Tiger Sharks dominate Crawfordsville swim sectional

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
For the second straight year, the Greencastle boys' swim team cradles its sectional championship tropy. The Tiger Sharks won seven events and scored 315 points on their way to the title.

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Heading into Saturday's boys' swimming sectional finals at Crawfordsville, Greencastle had to be considered the favorite. But the scope of the Tiger Sharks' victory came as a bit of a surprise.

GHS won seven out of 12 events en rout 315 points, 112 points better than second-place Crawfordsville. South Putnam scored 53 to finish ninth. North Putnam was 10th with 45 points.

Having won last year's sectional, the Sharks came into this season with a target on their backs. They handled it all year and came into Saturday's finals knowing their fate was in their own hands.

"We came in with the attitude that if we take care of ourselves and we swim well, no one else can beat us," GHS coach Daniel Bretscher said. "We just worried about ourselves the whole meet."

While the meet was highlighted by a number of great individual performances for the Tiger Cubs, Bretscher kept his emphasis on the team aspect all day long.

"The team just came together and everyone functioned as one. This was the definition of a team effort," Bretscher said. "I couldn't be happier.

"It really was about the team. I told them before the meet, today was really about the team," he continued. "Seven out of 12 events, that's a GHS record--we've never done that before."

Greencastle opened the meet in proper fashion, with Luke Crimmins, Ryan Payne, Jesse Elkins and Nick Stevens winning the 200 medley relay by nearly eight seconds with a time of 1:40.80.

Stevens came right back with a win in the 200 free. A close race until the end, Stevens swam a 1:48.08 to win by more than a second. Teammate Austin Woodall placed fourth.

Jon Grivas won the consolation heat of the 200 to place seventh.

In the 200 IM, Miles Salman finished second and Walter Chiarella was seventh.

In the 50 free, half the field in the championship heat came from GHS, with Crimmins placing second and Jay Guffey placing fifth. Teammate Luke Smith was disqualified in the 50.

Diver Adam Clute placed third, continuing an amazing season in which he was not even diving for half the year. Clute advanced to tonight's Brownsburg diving regional.

Greencastle got back to the top of the medal stand in the 100 butterfly, with Elkins winning in 56.91. Salman came home third.

In the 100 free, Guffey led the Sharks with a sixth-place finish. Payne finished seventh by winning the consolation heat.

In the 500, Stevens swam another strong race, dropping 18 seconds to finish in 4:54.91. Stevens hung back in third the bulk of the race, turning up the heat and passing his competitors in the final 100 yards.

Woodall finished fourth, while Grivas was eighth.

Greencastle captured its second relay win in the 200 free relay. Crimmins, Guffey, Smith and Stevens swam a 1:32.94.

Crimmins captured a second-straight win with 55.37 in the 100 backstroke. Elkins and Clute placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

Ryan Payne gave the Sharks their final win of the day with a 1:04.22 in the 100 breaststroke. Joey Kass was eighth in the event, while Cody Watson placed ninth.

In the 400 free relay, Greencastle took a lead during the third leg of the race, but ultimately came home second. The team of Guffey, Grivas, Woodall and Salman swam a 3:29.56.

Bretscher was pleased for every swimmer, knowing how rare a sectionalt title is.

"For me, it's good just to know that my kids get to experience a sectional title," Bretscher said. "It's so rare in high school athletics that you get to win a sectional. It's something that's so hard to accomplish.

"I was a three-sport athlete for four years and I never got to experience a sectional title," he continued. "I'm just really happy for the kids."

South Putnam's ninth-place finish was highlighted by a sixth-place finish from its 400 free relay team. The team of Loren Ashcraft, Clark Becker, Darrick Grundlock and Chris Smiley swam a 3:39.24, by far their season-best. Coach Joe Condon was particularly impressed with this team's effort.

"Our 400 relay really came to swim," Condon said. "They dropped eight seconds off their Thursday time and what they did on Thursday was the best of the season.

"They had a good drop and they swam well and had fun. I was real tickled with how they did," he continued.

The coach was pleased with everyone on Saturday.

"Everbody swam faster today than they did Thursday. Almost everybody did a season personal record. All the splits were real good," Condon said.

Becker was the Eagles' highest individual finisher, winning the consolation heat placing seventh in the 50 free. Smiley finished 10th in the 50 and 11th in the 100.

The Eagles' 200 free relay team of Ashcraft, Curtiss McKinney, Smiley and Becker also placed seventh.

The medley relay team of Darrick Grundlock, Jake Gould, Matt Huck and McKinney finished 10th with a 2:02.07.

Grundlock swam a lifetime best to place 10th in the 100 backstroke.

With most of his key pieces returning, Condon is excited about the Eagles' chances next season.

