Season ends for swimmers

Kelsey Murtagh

INDIANAPOLIS -- Four members of the Greencastle girls' swim team invaded the natatorium on the campus of IUPUI Friday night with dreams of progressing in the state finals but saw those dreams fade away as their were unable to advance.

The night didn't start too well for the Tiger Sharks. The relay team of Kelsey Murtagh, Melissa Ball, Erica Soster, and Caitlin Gannaway were disqualified in the 200-yard medley relay due to a false start. Greencastle and the team from Fishers were the only two squads to be disqualified.

Murtagh, who is a member of the 200 relay team, was the only member of the Tiger Sharks to qualify for multiple events and looked poised to make a run at advancing to the finals of the 100-yard backstroke. But again, it wasn't meant to be.

Even with strong swimming, Murtagh posted a time of 1:01.28 to place 23rd out of 33 in the preliminary round.

Despite the setbacks, GHS coach Emilie Bowman thought the team did well

"We swam well tonight," Bowman said. "It's hard to swim a sectional one week and come back the next week and be strong."

Bowman acknowledged that sometimes the meets don't go exactly the way you want or the way you expect, but it still is fun.

"Making it to state is a bonus for us," Bowman commented.

The state preliminary round brought a close to a tremendously successful season for the Tiger Sharks. They finished second last week at the Crawfordsville Sectional, gained county honors as well as capturing the West Central Conference title.

The championship round of the IHSAA girls' swimming finals will continue today, with diving beginning at 9 a.m.

At Indianapolis

IHSAA Girls' Swimming State Finals

First Round

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Hamilton Southeastern 1:45.31, 2. Carmel 1:46.07, 3. North Central 1:47.67, 4. Fort Wayne Snider 1:48.69, 5. Homestead 1:48.79, 6. Columbus North 1:49.37, 7. Lawrence North 1:51.0, 8. Penn 1:51.05, 9. Crown 1:51.63, 10. Noblesville 1:51.81, 11. Bloomington South 1:51.97, 12. Munster 1:52.08, 13. Mt. Vernon 1:52.23, 14. Chesterton 1:52.61, 15. Northridge 1:52.91, 16. Zionsville 1:52.99, 17. York 1:53.14, 18. Roncalli 1:53.27, 19. Fort Wayne Carroll 1:53.32, 20. Floyd 1:53.72, 21. Franklin 1:53.73, 22. Lafayette Jefferson 1:54.25, 23. Seymour 1:54.51, 24. Lake Central 1:54.55, 25. Portage 1:55.10, 26. Fort Wayne Dwenger 1:55.35, 27. South Dearborn 1:55.38, 28. Merrilville 1:55.59, 29. Warsaw 1:56.42, 30. New Palestine 1:57.24, Greencastle (Murtagh, Gannaway, Ball, Soster) no time, Fishers (no time).

100 Backstroke -- 1. Connolly (H) 55.85, 2. Sparks (C) 56.97, 3. Hammes (C) 57.73, 4. Cross (CN) 58.07, 5. Hertzler (HMSE) 58.17, 6. Molina (NC) 58.48, 7. Gill (SR) 59.04, 8. Raspopovich (Cr) 59.10, 9. Saulters (HI) 59.39, 10. Jex (C) 59.42, 11. Anderson (P) 59.61, 12. Mishler (SM) 59.77, 12. Stephens (Che.) 59.77, 14. Noens (LN) 59.82, 15. Miles (SR) 1:00.02, 16. Plumlee (LFJ) 1:00.43, 17. Slater (W) 1:00.85, 18. Threlkeld (MV) 1:00.95, 19. Howard (SD) 1:01.07, 20. Richter (COCTY) 1:01.13, 21. Kobelja (FWS) 1:01.17, 22. Moore (HMSTD) 1:01.24, 23. Murtagh (GHS) 1:01.28, 24. Coy (Z) 1:01.35, 25. Klefeker (HMSTD) 1:01.44, 26. Reese (INC) 1:01.54, 27. Apple (G-Cen) 1:01.63, 27. Niezer (R) 1:01.63, 29. Godfrey (SBSJ) 1:01.76, 30. Welklin (N) 1:01.83, 31. Fozkos (Che.) 1:02.07, 32. Richards (THN) 1:02.76, 33. Welch (NR) 1:03.16.