Martin County Aquatics (MCA) swimmers Mackenzie Franklin (14), Sara Lacusky (12) and Aubrey Murray (14) all earned Southern Zone Southern Sectional time cuts and Kara Barcza (13), Chris Jones (17), and Jake Willis (15) all earned Florida Gold Coast (FGC) Junior Olympic time cuts at the Division II North Championship meet held recently in Jupiter, March 13-15, 2009.

The following swimmers took home medals and / or ribbons from the weekend meet: Bethany Baldwin (15); Barcza; Allie Franklin (14); Jones; Sean Lan(14); Colleen Lindgren (15); Logan Shatters (16); and Willis.

Barcza placed first in the 100 and 200 yard backstroke events and the 500 yard freestyle, all three earning her FGC Junior Olympic qualifying times. Of the four events Barcza swam, all were personal best times. Lan and Willis each earned personal best times in all five events they swam. Willis earned two FGC Junior Olympic qualifying times.

Lacusky and Murray swam a 200 yard breaststroke time trial at the meet. Both swimmers earned Sectional qualifying time cuts swimming the distance in 2:41.64 and 2:40.42 respectively. This is Lacusky's first Sectional cut and Murray's third sectional cut. Also swimming a time trial, Mackenzie Franklin earned her first Sectional qualifying time cut swimming the 50 yard freestyle in 25.87 seconds.

The Speedo Champions Series, Southern Zone Southern Sectional open meet will be held March 19-22, 2009, in Ft. Lauderdale at the Swimming Hall of Fame venue and will host the fastest swimmers in the State, many out of state swimmers and several 2008 Olympians. MCA is sending Kevin Lindgren (16), Trent Willis (17), Danielle DiTerlizzi (16), Mackenzie Franklin, Jenna Kingsley (15), Murray, Jones and Lacusky to the meet. There are no age categories for this event, only male and female categories, swimmers compete against all athletes who qualify for the extremely competitive time standards.

The FGC Junior Olympic meet will be held in Coral Springs, from March 26-29, 2009. MCA has at least 15 swimmers eligible for the meet. The event is open to all FGC swimmers with regional qualifying times.

MCA is coached by Jim McCombs, Gordon Laing, Alex Richmond and Itso Shamli. For more information about MCA swimming programs call 772/219-1814 or visit http://www.martincountyswimming.org/.