"I think the kids learned a little bit this year about working and I think they're motivated. Hopefully, this will trigger them to go," the coach said. "Next year we have a lot of the boys back and they're still young, so I think they ought to do well."

For North Putnam, Patrick Byrd had the lone finals appearance, placing sixth in the 100 butterfly. The Cougars' two seniors had most of the team's individual performances on Saturday.

Byrd also placed 11th in the 100 backstroke. Classmate Kyle Smith was 10th in the 100 free and 12th in the 50 free. Coach Wesley Richardson was happy with both seniors and wished them the best.

" I was pretty happy with Patrick's and Kyle's performances today. I wish them well. They are seniors and they're going to go on to college. I think there are great things to come from both of those seniors," Richardson said.

Jon Taggart placed ninth in the 200 free with a 2:02.86.

In the Cougars' three relays, the medley team of Smith, Justin Zurawski, Byrd and Jeremy Ban had the highest finish with eighth. The 200 free relay of Taggart, C.J. Werner, Ban and Smith placed ninth, as did the 400 free relay of Chris Pierce, Zurawski, Colten Smith and Werner.

"Our swims today went well," Richardson said. "This is the best the team has done in the last three or four years, with as many consolation swims as we had and also finals swims, too. I'm pleased with everyone's performance."

The coach was happy with his program's year overall and looks forward to next season.

"I think things, overall, for the entire club went well," Richardson said. "I was pleased with the girls' team and boys' team this year. I think with what we have coming up from the eighth grade, things are just going to get much better next year. We have quite a few things yet to work on, but slowly but surely we're getting there.

"We definitely have some strong swimmers coming back. I look for some good things," Richardson concluded.

For Greencastle, though, the thoughts stay on this year, as they look toward this Friday's IHSAA State Finals.

In leading his team to a sectional championship, Bretscher followed in the footsteps of his father Paul, who led the Tiger Sharks to last year's championship before retiring.

"He gets as much credit as I do. My name goes down as being the coach, but these kids worked under him also," the son said. "For me, personally, it's just good to know that the Greencastle swimmers get to experience a sectional title. I've never been so happy to be standing here cold and soaking wet."

The IHSAA State Finals meet begins at 6 p.m. Friday at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.

At Crawfordsville

IHSAA Boys' Swimming Sectional

Finals

Greencastle 315, Crawfordsville 203, Southmont 195, North Montgomery 172, Western Boone 153, Seeger 92, South Vermillion 73, Fountain Central 57, South Putnam 53, North Putnam 45, North Vermillion 10, Attica 8

Individual Results

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Crimmins, Payne, Elkins, Stevens) 1:40.80, 2. Crawfordsville 1:48.07, 3. Seeger 1:49.89, 4. Southmont 1:50.59, 5. Western Boone 1:50.95, 6. North Montgomery 1:52.02.

Consolation -- 7. South Vermillion 1:52.49, 8. North Putnam (K. Smith, Zurawski, Byrd, Ban) 1:57.34, 9. Fountain Central 1:57.59, 10. South Putnam (Grundlock, Gould, Huck, McKinney) 2:02.07.

200 Freestyle -- 1. Stevens Gr 1:48.08, 2. Spencer NM 1:49.18, 3. Kinslow WB 1:49.23, 4. Woodall Gr 1:53.14, 5. Sturm Cr 2:00.13, 6. Clauser SM 2:02.01.

Consolation -- 7. Grivas Gr 1:58.77, 8. Hatch SM 2:01.05, 9. Taggart NP 2:02.86, 10. Junker SV 2:04.68, 11. Coakes NM 2:07.75, 12. Hegg Se 2:07.97.

200 IM -- 1. Winn-Turner SM 2:04.22, 2. Miles Salman Gr 2:10.88, 3. McCoy WB 2:14.64, 4. Amstutz NM 2:14.96, 5. Lowe FC 2:19.68, 6. Miller NM 2:21.72.

Consolation -- 7. Chiarella Gr 2:19.66, 8. Richmond Cr 2:21.73, 9. Huckstep SM 2:22.79, 10. Moody WB 2:25.28, 11. Evans Cr 2:26.53, 12. Swift NM 2:28.77.

50 Freestyle -- 1. Schroeder Se 21.61*, 2. Crimmins Gr 22.38, 3. Lewis SM 23.22, 4. Abriani SV 23.52, 5. Guffey Gr 23.75, -- Smith Gr DQ.

Diving -- 1. Spurlock Cr 440.95†, 2. Linn Cr 405.85, 3. Clute Gr 299.55, 4. Hieston WB 296.25, 5. Julick WB 259.40, 6. Swenson FC 249.30, 7. Totheroh Cr 245.85, 8. Plunkett SM 238.30, 9. Powell NM 230.10, 10. Arnold Se 228.95, 11. Michael NM 219.45, 12. Gibson SV 218.85.

