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Girls' swimming season comes to close at sectional
PLAINFIELD -- With the big schools from Hendricks County and Terre Haute slugging it out for the top spots Saturday, the most exciting Putnam County moment went unnoticed by most of the crowd at the Plainfield girls' swimming sectional.
Coming in with the No. 9 seed in the 200 freestyle relay, South Putnam wasn't even supposed to be in the finals of the race. But a late scratch from Cascade's team bumped South Putnam's relay to the last spot in the finals.
With an opportunity in hand, the Eagles continued what has been a hotly-contested rivalry this season, getting the best of the Lady Tiger Shark this time.
It was the high point of the day for Putnam County teams, as the larger schools dominated the standings. Greencastle finished seventh, South Putnam 10th and North Putnam 11th.
The Eagle team of Kaelynn Cox, Lyndsie Beasley, Brooke Boetjer and Josalynn Farmer took an early lead on Greencastle and held on to take seventh by 1.3 seconds in a time of 1:58.35.
"Making the finals really pumped them up," Eagle coach Matthew Edwards said. "They got an opportunity to march and compete lane-to-lane with some of these tougher schools. You could tell that it really affected their mental attitude because they stepped up even more and beat Greencastle.
"It was our last event of the day and it's a great note to end on."
The Greencastle team of Nicolette Peters, Kristen Stevens, Sarah Beams and Faith Liveoak also turned in a nice swim, besting their seed time and breaking two minutes at 1:59.65.
GHS coach Kent Menzel was gracious about the race, celebrating the county competition he saw in the pool.
"South Putnam had a great effort in that 200 freestyle relay. It is awesome to see that kind of competition and that kind of fight out of those girls," Menzel said. "Once again, my hat is off to the South Putnam Relays because they were great tonight.
Another relay marked the high finish of the day for the Lady Tiger Sharks, as the medley relay of Rachel Custis, Emily Wheeler, Rosio Gomez and Alison Howard started the day with a sixth place finish. Their time of 2:04.72 cut more than two seconds off their seed time from Thursday.
The 400 free relay of Howard, Liveoak, Gomez and Custis also improved its time, finishing eighth with a time of 4:12.03.
Shaving time was a theme for the day for GHS. After 17 season bests and 11 lifetime bests in the prelims, they found more improvement in the finals.
"The girls came back and we were faster in every single race today, with the exception of our breaststrokers, but event then we were able to move up in our place in that," Menzel said.
Wheeler moved from the 11 seed in the 100 breaststroke to a 10th place finish, followed by Peters in 14th.
Custis also gave Greencastle fans an exciting race, in which she won the 100 backstroke consolation race with a time of 1:10.01. The sophomore also had a good swim in the 100 free, finishing 14th.
"Rachel's 100 back was one of the real highlights of the day, but she had done the same thing earlier in the 100 free with a great swim. She came alive today with a couple of great swims," Menzel said. "To take command of that consolation heat like that was really an amazing effort on her part."
Other notable Greencastle performances on the day included Wheeler, 10th in the IM; Gomez, 13th in the 100 butterfly and 14th in the IM; and Liveoak, 13th in the 500 free and 14th in the 200 free.
Senior divers Cheyenne Fauvergue and Rebbeccah Williams finished 13th and 14th, respectively.
Besides the excitement of the relay, South Putnam's other points on the day came from diver Courtney Sullivan. Competing in her only 11-dive meet of the season, the freshman finished 10th with a score of 226.60.
"Courtney did fantastic. It's her first year diving -- she's a freshman. She scored top 10, which was her goal," Edwards said. "She's one of the most consistent divers that I've ever worked with.
"I knew she was going to give a good meet. She has a great attitude. That positive attitude and confidence really carried her through the meet."
Like his fellow county coaches, Edwards concluded his first year at the helm on Saturday. He praised the way his girls handled the transition.
"Every time we'd take a step back, we'd take two or three forward. That came to play in this meet as well. It's exactly what we'd hoped for -- probably a little more," Edwards said.
North Putnam's 18 points on the day came from a ninth place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Caroline Byrd, Elizabeth Alford, Alexandra Moore and Rebecca Muse finished in 2:02.28.
"They showed a lot of heart today. We knew coming back we only had a couple of swims, but they set a season best in the 200 free relay there at the end," Cougar coach Tony Gray said. "To stick to it, I was really proud of them."
The Cougars and Eagles both had entrants in the 200 medley relay consolations, but both were disqualified.
All three county schools return the majority of their contributers next year, and all three say they look forward to what's to come.
Lydia Volland is the only Cougar senior who competed Saturday.
