Tiger Sharks sweep WCC titles on DPU campus

Monday, January 7, 2008
Greencastle's Miles Salman explodes out of the water during the WCC meet held at DePauw on Saturday. Salsman won the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:12.24 and Greencastle took conference honors with 365.5 total points.

By JARED JERNAGAN

Sports Editor

When you're hot, you're hot.

The Greencastle Tiger Sharks boys' and girls' teams were certainly hot at Saturday's WCC swim meet at DePauw. The GHS boys won 11 of 12 events to win the meet by 144.5 points. The girls took 10 events and won by 122.

South Putnam took second in the boys' meet and fourth in the girls' competition. The North Putnam boys placed fourth and the girls fifth.

One of the day's highlights came courtesy of Greencastle's Luke Crimmins and Cascade's Joel Fisher in the 50 freestyle. The duo actually tied in the race at 23.01.

"We knew that would be a good race, and for them to tie was something. It was just a great race," GHS boys' coach Daniel Bretscher said. "Then in the 100, they raced again and were only separated by two hundredths."

Crimmins came out in first in the 100, meaning in two races combined, he defeated Fisher by just .02 seconds. Perhaps even more remarkably, he looked like he would lose both races until the final yards.

"With five yards to go he was still beat and I didn't think he'd won it until I looked at the board," Bretscher said.

Crimmins' individual performances weren't even the best of the day for the Sharks, who set three meet records between the boys and girls.

Junior Nick Stevens helped get GHS off to a good start as part of two straight meet records to begin the meet.

"Nick Stevens actually set back-to-back meet records. He was on the medley relay that set the meet record first, and then in the next event, the 200, he set a meet record that was 22 years old," Bretscher said. "That was quite a performance today."

The medley relay team of Crimmins, Ryan Payne, Jesse Elkins and Stevens swam a 1:45.04 to break an 11-year-old record by nearly a second-and-a-half. Stevens also had a 1:51.47 in the 200.

Besides these, he also won the 500 free (5:10.18) and was on the winning 200 free relay team with Payne, Miles Salman and Crimmins.

The other meet record came from the Lady Tiger Sharks' Kelsey Murtagh, who broke her own meet record in the backstroke with a 1:02.89. The time was nearly two seconds better than the winning boys' time.

"Everyone was fantastic from top to bottom," Bretscher said of his team's performance. "We had a lot of lifetime bests, a couple of meet records. We didn't have any meet records last year."

Besides the 200 relay, Salman was part of two other wins for the Tiger Sharks, taking the 200 IM in 2:12.24 and swimming anchor for the 400 relay team that also included Jon Grivas, Elkins and Jay Guffey.

Elkins won the 100 backstroke in 1:04.75 while Payne took the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.78.

Adam Clute won the diving competition with 170 points, besting second-place by 36.8 points.

"Traditionally this is a meet for us that catapults us and gives us energy to go the last six weeks of the season to sectional, so I'm very pleased," Bretscher said. "The kids all decided before the meet that they really wanted to go for it today and swim well. They came and did exactly that."

GHS girls' coach Luke Beasley took a slightly different approach. His workout regimen is focusing fully on sectional, so there was no tapering of yardage approaching the WCC meet.

"I said, 'You've got to swim tired. You have to swim your best even when your tired.' I know some of the girls weren't real satisfied with their time in events, even if they won, but that comes around with sectional when we start tapering our girls and easing off on them a little bit," Beasley said.

In spite of times that didn't satisfy some of the swimmers, the Lady Tiger Sharks still dominated the meet. Beasley credited this to their attitudes.

"I was really satisfied with the way the girls swam and the enthusiasm they brought to the meet, especially after a few tough days of practice," he said.

Besides her record-setting performance, Murtagh was also on two conference-champion relay teams. She, Sydney Terry, Melissa Ball and Erika Collins won the medley relay in 1:59.34. Morgan Terry, Caitlin Gannaway, Dana Norman and Murtagh won the 400 free relay in 4:10.45.

