Here are this week's nominees for The Ledger's Tremendous 10 poll.
The meets are becoming more serious for Polk County swimmers, and they are rising to the occasion. Last week, McKeel’s Bryce Palmer set a meet record at the City of Lakeland Championships as one of the top standouts at the two major meets in Polk. She and the others will go for more records and titles at this week’s Polk County Championships.
The swimmers lead this week’s list of Tremendous 10 nominees along with football and volleyball standouts.
Last week, Ridge Community football player Daniel James was the top vote-getter in the poll with 41.8 percent of the vote, followed by McKeel golfer Georgia Spence and Lake Wales volleyball players Bailey Brown.
Here are this week’s nominees. The poll will be open until noon on Thursday.
1 McKeel junior Bryce Palmer (girls swimming) won two events at the City of Lakeland Championships. The 2024 Ledger Girls Swimmer of the Year, Palmer set a meet record by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:06.09. She broke the meet record set of 1:06.94 by Lakeland grad Lutnya Bogdanova set in 2021. She also won the 100 butterfly in 1:02.06.
2 Lake Wales junior Kaneilieus Purdy (football) caught seven passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns in the Highlanders’ 33-27 victory over Clearwater. For the season, he has 26 receptions for 569 yards and seven touchdowns.
3 George Jenkins senior Nico Lee (boys swimming) won the 200 individual medley (2:04.67) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.06) at the Lakeland city meet.
4 Lake Wales junior Ady Warrick was the top individual swimmer at the Ridge Championships. She won four gold medals, winning the 100 freestyle in 1:01.09 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:21.62. She also swam in 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay that Lake Wales won.
5 McKeel junior Chance Swinburne was the only two-time individual for McKeel in the boys competition at the Lakeland city meet. He won the 50 free in 22.36 and won the 100 free with a school-record 48.86.
6 Lake Wales juniors Marcos Cabrera (boys swimming) won the 50 freestyle (22.11) and the 100 freestyle (49.75) the Ridge Championships.
7 George Jenkins senior Vanessa Calva (girls swimming) won two events at the Lakeland city meet. She took first in the 100 freestyle (55.30) and the 200 freestyle (2:05.72).
8 Lake Wales junior Dominic Nguyen (boys swimming) won the 100 backstroke (1:02.56) and 200 individual medley (2:17.57).
9 Winter Haven’s Layton Kemp (football) was a special teams standout. He had averaged 40.0 yards on five punts, none of which were returned. He had one touchback on a kickoff and had one field goal for 29 yards.
10 Winter Haven senior Sophia Whitaker (volleyball) finished with 20 kills and 34 digs in victories over McKeel and Lake Wales. For the season, she is second on the Blue Devils with 159 kills and third with 196 digs.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Vote Now: Bryce Palmer's performance leads Ledger's Tremendous 10 poll
Category: General Sports
