime Milo, Lauren Sanchez, Jordan Weber. Northside Christian - Kaitlin Frehling, Alexandra Smith. Shorecrest - Jacqueline St. Louis. Seminole - Maryanne Thomas. Palm Harbor U. - Jessica Rettig, Katelynn Stevens.

[Last modified December 17, 2004, 00:19:04]