Menu
Eagles claim boys' WIC swim crown
TERRE HAUTE – South Putnam made it three-straight years with a WIC Swimming and Diving title to its name as the Eagle boys reclaimed the top spot in the conference Saturday at the Vigo County Aquatic Center.
South Putnam scored 445 points to beat out second-place North Putnam (392) with Indian Creek (341) third. Greencastle (192) finished fourth, followed by Owen Valley (147), Edgewood (87), West Vigo (42) and Cloverdale (37).
The Mustangs used a deep squad to beat the Eagles to the girls’ title 436-358 with the Vikings narrowly behind in third place on 344 points. The Tiger Cubs (269) finished fourth with the Cougars (240) fifth, the Braves (137) sixth and the Patriots (87) seventh.
“Both teams came ready to compete for a team championship and stepped up to perform in ways that were beyond my expectations honestly,” South Putnam head coach Anna Kendall said. “They were very aware that, without divers, we had quite a few points to make up.
“All around, the athletes did a phenomenal job of staying focused on what they could control and performing with sheer determination.”
“It was a great meet today,” Greencastle head coach Kent Menzel said. “The key to a meet like this is to be able to go faster than you’ve ever gone before and we were able to do that all the way from the start to the finish of the meet.
“I was amazed and so pleased to see both of our 400 free relays to go 4-for-4 with lifetime best swims, which has been a goal of the team all year long to be strong at the end of the meet. We’ve practiced, planned for it and were able to execute and top of a meet where we hitting lifetime bests from start to finish.”
The Eagles picked up three wins in the boys’ races as Wyatt Kendall win the 100 back (1:02.30) and, in the race of the day, Brent Cunningham (1:06.09) beat out Indian Creek’s Eli Botts by .15 seconds in the 100 breaststroke.
Both swimmers combined earlier in the event with Jonah Taylor and Keaton Chew to win the 200 IM (1:46.52).
“On the boys’ side, it was great to see a relay win against a still strong Indian Creek team as well as individual first place finishes from Wyatt and Brent,” Kendall said. “They both work so relentlessly at practice every day and I love that they were rewarded for their effort in a tangible way.
“Brent’s comeback win in the breaststroke over the last 25 meters was a lot of fun to watch. The boys’ team is a pretty close-knit group; they know how to encourage one another, how to gut it out together and how to help each other get better and those intangibles paid off for them on Saturday.”
Kallie Pastore led the charge for South Putnam on the girls’ side, winning four events on the day, individually claiming the 200 IM (2:22.66) before later adding the 100 breaststroke (1:10.38).
Pastore was joined in winning the 200 medley relay (1:59.76) by Elise Kendall, Bella Fanning and Megan Bumgardner before closing the meet with a win in the 400 free relay (4:01.82) with Kendall, Bumgardner and Josey Helton, breaking one of the oldest school records in the process, one that had stood since 1977.
Bumgardner would also break a school record in the 100 back with a time of 1:04.55, finishing third in the event.
“Megan was absolutely on fire, swimming lifetime bests by considerable margins in both her individual events as well as her relay splits,” Kendall noted. “Her performance on that final relay was pivotal and allowed the girls to knock off one of the oldest records still left on our board.”
Caroline Gooch brought home two individual wins for Greencastle, claiming the 200 free (2:03.94) and the 500 free (5:39.84) before anchoring the winning 200 free relay (1:51.54) alongside Sophie Riggle, Kylie Flint and Avery Capps.
North Putnam had two individual wins on the day, both coming in the 100 free as Keaton Burress (59.14) beat out Riggle for the top spot while Carter Thomas (51.97) was pushed all the way by Cloverdale’s Carson Hall, normally spotted in 500 free, though the Clover senior would get a win of his own in the 200 free (1:55.56).
“It was a phenomenal meet for Caroline and Carson, both of whom were able to record event wins,” Menzel said. “Those seniors were great on the day and our two junior team leaders, Sophie and Charlie Menzel, had incredible swims today.
“Sophie injured her knee right before the meet started; that she swam so well after the meet started is a testament to her mental strength. Charlie discovered some things today and his freestyle splits, both in relays and individual events, were striking lifetime bests. Both set the stage for the rest of their teammates.
“Kylie and Meredith Ball swam best times, as did Daniel Dinn,” Menzel added. “Avery swam very well while Landon Miller had incredible efforts for the day as well. The team learned a lot and performed extremely well. I’m very proud of this team and pleased with the work that they did.”