"We use the adage, we've got to craw before we walk and walk before we run," Gray said. "We ended up last season with two girls. I came on board (as coach) and we recruited up to eight. We have 40 middle school kids, so I look to have 12 or 13 girls next season. The future is bright."
For South Putnam, they lose Boetjer, but return the rest of Saturday's entrants.
"In no time at all we'll be back in the water working, especially this summer with the summer program," Edwards said. "We're hoping to keep this momentum going. It's a new sectional for us and we know what to expect next year coming into it."
Greencastle bids adieu to swimmers Liveoak, Beams and Howard, along with divers Fauvergue, Williams and Riley Seahorn.
"Faith, Sarah and Ali have provided amazing leadership for this team. Throughout the season, I think they have shown these other girls the way," Menzel said. "It was a very nice thing to have them provide the leadership they did.
"A lot of these girls are sophomores and freshmen. They've learned about this meet and I think they can carry that knowledge into next year and into the future after that."
At Plainfield High School
IHSAA Girls' Swimming Sectional
Avon 508, Terre Haute South 358, Plainfield 333, Terre Haute North 273, Danville 234, Tri-West 150, Greencastle 120, Cascade 92, West Vigo 32, South Putnam 31, North Putnam 18
Individual Results
200 Medley Relay: 1. Avon 1:48.80*, 2. Terre Haute South 1:50.32*, 3. Terre Haute North 2:00.69, 4. Plainfield 2:01.99, 5. Danville 2:04.59, 6. Greencastle (Custis, Wheeler, Gomez, Howard) 2:04.72, 7. Cascade 2:05.46, 8. Tri-West 2:13.33. Consolation: 9. West Vigo 2:24.57, -- South Putnam DQ, -- North Putnam DQ.
200 Free: 1. Kitching (Av) 1:59.00, 2. Campbell (Av) 1:59.84, 3. Jones (TW) 2:01.85, 4. Kline (THN) 2:02.45, 5. Senseman (THS) 2:06.30, 6. Smith (Av) 2:08.52, 7. Lautenschlager (Pf) 2:08.90, 8. Whicker (Pf) 2:09.12. Consolation: 9. Powers (THN) 2:08.23, 10. Dillon (THS) 2:09.66, 11. Kroll (Dv) 2:11.27, 12. Breeding (Cs) 2:13.92, 13. Cloe (Pf) 2:15.50, 14. Liveoak (Gc) 2:18.93, 15. Mitchell (Dv) 2:19.87, 16. Craft (TW) 2:21.80
200 IM: 1. Walters (Av) 2:09.30*, 2. Wishart (Av) 2:09.98, 3. Senseman (THS) 2:16.10, 4. Sieferman (Av) 2:20.05, 5. Hunter (Pf) 2:22.86, 6. Taber (Pf) 2:23.23, 7. Stelflug (THS) 2:29.34, 8. Caudill (THN) 2:30.50. Consolation: 9. McGovern (Dv) 2:28.77, 10. Wheeler (Gc) 2:34.32, 11. Scott (THS) 2:35.01, 12. Rosales (Cs) 2:39.41, 13. Copeland (Pf) 2:39.67, 14. Gomez (Gc) 2:40.84, 15. Burba (Dv) 2:48.78, 16. Bagnoche (THN) 2:51.05.
50 Free: 1. Partlow (Dv) 24.05*, 2. Badgley (Av) 24.48, 3. Mitchell (Dv) 24.78, 4. Senseman (THS) 24.98, 5. Vandevoorde (Pf) 25.95, 6. Wickham (Pf) 25.96, 7. Powers (THN) 26.27, 8. Solik (Cs) 26.38. Consolation: 9. Schilling (THS) 26.27, 10. Lodies (Av) 26.58, 11. Scanland (Av) 27.01, 12. Wolf (TW) 27.68, 13. Justus (Pf) 27.92, 14. Goatee (THN) 28.37, 15. Mercho (THS) 28.41, 16. Hagemier (TW) 28.48.
Diving: 1. Coverdale (Pf) 393.15, 2. Dickerson (TW) 365.15, 3. Young (THN) 301.50, 4. Thomas (THN) 279.45, 5. Keep (Pf) 277.75, 6. Todd (THS) 275.45, 7. Howell (Av) 271.90, 8. Deaton (Av) 260.80, 9. Heath (THN) 239.30, 10. Sullivan (SP) 226.60, 11. Warden (TW) 215.65, 12. Lawlyes (THS) 179.50, 13. Fauvergue (Gc) 171.15, 14. Williams (Gc) 150.05, -- Seahorn (Gc) DQ.