Melissa Ball and Morgan Terry each also had a hand in four conference championships. Besides the medley relay, Ball also won the 200 IM in 2:28.04 and the 100 butterfly in 1:06.58. She was also part of the winning 200 free relay team (1:48.75) with Natasha Aring, Sydney Terry and Collins.

Besides her two relays, Morgan Terry also won the 200 free in 2:15.22 and the 500 free in 5:53.89.

Gannaway made a comeback on teammates Sydney Terry late in the 100 breaststroke to win the event in 1:20.76.

Beasley was also impressed with the effort of Erika Collins, who won the 100 free in 59.07.

"Erika Collins has been battling an injured shoulder all season long. She came out and battled in the 50 and got second there and then won the 100 free," Beasley said. "Her natural event is the 200, so she's been swimming out of position for quite some time."

In spite of the meet's final margin, Beasley made sure to give credit to the Sharks' competition.

"I thought everyone today, all the schools we went against, they showd up and swam great races. We had a lot of great competition," Beasly said. "The end-total wasn't close, but there were a lot of close races, and I though our girls showed a lot of competitive desire in those events. Even if it was for a second-place a third-place or a fourth-place -- they wanted it."

For South Putnam coach Joe Condon, his boys' second-place finish was nice and unexpected.

"I was very surprised with our boys' result. I really didn't think we would finish second," Condon said. "I was really looking at Cascade, Speedway and North Putnam; on paper they really looked like they had some guys to swim this year, but our kids responded well."

Most impressively, the Eagles finished second with no event wins and only two second places. The good finish came from good efforts across the board, from veterans and rookies.

"We had some great time drops. A lot of our freshmen and sophomores had some unbelievable time drops and our upperclassmen held to what they were supposed to do," Condon said.

Chris Smiley placed second in the 200 free for the Eagles. The 400 free relay team of Smiley, Loren Ashcraft, Darrick Grundlock and Clark Becker also finished in the runner-up spot.

For the girls, a fourth-place finish was no surprise to Condon, who knew his team had some tough competition.

"The girls did fine at fourth. I knew Speedway came in with some strong swimmers and so did Cascade. We've had some illness, but they swam through that and did okay," Condon remarked.

Shelby Johnston was the Eagles' only conference champs, winning the diving competition with a 202.3.

"For our girls, obviously we had a conference champ in Shelby. She did her best ever," Condon said.

In the final weeks of Johnston's senior season, Condon knows his diver still has a goal in her sights.

"She's 10 points away from the school record and she's working towards that," Condon said.

North Putnam coach Wesley Richardson was also pleased with his two teams. Fielding rather small squads, he concentrated on good swims and dropping times. He was happy on both fronts.

"I think they came out strong," Richardson said. "They were somewhat ready, although we didn't have much practice time with Christmas break and those types of things. Plus, we've had a couple of kids who've been sick.

"With that said, I think the expected that and they came out ready to go," Richardson continued. "They've been looking forward to this meet."

Katie Wilcox was the Cougars' lone conference champion, winning the 50 free in 26.77. Wilcox was also second in the 100 free.

"Katie Wilcox, of course, did an excellent job. I was proud of her."

For the boys, Patrick Byrd came up just short of a conference championship, finishing second in the 100 backstroke by a half second.

"Patrick Byrd did an excellent job. He came very close on backstroke. I was pleased with his performance," Richardson said. "With him being a senior I wish he could have came in first, but that's how it goes."

