Swimmers set for state

Four Greencastle girls' swimmers have one more day of practice prior to taking part in the Indiana High School Athletic Association Girls' State Swimming and Diving Championships.

The event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday at the Indiana Univesity Natatorium on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis.

Friday is the preliminary round, with the finals scheduled to take place on Saturday.

The top 16 in each event advance to the final round. Of those 16, the top eight will compete for state championship honors Saturday while those who place 9-16 will compete in the consolation heats.

Greencastle junior Erica Soster, sophomores Kelsey Murtagh and Caitlin Gannaway and freshman Melissa Ball will all compete Friday.

The alternates for the squad include Morgan Terry, Ashley Allred, Jackie Cantonwine and Natasha Aring.

The four will compete in the 200-yard medley relay after winning the event at the Crawfordsville Sectional last weekend with a time of 1:54.90.

Twenty-nine relay teams enter the finals with better seeded times than the Tiger Sharks. Greencastle does, however, have a better time than teams from Warsaw and New Palestine.

Greencastle will compete in the first of four preliminary heats, along with teams from South Dearborn, Fort Wayne Bishop, Franklin Community, Lake Central, Northridge, Warsaw and New Palestine.

The top-seeded time in the event belongs to Columbus North, which will swim in the third heat Friday.

In Greencastle's heat, the top time belongs to Franklin Community at 1:53.87.

Murtagh was the only GHS swimmer to advance as an individual this year. She will compete in the 100-yard backstroke after placing second in the Crawfordsville Sectional.

The winners of each event at the sectional level automatically advance to the state finals along with those who surpass the required qualifying time set by the state.

Murtagh placed second at the sectional with a time of 59.71. On Friday, she will compete in the fifth heat of the backstroke, along with Mt. Vernon's Diane Threlkeld, Portage's Jessica Anderson, Southridge's Chelsey Gill, Harrison's Jenny Connolly, Fort Wayne Snider's Amalia Kobelja, Southridge's Mallory Miles, and Chesterton's Kate Stephens.

Murtagh has the sixth-best time in the heat and the 16th best time overall in the event.

The top time in the backstroke entering the state finals belongs to Connolly at 56.41.

Admission to the finals is set at $8 per session or $12 for both days.