By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
The Harmony Longhorns continued their dominance in boys swimming, capturing their second consecutive Orange Belt Conference championship and fourth title in five years, while the St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs claimed their first outright OBC girls swimming championship in dramatic fashion, edging Harmony by just two points Thursday afternoon at the Markinson Aquatic Center.
Harmony, who repeated to win their fourth team title in the last five years, saw its team win seven individual events and two relays to score 186 points and easily out-distance St. Cloud (126) for the team championship.
Davin Mathis (200 Medley Relay, 100-Breast, 50-Free and 200-Free Relay) won four gold medals to lead the Longhorns to the win; while Mark Rivera and Jacob Thomas won three each.
“It went pretty much as planned,” Ross said. “It was a nice reward for the months of hard work these guys have put in.” The first-year coach said he was especially pleased with the efforts of Rivera and Thomas. “Both those guys had exceptional meets and I was pleased that Jacob broke his own OBC record in the 500-free.”
Individually, Celebration’s Mahmoud Morsy had an outstanding meet. He set OBC meet records in the 100-fly (52.13) and 100-back (54.02) and swam a winning leg on the Storm’s 400-Free Relay.
St. Cloud’s Crusoe Pennington (200-IM) and Harmony’s Parker Kienzler (1-Meter Dive) where the other individual boys’ event winners.
For a second straight year, the OBC Girls Championship came down to a nailbiter between Harmony and St. Cloud. Last year, the Longhorns outscored the Bulldogs, 24-1 in the 1-meter dive, to salvage a 152-152 tie for the team championship.
This year, St. Cloud won eight of 12 events, to edge the Longhorns 182-180 to win their first outright OBC Swimming and Diving Championship. Just as the lone diving event cost them a solo title last year, it won it for them this year.
St. Cloud’s Autumn Mariciniak won the event with 184.55 points to pick up nine valuable team points. Although Harmony took the next three places, two other St. Cloud divers scored points as the Longhorns only managed an 18-16 advantage in the event.
Collectively, Santiana Meassick was the star of the show for St. Cloud, winning both 200-free (2:055.36) and 100-free (1:02.01) in OBC Meet record time; while also swimming legs on the winning 200-Medley Relay and 200-Free Relay to claim four gold medals at the meet.
Elise Jurgens (200-Medley Relay, 200-Free, 100-Back) and Avery Powell (200-Medley Relay,
50-Free, 500-Free) also won three golds each for St. Cloud.
“I can’t say enough about the effort our swimmers and divers put in today,” Bulldogs coach Tommy Jurgens said. “Autumn really came through for us in the diving and Santiana led an outstanding effort by our swimmers. Overall though, I would have to say our depth made the real difference this year.” In last year’s event, just five swimmers accounted for 146 of St. Cloud’s 152 points. This year, the Lady Bulldogs saw 13 of their 16 swimmers record points.
In all, 11-OBC Meet Records were set on Thursday. The teams now turn their attention to District Competition, which starts next week. “From this point on, its all about the individual,” Ross said. “We may tinker a little bit with our lineup with the goal of giving all our swimmers the best chance to advance to the next level.”
2026 Orange Belt Conference
Swimming Championships Results
Boys Team Scores: 1. Harmony 186, 2. St. Cloud 126, 3. Celebration 96, 4. Gateway 24
200 Medley Relay: 1, Harmony (Jack Dubose, Davin Mathis, Michael Rivera, Angel Rodriguez-Ramos) 1:48.01, 2. St. Cloud, 3. Celebration
200 Free: 1. Jacob Thomas (Harmony) 1:55.30; 2. Dominick Velazquez (St. Cloud), 3. Nathan Callan (Harmony)
200-IM: 1. Crusoe Pennington (St. Cloud) 2:21.69; 2. Blake Scarlett (Harmony), 3. Kai Kim (Harmony)
50-Free: 1. Mathis (Harmony) 22.88. 2. Samuel Yaw (Celebration), 3. Owen Hill (St. Cloud)
1-Meter Diving: 1. Parker Kienzler (Harmony) 232.00; 2. Oliver Dorminey (St. Cloud), 3. Fernando Berroteran-Pardo (Harmony)
100-Fly: 1. Mahmoud Morsy (Celebration) 52.13*; 2, Jackson Wong (St. Cloud), 3. Angel Rodriguez-Ramos (St. Cloud)
100-Free: 1. Rivera (Harmony) 50.75, 2. Yaw (Celebration), 3. DuBose (Harmony)
500-Free: 1. Thomas (Harmony) 5:14.68*; 2. Velazquez (St. Cloud), 3. Alessio D’Alessandro (Celebration)
200-Free Relay: 1. Harmony (Rivera, Thomas, Scarlett, Mathis) 1:35.93; 2. St. Cloud, 3. Celebration
100-Back: 1. Morsy (Celebration) 54.02*, 2. Rivera (Harmony), 3. Matias Arcay (St. Cloud)
100-Breast: 1. Mathis (Harmony) 1:04.38; 2. Scarlett (Harmony); 3. Pennington (St. Cloud)
400-Free Relay: 1. Celebration (Morsy, Fernando Lopes, Manuel Vazquez, Yaw) 3:37.62; 2. Harmony, 3. St. Cloud
Girls Team Scores: 1. St. Cloud 182, 2. Harmony 180, 3. Celebration 72, 4. Gateway 11
200 Medley Relay: 1. St. Cloud (Santiana Meassick, Elise Jurgens, Brooke Bonesteel, Avery Powell) 2:00.59; 2. Harmony, 3. Celebration
200 Free: 1. Meassick (St. Cloud) 2:05.36*; Zarraelis Muniz-Montana (Harmony). 3,Emily Quezada (Harmony)
200-IM: 1. Reagan Foster (Harmony) 2:27.74*; 2. Mackenzie Butner (Harmony), 3. Jurgens (St. Cloud)
50-Free: 1. Powell (St. Cloud) 26:03; 2. Raelyn Mathis (Harmony), 3. Zoe Valezquez (St. Cloud)
1-Meter Diving: 1. Autumn Marciniak (St. Cloud) 184,30, 2. Tatum Holl (Harmony), 3. Hailey Hervey (Harmony)
100-Fly: 1. Meassick (St. Cloud) 1:02.01*; 2. Bonesteel (St. Cloud); 3. Clara Valle (Gateway)
100-Free: 1. Foster (Harmony) 58.40, 2. Mathis (Harmony), 3. Muniz-Montoya (Harmony)
500-Free: 1. Powell (St. Cloud) 5:44.25, 2. Ivy Davis (Harmony), 3. Erika DeLa Cerda (St. Cloud)
200-Free Relay: 1. St. Cloud (Velazquez, Jurgens, Meassick, Marciniak 1:51.38; 2. Harmony, 3. Celebration
100-Back: 1. Jurgens (St. Cloud) 1:10.46; 2. Marciniak (St. Cloud), 3. Savannah Harden (Celebration)
100-Breast: 1. Butner (Harmony) 1:15.48*; 2. Davis (Harmony), 3. Sara Rodriguez-Rodrigues (Celebration)
400-Free Relay: 1. Harmony (Foster, Mathis, Davis, Butner) 4:00.39*; 2. St. Cloud;
Girls-DIS
50-Free: Addison Buckley (Celebration) 1:00.11*
100-Free: Buckley (Celebration) 2:20.06
Boys-DIS
50-Free: Sabastion Montes (St. Cloud) 37.68
100-Free: Montes (St. Cloud) 1:21.30