All three schools return to regular meet action this week. South Putnam visits North Montgomery at 5:30 p.m. today. Greencastle travels to Cascade at 6 p.m. Wednesday. North Putnam visits Indian Creek at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

At DePauw

Girls' Results

Greencastle 415, Cascade 293, Speedway 197, South Putnam 174, North Putnam 97

Individual Results

200 Medley Relay -- Greencastle (Murtagh, S. Terry, Ball, Collins) 1:59.34, Speedway 2:14.25, South Putnam (Tomasino, York, Sherwood, Lund) 2:16.21, Cascade 2:17.03, North Putnam (Lasiter, Werner, B. Smith, Wilcox) 2:22.37

200 Freestyle -- M. Terry (GHS) 2:15.22, Wilson (Spw) 2:21.97, Eckols (Cas) 2:23.63, Culler (GHS) 2:23.63, Bannon (GHS) 2:25.45, Dory (GHS) x2:28.42, Burger (Cas) 2:33.56, Baggesen (Cas) 2:35.87, Foxworthy (Spw) 2:36.94, Arnold (SP) 2:43.13, Gilley (SP) 2:46.03, Wainscott (Spw) 2:56.28, Novak (NP) 3:11.78

200 IM -- Ball (GHS) 2:28.04, Murtagh (GHS) 2:28.70, Huelsmann (Cas) 2:28.82, Aring (GHS) 2:42.54, Jackson (Spw) 2:43.69, Bittles (GHS) x2:47.53, Hazel (GHS) x2:51.71, Musson (Cas) 2:52.51, Larrison (Spw) 2:55.60, Zeiner (Cas) 2:55.66, York (SP) 2:59.39, Werner (NP) 3:01.92, Burnell (Spw) 3:02.60, Warren (SP) 3:05.90, Cox (SP) 3:09.62

50 Freestyle -- Wilcox (NP) 26.77, Collins (GHS) 27.07, Clunie (Cas) 27.83, S. Terry (GHS) 28.33, Gannaway (GHS) 28.93, Lund (SP) 29.21, Dory (GHS) x29.40, Norman (GHS) x29.49, Runge (Spw) 29.91, Wehr (Spw) 29.92, Tesmer (GHS) 31.50, Bragg (Cas) 31.72, Beasen (Cas) 32.54, Small (GHS) 32.91, Sherwood (SP) 33.26, Lasiter (NP) 34.05, New (SP) 34.50, Preecs (NP) 34.55, R. Smith (NP) x39.74, Perrotto (Spw) 40.15

Diving -- Johnston (SP) 202.30, Land (GHS) 183.70, Weber (Cas) 161.90, Lollar (SP) 148.90, Poor (GHS) 138.70, Like (GHS) 135.35, Tawney (Spw) 132.30, Engeldow (Cas) 126.95, Merlott (Spw) 99.90, Wehr (Spw) 78.50

100 Butterfly -- Ball (GHS) 1:06.58, Aring (GHS) 1:11.59, Bittles (GHS) 1:12.43, Sherwood (SP) 1:22.18, Summers (Cas) 1:23.30, Larriosn (Spw) 1:27.39, Bragg (Cas) 1:39.00, Rembold (Cas) 1:39.00, Cox (SP) 1:42.21

100 Freestyle -- Collins (GHS) 59.07, Wilcox (NP) 1:00.23, Huelsmann (Cas) 1:00.65, Cline (Cas) 1:03.44, Eckols (Cas) 1:04.92, Norman (GHS) 1:04.92, Wilson (Spw) 1:05.68, Tesmer (GHS) 1:08.95, Tomasino (SP) 1:11.47, B. Smith (NP) 1:12.38, Small (GHS) x1:15.60, Gilley (SP) 1:17.13, Lasiter (NP) 1:22.18

500 Freestyle -- M. Terry (GHS) 5:53.89, Culler (GHS) 6:28.45, Bannon (GHS) 6:29.56, Foxworthy (Spw) 6:50.75, Baggesen (Cas) 6:52.71, Burger (Cas) 6:55.30, Stewart (Cas) 7:11.71, Arnold (SP) 7:25.72, Wainscott (Spw) 7:42.71, Preecs (NP) 8:47.00