Semi-finals (8 dives) -- 13. Naylor SV 156.40, 14. Nelson FC 128.55, 15. Cunningham At 125.40, 16. Gayler At 93.85.

100 Butterfly -- 1. Elkins Gr 56.91, 2. Wheeler SM 59.93, 3. Salman Gr 1:00.40, 4. Amstutz NM 1:00.45, 5. Tarter Cr 1:00.63, 6. Byrd NP 1:01.20.

Consolation -- 7. Ekdahl SV 1:01.62, 8. Mellish NM 1:04.02, 9. Clark WB 1:04.09, 10. Moody WB 1:05.66, 11. Sills Cr 1:07.50, 12. Gates NM 1:07.89.

100 Freestyle -- 1. Schroeder Se 48.11*, 2. Spencer NM 49.68, 3. Smoll Cr 50.72, 4. Lewis SM 51.40, 5. Abriani SV 52.64, 6. Guffey Gr 53.41.

Consolation -- 7. Payne Gr 52.77, 8. Pike WB 53.63, 9. Hatcher SM 53.85, 10. K. Smith NP 54.02, 11. Smiley SP 54.12, 12. Clauser SM 54.52.

500 Freestyle -- 1. Stevens Gr 5:54.91, 2. Kinslow WB 4:57.94, 3. Winn-Turner SM 5:09.10, 4. Woodall 5:11.67, 5. Sturm Cr 5:28.61, 6. Wolf Cr 5:40.46.

Consolation -- 7. Hatch SM 5:35.42, 8. Grivas Gr 5:41.30, 9. Junker SV 5:46.11, 10. Olin NM 5:51.38, 11. Walker NM 6:05.66, 12. Key FC 6:06.17.

200 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Crimmins, Guffey, Smith, Stevens) 1:32.94, 2. Southmont 1:33.56, 3. Crawfordsville 1:36.75, 4. North Montgomery 1:37.41, 5. Seeger 1:38.31, 6. Western Boone 1:39.33.

Consolation -- 7. South Putnam (Ashcraft, McKinney, Smiley, Becker) 1:40.20, 8. Fountain Central 1:42.11, 9. North Putnam (Taggart, Werner, Ban, K. Smith) 1:42.14, 10. South Vermillion 1:44.52, 11. Attica 1:51.14.

100 Backstroke -- 1. Crimmins Gr 55.37, 2. Smoll Cr 57.81, 3. McCoy WB 59.57, 4. Mellish NM 1:02.76, 5. Elkins Gr 1:03.38, 6. Clute Gr 1:06.75.

Consolation -- 7. Coakes NM 1:03.63, 8. Hegg Se 1:04.31, 9. Richardson WB 1:04.69, 10. Grundlock SP 1:05.19, 11. Byrd NP 1:06.16, 12. Gibson SV 1:07.01.

100 Breaststroke -- 1. Payne Gr 1:04.22, 2. Tarter Cr 1:05.22, 3. Line SM 1:07.31, 4. Mohler WB 1:07.83, 5. Miller NM 1:09.56, 6. Wolf Cr 1:10.27.

Consolation -- 7. Lowe FC 1:10.18, 8. J. Kass Gr 1:11.17, 9. Watson Gr 1:12.94, 10. Swift NM 1:12.99, 11. Emery SV 1:13.27, 12. Blanton Se 1:13.75.

400 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Southmont 3:27.65, 2. Greencastle (Guffey, Grivas, Woodall, Salman) 3:29.56, 3. North Montgomery 3:35.70, 4. Crawfordsville 3:37.36, 5. Western Boone 3:39.19, 6. South Putnam (Ashcraft, Becker, Grundlock, Smiley) 3:39.24.

Consolation -- 7. South Vermillion 3:49.50, 8. Fountain Central 4:06.63, 9. North Putnam (Pierce, Zurawski, C. Smith, Werner) 4:10.41, 10. Seeger 4:15.27, 11. Attica 4:27.63.

*--Meets state cut time.

†--Sectional record.

Next meet -- Greencastle diver Adam Clute advances to tonights Brownsburg diving regional. Greencastle swimmers who placed first will compete at 6 p.m. Friday at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.

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  • kudos to the 400 yd relay team of south putnam and also to the boys in all the consolation races. you did a fine job all year and all of us parents are proud of all of you swimmers. thank you condon, cummeford ,coors and lund for being great coaches and mentors for these kids, also greencastle swimmers and coaches good luck at state and have a great time. south putnam will be rooting for all of you swimmers

    -- Posted by swimdad on Tue, Feb 19, 2008, at 6:24 AM
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