Patriots nip Tiger Sharks late

GREENCASTLE -- With the end of the swimming season shortly approaching, Greencastle boys' swimming hosted Terre Haute North on Wednesday in a tight meet that came down to the wire, with the Patriots taking a 98-88 win on the evening. The action was tight throughout, with the scores tied at 70 apiece heading into the last two events, where the depth of both teams finally played a role, with the Patriots able to score first, third, and fourth in the last events.

Going into the meet, Greencastle head coach Luke Beasley laid down the gauntlet for his side.

"We saw earlier where (Terre Haute) North had beaten Crawfordsville by 15 points, and Crawfordsville is our biggest challenge in the sectional. We thought that maybe they would change their line-up tonight, so we challenged the guys to pull off the upset," Beasley said. "North put guys in different spots, and we put people in the right spots to make it exciting."

The opening event, the 200 medley relay, gave hope to the Tiger Sharks right out of the gates.

"The medley relay win was a big surprise for us. I thought it gave us a very good chance to win," said Beasley. "All four guys had bests in the race. (Jesse) Elkins and (Chirs) Pierce had season bests. In fact, Chris had never broken :24.0 in the relay before, and swam his leg in :23.6 tonight. (Cody) Watson had a personal best in the relay and the 100 breaststroke, while Mitch Ball had a personal best in the relay and the 100 fly. He's a guy that's gotten to the point where he can compete in the sectional."

"Walter Chiarella had another great night. He came really close to winning the 200 free and won the 500 free with a personal best. Jay Guffey did really well in the 200 IM and 100 free for us, as well as the 200 free relay. He's been a great competitor for us this year. Also, I want to point out Dalton Kastigar for his 100 backstroke. That was a personal best for him and was great to see him compete like that."

"I'm extremely proud of the team tonight; we had a lot of season and personal bests. It was a really great meet and this group is great to be around."

As the boys hit the weight room following the meet, the attention quickly turned to the Thursday girls' county swim meet, one that Beasley is looking forward to.

"We'll have a different line-up for the meet, with some people in some different spots because it's the last opportunity for the girls to be in different events with the sectional in a week, and for the seniors it's their last meet," Beasley pointed out. "There are new challenges for them, but the goals remain the same: we want to win the meet, be competitive everywhere, to compete at a high level. That's all we are asking."

"There are going to be a couple of close races, but we always tell the girls to beat the person next to them. We want to win the relays, the individual races, but we also want to improve, to see faster times and generate positive momentum heading into the sectional."

"And, of course, we want to get that county title. It's important to the girls."

From Greencastle

Terre Haute North 98, Greencastle 88

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Elkins, Watson, Ball, Pierce) 1:49.86, 2. T.H. North (Daugherty, Manning, Maloolry, Huster) 1:50.57, 3. T.H. North (White, Guell, Saunders, Morris) 1:57.71, 4. T.H. North (Longa, Mellor, Welch, Preister) 2:13.23, 5. Greencastle (Kastigar, Timm, Eubank, Vandiver) 2:14.63

200 Freestyle -- 1. Barnes (THN) 1:58.57, 2. Chiarella (G) 1:58.70, 3. Logsdon (THN) 2:01.82, 4. Raubuck (THN) 2:03.45, 5. Asbell (G) 2:12.79, 6. Kass (G) 2:13.78

200 IM -- 1. Morris (THN) 2:08.42, 2. Guffey (G) 2:15.09, 3. Ball (G) 2:26.70, 4. White (THN) 2:31.07, 5. Watson (G) 2:31.42, 6. Longa (THN) 2:42.62

50 Freestyle -- 1. Smith (G) 23.57, 2. Pierce (G) 25.07, 3. Malooley (THN) 25.74, 4. Vandiver (G) 27.02, 5. Welch (THN) 27.95

Diving -- 1. Lakstins (THN) 206.35, 2. Simms (G) 176.25, 3. Thomas (THN) 143.70, 4. Pilipovich (THN) 138.15, 5. Stodghill (G) 135.40, 6. Bruner (G) 92.60

100 Butterfly -- 1. Huster (THN) 58.72, 2. Guell (THN) 58.93, 3. Elkins (G) 59.43, 4. Ball (G) 1:01.24, 5. Logsdon (THN) 1:04.37, 6. Lee (G) 1:28.29

100 Freestyle -- 1. Guffey (G) 51.28, 2. Smith (G) 53.92, 3. Daugherty (THN) 54.52, 4. Barnes (THN) 55.21, 5. Pierce (G) 55.51, 6. Mayhew (THN) 1:05.69

500 Freestyle -- 1. Chiarella (G) 5:29.59, 2. Saunders (THN) 5:51.27, 3. Welch (THN) 6:29.63, 4. Vandiver (G) 6:46.27, 5. Measel (THN) 7:24.56, 6. Lee (G) 7:55.73

200 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Smith, Pierce, Chiarella, Guffey) 1:36.66, 2. T.H. North (Morris, Huster, Daugherty, Saunders) 1:38.01, 3. T.H. North (Malolley, Logsdon, Guell, Barnes) 1:44.70, 4. Greencastle (Watson, Kass, Ball, Vandiver) 1:45.90, 5. T.H. North (Priester, Mayhew, Measel, Lakstins) 2:03.15

100 Backstroke -- 1. Elkins (G) 1:03.67, 2. White (THN) 1:07.04, 3. Guell (THN) 1:08.19, 4. Asbell (G) 1:09.55, 5. Kastigar (G) 1:15.58

100 Breaststroke -- 1. Manning (THN) 1:05.78, 2. Watson (G) 1:11.37, 3. Raubuck (THN) 1:13.71, 4. Mellor (THN) 1:14.31, 5. Kass (G) 1:15.37, 6. Timm (G) 1:28.17

400 Freestyle Relay -- 1. T.H. North (Morris, Huster, Daugherty, Barnes) 3:36.85, 2. Greencastle (Guffey, Smith, Chiarella, Elkins) 3:44.26, 3. T.H. North (Malooley, Raubuck, Logsdon, White) 3:51.98, 4. T.H. North (Priester, Measel, Welch, Mayhew) 4:31.04, 5. Greencastle (Timm, Lee, Eubank, Kastigar) 4:56.09

Next meet -- Greencastle will host Crawfordsville next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m..