200 Freestyle Relay -- Greencastle (Ball, Aring, S. Terry, Collins) 1:48.75, Cascade 1:51.45, Speedway 2:01.63, North Putnam (Lasiter, B. Smith, Werner, Wilcox) 2:07.30, South Putnam (Lund, Cox, Gilley, Arnold) 2:08.77

100 Backstroke -- Murtagh (GHS) 1:02.89*, Jackson (Spw) 1:11.78, Hazel (GHS) 1:16.31, Tomasino (SP) 1:19.53, Marvel (Cas) 1:19.69, Toole (Cas) 1:20.14, Stewart (Cas) 1:25.21, B. Smith (NP) 1:25.50, New (SP) 1:26.33, Handy (GHS) 1:28.81, Wehr (Spw) 1:48.64

100 Breaststroke -- Gannaway (GHS) 1:20.76, Terry (GHS) 1:20.80, York (SP) 1:21.11, Wehr (Spw) 1:21.22, Musson (Cas) 1:25.28, Berling (Cas) 1:25.59, Werner (NP) 1:30.19, Warren (SP) 1:32.11, Poor (GHS) 1:32.20, Beasen (Cas) 1:32.60, Handy (GHS) x1:38.20, Novak (NP) 1:44.65, Perrotto (Spw) 1:47.56, R. Smith (NP) 1:50.80

400 Freestyle Relay -- Greencastle (M. Terry, Gannaway, Norman, Murtagh) 4:10.45, Cascade 4:13.03, Speedway 4:36.38, South Putnam (Arnold, Gilley, Tomasino, Lund) 4:52.85

Boys' Results

Greencastle 365.5, South Putnam 221, Cascade 217.5, North Putnam 192, Speedway 153

Individual Results

200 Medley Relay -- Greencastle (Crimmins, Payne, Elkins, Stevens) 1:45.04*, Cascade 1:54.50, Speedway 1:57.14, North Putnam (Werner, Zurawski, Byrd, Cloncs) 2:02.02, South Putnam (Grundlock, Gould, Russell, McKinney) 2:06.50

200 Freestyle -- Stevens (GHS) 1:51.47*, Smiley (SP) 2:06.30, Taggart (NP) 2:08.02, Grivas (GHS) 2:08.13, Ban (NP) 2:08.79, Trackwell (Spw) 2:14.02, Albright (SP) 2:16.94, Whitman (SP) 2:16.66, C. Smith (NP) 2:22.10, Russo (Cas) 2:24.82, Davies (SP) x2:28.24, Kelly (SP) x2:31.44, Smedley (Cas) 2:43.23, Able (Cas) 2:45.18, Compston (Cas) x2:48.74

200 IM -- Salman (GHS) 2:12.24, Welch (Spw) 2:18.93, Clunie (Cas) 2:33.70, Chiarella (GHS) 2:34.08, Grundlock (SP) 2:36.62, Russell (SP) 2:44.93, Zurawski (NP) 2:47.87, Huck (SP) 2:48.71, Severeid (Cas) 2:49.94, Werner (NP) 2:50.12, Baggesen (Cas) 2:54.90, Williams (Cas) x2:55.17

50 Freestyle -- Crimmins (GHS) 23.01†, Fisher (Cas) 23.01†, Marsh (Cas) 24.45, K. Smith (NP) 24.49, Guffey (GHS) 25.13, Ashcraft (SP) 25.15, Becker (SP) 25.22, Bates (Spw) 25.38, Smith (GHS) 25.59, Cloncs (SP) 26.67, Lamm (Spw) 26.77, Pierce (SP) 27.15, Purvis (Cas) 27.57, McKinney (SP) 27.70, J. Kass (GHS) x28.21, Watson (GHS) x28.85, Gould (SP) x29.57, Zuver (NP) x30.25, Campbell (Ghs) x30.68, Holt (Spw) 31.40, Phillips (GHS) x31.54, P. Kass (GHS) x32.19, Bowen (SP) x32.32, S. Arnold (SP) x34.23, Wilson (GHS) x34.27, R. Arnold (SP) x34.64, Blinn (Cas) x35.82

