Menu
Greencastle Tiger Cubs reclaim county swim title
ROACHDALE -- With their focus on postseason success that awaits the team at next week's sectionals, the Putnam County boys' swimming and diving teams met at North Putnam to settle rivalries and build confidence.
Greencastle picked up a win, scoring 243 team points and champions in seven of 12 events.
South Putnam finished second with 200 and North Putnam was third with 153.
"The boys swam very well overall tonight and had some absolutely phenomenal swims," GHS coach Kent Menzel said. "County is a nice momentum-(builder) and it gives everyone a chance to swim. Next week because of entry limits ... the funnel gets a little bit tighter, so tonight everybody gets to do lots of swims and so it's a fun meet for them."
Picking up wins for the Tiger Cubs were the 200 medley relay team (Nathan Gardner, Taylor Secrest, Nash Firebaugh and Alex Asbell), Elijah Brattain in the 200 free, Firebaugh in the 50 free, Brattain in the 100 fly, the 200 free relay team (Firebaugh, Secrest, Brattain and Isaac Harms) and the 400 free relay team (Gardner, Asbell, Harms and Brattain).
The 400 win came as a result of a disqualification by the North Putnam team.
A swimmer who had scratched out of an earlier event due to illness re-entered the meet improperly as a member of the Cougars' 400 relay team.
Despite the DQ, North Putnam still had three event wins, including two by Dane Gray (200 individual medley and 100 back) and one from Jacob Hendershot (100 breast).
"We broke three school records," NPHS coach Tony Gray said. "Any night you can take three records out is a great night ... We made a mistake, and we'll learn from it and move on."
The Cougars were shorthanded, dropping out of nine events, so the disqualification had no effect on team placement.
"Our toughest competitor tonight was the flu," Gray said. "The kids swam really well. We had four kids, with temperatures over 100, out there trying to compete, and that shows a lot of heart. That's all I could ever ask for."
For the South Putnam squad, a second-place finish and a number of strong performances was just what coach Matthew Edwards had been expecting all week.
"Almost everybody dropped time, and they were big drops," Edwards said. "This was by far the best meet that they've swam all season ... All week they've just been pumped for county. We've really seen a lot of spirit. They came here and they wanted to do some things. They wanted to win races."
The Eagles had a pair of event wins, Tyler Neumann in diving and Ben Albright in the 500 free, to go along we several strong finishes in the pack.
"Ben Albright coming through in the 500 was huge," Edwards said. "I've got to give a lot of credit to our second and thirds, who jumped up with their seed times significantly. They made a decision that that' what they were going to do, and they did it.
"I'm really happy that they were able to see that their work pays off and that when they set a goal, it is attainable. It's just a matter of believing in themselves. That's truly why we do our jobs as coaches."
All three teams will compete next at the Plainfield sectional, which begins with qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 14 at Plainfield High School.
"Everything (tonight) seemed to be right on target as we prepare for next week's sectional," Menzel said. "(County is) also a nice challenge mentally for them to get prepared for seven days from now when we line up in the blocks."
