Sickles sets records en route to win over Berkeley Prep

By JONATHAN MILTON
Published September 5, 2007

TAMPA - Like a game of tug of war, Tuesday's match between Berkeley Prep and Sickles was full of excitement and pure competition.

In the end, Sickles came away with the winning numbers: Sickles girls 105, Berkeley Prep girls 80; Sickles 122, Berkeley Prep boys 63.

The night began with an impressive display of diving showmanship from Berkeley Prep's Kyle Dent and Marni Tuchman. Each earned impressive scores: Dent 227.85, Tuchman 245.15.

Once the swimmers took to the pool, it was clear Sickles wasn't going to back down.

In the first event, the girls 200 relay, Berkeley Prep held its ground, winning in 1:59.90 over Sickles' 2:00.76. But Sickles turned up the heat, winning 18 out of 24 events.

And Sickles managed to break some of its own school records.

Sickles boys broke the 1999 200 free relay record of 133.48 with a 133.24. Katie Cook broke the 200 IM record time of 216.68 with a 2.15.86. Rounding out the records was Veronica Case as she broke her own record in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.77) set two weeks ago, with a time of 1:10.42.

Despite Sickles' lead, Berkeley Prep, including senior Jonathan Jordan, managed to show incredible strengths during events such as the 200 and 500 free.

"This was our first, I thought, real challenge of racing against some talented swimmers," Sickles coach Scott Parlett said.

Both teams will compete in Saturday's City Relays.

[Last modified September 4, 2007, 23:52:49]