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Northeast's Romano has record-setting day

The freshman sets two individual meet records and helps the Vikings relay team to two of their own in the City Meet.

ST. PETERSBURG - From the beginning, the St. Petersburg City Meet belonged to Megan Romano.

In the first event, the girls 200-yard medley relay, Romano swam the first leg and helped her Northeast teammates lop nearly two seconds off the meet record with a time of 1 minute, 54.08 seconds.

The freshman phenom followed that by setting meet records in the 200 freestyle (1:47.84) and 500 freestyle (4:49.93). When she stepped onto the blocks for the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, Romano had the chance to set another record.

She went full bore and was so far ahead of the pace she only had the crowd to push her home. Romano picked up her furious pace in the 50 meters and touched the wall in 50 seconds. Her teammates did the rest and the Vikings finished in a meet-record 3:39.10.

Romano carried Northeast, which won the girls meet with 522 points, 61 more than St. Petersburg.

"Megan is quite a swimmer," Vikings coach Bill Burrows said. "The fact that she can get motivated and find ways to compete when she's not challenged is what's most impressive. In that relay (400 freestyle) most teams used up their girls. But she still went after it and turned in a time on her leg that's pretty close to what she's swam all season."

Romano proved to be the biggest star in what was a coming out party for young swimmers. Two other freshmen, the Green Devils' Tracy Rorer and St. Petersburg Catholic's Kelsey Krauss, also did well.

Rorer set records in the 200 individual medley (2:07.79) and 100 breaststroke (1:06.14). Krauss won the 50 freestyle (25.09) and 100 butterfly (1:00.44).

St. Petersburg won the boys meet with 541 points to beat Northeast by 107. The Green Devils won seven events, including two each by Brent Sunnucks (200 IM and 100 butterfly) and Kevin Nardozzi (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke).

Vikings freshman Cameron Chambers was the other multiple winner, taking first in the 200 and 500 freestyle).