JACKSONVILLE - In a warmup for the upcoming district swim championships at the end of October, the Orange Park High Raiders boys swim team got outstanding performances that started with a strong third place finish in the 200 medley relay behind eventual champion Nease and eventual runnerup Bartram Trail to take top county spot at the St. Johns River Athletic Conference swimming and diving championships held Friday and Saturday at the Cecil Field Aquatic Center. Bartram Trail's girls, now in Class 4A along with Creekside and Nease, were Class 3A runnerups last year to Creekside with Nease fifth. Bartram Trail's boys were Class 3A runnerups with Creekside third.

Orange Park, a Class 2A team, finished third behind the two Class 3A powerhouses with Fleming Island, a former Class 4A power now in Class 3A, fourth.

In the girls 200 medley relay, Fleming Island's girls team of Sarah Grimm, Emma Grimm, Abree Clark and Christine Johnson, won overwhelming over Bartram Trail winning by almost two minutes. Later, in the 200 free relay, Fleming Island; Katie Townsend, Reagan Crosby, Emily Ramsden and Abree Clark split the Nease and Bartram Trail attempt at a 1-2 finish with the Golden Eagles chasing Nease to the runnerup spot.

For the Lady Golden Eagles, Sarah Grimm won two individual titles with gold in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Orange Park's boys medley relay; Jared Kiep, Ryan Pritchard, Daniel Hinkle and Jose Medina edged out Fleming Island by a minute to set the tone of a dogfight for the rest of the meet.

Hinkle would grab a second in the 500 free and a third in the 200 free with newcomer Jose Medina blasting a third place in the 100 free to push the points for the Raiders.

Orange Park's boys 200 free relay; Medina, Bruce Arauz, Pritchard and Hinkle also chased Nease to a runnerup finish with Fleming Island just a second behind the Raiders.

Orange Park's boys team finished third behind Nease and Bartram Trail high schools, but also edged Fleming Island High School by nearly 70 points. For the rest of the field, Middleburg finished ninth.

In the girls meet, Bartram Trail upended Nease for the top spot with Fleming Island finishing third. Middleburg took sixth with the Lady Raiders finishing eighth.

In the combined scores, Nease topped the field ahead of Bartram Trail and Fleming Island with Orange Park fifth and Middleburg ninth.

In the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay; Fleming Island's girls; Emma Grimm, Abree Clark, Christine Johnson and Sarah Grimm finished again behind Nease, but ahead of Bartram Trail while, in the boys 400 relay, Orange Park finished sixth with Fleming Island seventh.

Middleburg got top 10 finishes from the girls 200 medley relay; Alyssa English, Kayleigh McWatters, Allicyn Herringdine and Brooke Swenson with a sixth place, a seventh in the girls 200 free relay, an eighth in the boys 200 free relay, a seventh in the girls 400 free relay and eighth in the boys 400 free relay.

Finishing in top five spots individually were, Ashlynn Nieuwenhuis (FIHS) fourth in 200 free and fifth in 500 free; Emma Grimm (FIHS) third in 200 IM and second in 100 breaststroke; Ryan Pritchard (OPHS) fourth in 200IM and fifth in 100 breaststroke; Jilliam LaBelle (FIHS) fourth in 1 Meter diving; Christine Johnson (FIHS) fifth in 100 butterfly; Reagan Crosby (FIHS) fifth in 100 free and Jose Medina (OPHS) third in 100 free.