Greencastle scores big win over South Putnam Thursday

Friday, December 3, 2010

GREENCASTLE -- In just the second meet of the year for both squads, Greencastle's boys' swim team notched a victory over county rival South Putnam 115-67 on Thursday night.

The hosts took first place in 10 of the evening's 12 events. Walter Chiarella claimed first in the 200 and 500 free races, along with being a member of the 200 and 400 free relay winning teams.

Jay Guffey took home honors in the 200 IM, 100 breaststroke and as part of the 200 medley relay team. Mitchell Ball won the 100 fly and was on the winning 200 medley and 200 free relay teams, while Jesse Elkins anchored both the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams while also winning the 50 free.

Sam Gould pocketed the first win for the Eagles on the night in the diving competition. Tayler Arnold also won on the evening for South Putnam, picking up first place in the 100 backstroke.

Afterwards, Greencastle head coach Luke Beasley was buoyed by the competitive spirit of his team.

"I'm really happy with the effort tonight of the boys. It's early in the season, you're not really sure what type of team you've got but our first two meets this year have confirmed for me that we have a lot of competitors. We have a pretty talented team but that means nothing if you're not a competitor," Beasley said.

"Across the board, we have a lot of guys who like to race. They embrace that opportunity. They relish that competition."

With many swimmers taking multiple first place finishes, Beasley wanted to note several swimmers that may have gone under the radar.

"Alex Asbell, with his 500 free and 100 backstroke. It was a pretty quick turnaround and Alex really competed. He was a little worried before the meet about his line-up and such little rest but, take it one race at a time, and to his credit he did that," Beasley said.

"Nathan Gardner's a hard working kid, a versatile swimmer, he can fill in a lot of places. I was pretty excited with his effort in the 200 IM and 100 fly tonight. Cody Watson had a really nice relay split and a good 100 fly, with times that we would have expected to see at the end of the year," Beasley added.

South Putnam head coach Emily Karas was also keen on the performance of her squad Thursday.

"I thought overall we did well. It's only our second meet. We were competitive against a great Greencastle team. The divers went one-two-three this evening. Tayler Arnold won the 100 backstroke," Karas said.

Asked to compare times with last year, Karas replied, "I think better, but we're lacking in our distance. We had to train some new guys to swim distance. They both want to do it. Larry [Hurst] dropped 16 seconds from Tuesday's meet. I thought that was exceptional."

Only two meets into the young season, Karas feels good about her squad.

"We're still trying to figure out where we're at and what we're doing and improve. We know what we need to work on. I thought that we looked good in the water," Karas said.

"We've got West Vigo next Thursday and Fountain Central next Saturday. Those are two tough meets for us, especially Fountain Central at home, which will also be a good meet for us."

At Greencastle

Greencastle 115, South Putnam 67

200 Medley Relay - 1. Greencastle (Guffey, Watson, Ball, Elkins) 1:50.72; 2. South Putnam (Chaney, J. Gould, Lund, Arnold) 1:59.67; 3. Greencastle (Asbell, Kass, Gardner, Timm) 2:08.25; 4. South Putnam (Evans, Newmann, Nees, Dotson) 2:16.76

200 Free - 1. Chiarella (G) 1:56.96; 2. Firebaugh (G) 2:07.97; 3. Harms (G) 2:20.74; 4. Hurst (S) 3:00.18

200 IM - 1. Guffey (G) 2:08.82; 2. Kass (G) 2:37.08; 3. J. Gould (S) 2:37.54; 4. Gardner (G) 2:39.86; 5. Nees (S) 3:11.41

50 Free - 1. Elkins (G) 25.18; 2. Arnold (S) 25.68; 3. Williams (S) 27.61; 4. Watson (G) 27.83; 5. Dotson (S) 28.74; 6. Clark (G) 32.61

Diving - 1. S. Gould (S) 201.65; 2. Butts (S) 130.05; 3. Newmann (S) 90.95

100 Fly - 1. Ball (G) 1:01.59; 2. Lund (S) 1:12.53; 3. Watson (G) 1:15.82; 4. Gardner (G) 1:18.37; 5. Nees (S) 1:31.46

100 Free - 1. Firebaugh (G) 55.29; 2. Elkins (G) 55.60; 3. Chaney (S) 1:01.17; 4. McCammack (S) 1:02.14; 5. Kastigar (G) 1:07.99; 6. Benefactions (S) 1:25.57

500 Free - 1. Chiarella (G) 5:28.02; 2. Asbell (G) 6:14.55; 3. Kass (G) 6:25.81; 4. Hurst (S) 7:44.30; 5. Evans (S) 7:52.41

200 Free Relay - 1. Greencastle (Chiarella, Ball, Kass, Elkins) 1:43.26; 2. Greencastle (Firebaugh, Guffey, Kastigar, Watson) 1:44.17; 3. South Putnam (Arnold, Williams, Dotson, McCammack) 1:48.07; 4. Greencastle (Phillips, Wilson, Timm, Harms) x2:03.69; 5. South Putnam (Newmann, Bonifacious, Shaw, Nees) 2:10.10

100 Backstroke - 1. Arnold (S) 1:06.47; 2. Asbell (G) 1:13.49; 3. Chaney (S) 1:16.42; 4. Harms (G) 1:20.00; 5. Phillips (G) 1:30.18

100 Breaststroke - 1. Guffey (G) 1:06.47; 2. J. Gould (S) 1:12.13; 3. S. Gould (S) 1:13.75; 4. Ball (G) 1:16.54; 5. Newmann (S) 1:25.37; 6. Timm (G) 1:29.46

400 Free Relay - 1. Greencastle (Chiarella, Harms, Asbell, Firebaugh) 4:05.68; 2. South Putnam (Williams, Lund, Dotson, McCammack) 4:28.22; 3. Greencastle (Gardner, Wilson, Timm, Kastigar) 4:50.66; 4. South Putnam (Evans, Bonifacious, Shaw, Hurst) 5:24.26

Next Meet: Greencastle travels to Bloomington North High School next Tuesday. South Putnam travels to West Vigo next Thursday.