Diving -- Clute (GHS) 170.00, Stodghill (GHS) 133.20, Leach (Spw) 116.65, Marsh (Cas) 114.10, Butts (SP) 101.40

100 Butterfly -- Welch (Spw) 1:01.12, Elkins (GHS) 1:01.19, Byrd (NP) 1:01.79, Salman (GHS) 1:03.56, Macri (Cas) 1:07.23, Russell (SP) 1:16.68, Huck (SP) 1:18.40, Fergusen (Cas) 1:21.75, Huang (Cas) 1:28.36, Campbell (GHs) 1:30.56, Compston (Cas) x1:39.17

100 Freestyle -- Crimmins (GHS) 51.14, Fisher (Cas) 51.16, Becker (SP) 55.56, Payne (GHS) 55.60, K. Smith (NP) 55.64, Guffey (GHS) 55.92, Noblet (Spw) 56.30, Smiley (SP) 56.57, Bates (Spw) 58.63, Ashcraft (SP) 58.90, Smith (GHS) x59.59, Purvis (Cas) 1:02.48, Pierce (NP) 1:02.82, C. Smith (NP) 1:03.35, McKinney (SP) x1:06.87, Able (Cas) 1:08.31, Cecil (Cas) x1:08.91, Wilson (GHS) x1:14.28, Bowen (SP) x1:16.23, Phillips (GHS) x1:17.38, S. Arnold (SP) x1:17.41, Blinn (Cas) x1:30.93

500 Freestyle -- Stevens (GHS) 5:10.18, Grivas (GHS) 6:01.26, Albright (SP) 6:01.59, Ban (NP) 6:01.74, Trackwell (Spw) 6:17.34, Whitman (SP) 6:24.41, Russo (Cas) 6:30.00, Kelly (SP) 6:42.54, Baggesen (Cas) 6:54.13, Smedley (Cas) 7:37.84

200 Freestyle Relay -- Greencastle (Payne, Salman, Stevens, Crimmins) 1:35.64, Speedway 1:41.19, Cascade 1:41.68, North Putnam (Cloncs, Pierce, Taggart, C. Smith) 1:43.70, South Putnam (Ashcraft, Smiley, Russell, Becker) 1:44.46

100 Backstroke -- Elkins (GHS) 1:04.75, Byrd (NP) 1:05.25, Macri (Cas) 1:05.79, Clute (GHS) 1:06.17, Noblet (Spw) 1:08.35, Grundlock (SP) 1:10.68, Fergusen (Cas) 1:11.25, Werner (NP) 1:17.97, R. Arnold (SP) 1:22.84, Severeid (Cas) 1:24.67, Holt (Spw) 1:29.20, Cecil (Cas) x1:41.09

100 Breaststroke -- Payne (GHS) 1:07.78, Lamm (Spw) 1:12.57, J. Kass (GHS) 1:15.14, Watson (GHS) 1:16.03, Chiarella (GHS) x1:17.42, Zurawski (NP) 1:17.79, Taggart (NP) 1:18.92, Clunie (Cas) 1:19.23, Gould (SP) 1:20.81, Williams (Cas) 1:21.21, P. Kass (GHS) x1:38.29, Huang (Cas) 1;41.32, Zuver (NP) 1:52.46

400 Freestyle Relay -- Greencastle (Grivas, Elkins, Guffey, Salman) 3:41.78, South Putnam (Smiley, Ashcraft, Grundlock, Becker) 3:46.31, North Putnam (Ban, Cloncs, C. Smith, Taggart) 3:59.32, Cascade 4:29.69

x-Exhibition (0nly three swimmers can count toward a school's score in a single event.)

*-Meet record

†-First-place tied

Next meet -- South Putnam visits North Montgomery at 5:30 p.m. today. Greencastle travels to Cascade at 6 p.m. Wednesday. North Putnam visits Indian Creek at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

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