100 Fly: 1. Partlow (Dv) 58.22, 2. Hill (Av) 59.29, 3. Padget (THS) 1:00.17, 4. Bray (THS) 1:00.58, 5. Fay (Av) 1:01.46, 6. Jones (TW) 1:01.64, 7. Eschbach (Dv) 1:04.72, 8. Meronk (Av) 1:06.12. Consolation: 9. Schilling (THS) 1:05.55, 10. Dilbeck (Pf) 1:08.11, 11. Justus (Pf) 1:08.64, 12. Rosales (Cs) 1:09.93, 13. Gomez (Gc) 1:11.73, 14. Vanwanzeele (Pf) 1:12.20, 15. Krieg (TW) 1:14.96, -- Beams (Gc) DQ.
100 Free: 1. Badgley (Av) 53.27, 2. Mitchell (Av) 54.66, 3. Senseman (THS) 55.20, 4. Campbell (Av) 55.48, 5. Powers (THN) 56.54, 6. Whickham (Pf) 56.75, 7. Nichols (THN) 57.05, 8. Vandevoorde (Pf) 57.59. Consolation: 9. Scanland (Av) 58.76, 10. Solik (Cs) 58.92, 11. Padget (THS) 59.23, 12. Whicker (Pf) 59.36, 13. Dillon (THS) 59.74, 14. Custis (Gc) 1:00.61, 15. Goatee (THN) 1:01.00, 16. McCalley (TW) 1:01.49.
500 Free: 1. Kitching (Av) 5:13.71, 2. Fay (Av) 5:23.88, 3. Kline (THN) 5:29.14, 4. Taber (Pf) 5:34.20, 5. Senseman (THS) 5:36.31, 6. Mali (Av) 5:41.95, 7. Lautenschlager (Pf) 5:44.04, 8. Powers (THN) 5:44.13. Consolation: 9. Justus (Pf) 5:51.40, 10. Kroll (Dv) 6:01.71, 11. Breeding (Cs) 6:04.12, 12. Schuldt (Dv) 6:12.26, 13. Liveoak (Gc) 6:15.19, 14. Armfield (Dv) 6:29.75, 15. Whitlock (THS) 6:33.92, 16. Sim (THS) 6:39.98.
200 Free Relay: 1. Avon 1:39.32*, 2. Danville 1:43.24, 3. Plainfield 1:43.91, 4. Terre Haute South 1:45.74, 5. Tri-West 1:48.84, 6. Terre Haute North 1:51.54, 7. South Putnam (Cox, Beasley, Boetjer, Farmer) 1:58.35, 8. Greencastle (Peters, Stevens, Beams, Liveoak) 1:59.65. Consolation: 9. North Putnam (Byrd, Alford, Moore, Muse) 2:02.28, 10. West Vigo 2:08.99.
100 Back: 1. Padget (THS) 58.49*, 2. Hagemier (Av) 58.85, 3. Sieferman (Av) 1:01.50, 4. Mali (Av) 1:05.55, 5. Stelflug (THS) 1:06.37, 6. Breitweiser (THN) 1:06.57, 7. Caudill (THN) 1:08.55, 8. Padget (THS) 1:08.80. Consolation: 9. Custis (Gc) 1:10.01, 10. Hagemier (TW) 1:10.43, 11. Schnepp (Pf) 1:11.34, 12. Lewis (Cs) 1:12.11, 13. Schuldt (Dv) 1:12.95, 14. Dilbeck (Pf) 1:13.17, 15. Copeland (Pf) 1:13.74, 16. Williams (THN) 1:15.03.
100 Breast: 1. Wishart (Av) 1:06.67*, 2. Bray (THS) 1:09.11, 3. Smith (Av) 1:09.70, 4. Senseman (THS) 1:10.82, 5. Justus (Pf) 1:11.39, 6. Meronk (Av) 1:11.55, 7. Hunter (Pf) 1:12.54, 8. Mitchell (Dv) 1:12.62. Consolation: 9. Nichols (THN) 1:14.20, 10. Wheeler (Gc) 1:16.49, 11. McGovern (Dv) 1:16.88, 12. McCalley (TW) 1:18.12, 13. Breitweiser (THN) 1:19.08, 14. Peters (Gc) 1:19.30, 15. Bagnoche (THN) 1:19.36, 16. Scott (THS) 1:19.66.
400 Free Relay: 1. Avon 3:38.41*, 2. Terre Haute South 3:41.01, 3. Danville 3:46.42, 4. Plainfield 3:48.52, 5. Terre Haute North 3:50.49, 6. Tri-West 4:02.84, 7. Cascade 4:07.71, 8. Greencastle (Howard, Liveoak, Gomez, Custis) 4:12.03.
*--State meet cut time.