Tiger Cub girls slip past Cascade for 2013 conference swim title

Monday, January 7, 2013
The Greencastle High School girls' swim team celebrates its 2013 West Central Conference championship by jumping into the pool together on Saturday at DePauw. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Kaelynn Cox swam the final leg for the Greencastle girls' swimming team in the final event on Saturday, staving off her competitors to get a win and secure the 2013 West Central Conference title for the Tiger Cubs.

Libby Brush, Rosio Gomez, Corrie Romer and Cox entered the event knowing it would determine for than just the fastest 400 freestyle relay team.

"The girls' meet was a dead-heat, a pure tie, going into it based on the seeding," GHS coach Kent Menzel said. "(Our 400 free relay swimmer) knew that to win the meet they had to win that relay, and all went into the water with that goal in mind and were able to seal the deal for us."

The Tiger Cubs finished with 377 points, edging out second-place Cascade by three. The Cadet relay team finished 1.66 seconds behind the Cubs in the final event.

South Putnam was third at the meet with 237. North Putnam finished with 120.

Cascade dominated the individual events in wins, but Greencastle's depth kept the team in the hunt.

The Cadets had wins from Alexis Brown (200 free), Hayley Rosales (200 IM, 100 fly), Regina Solik (50 free, 100 breast) and Victoria Breeding (100 and 500 free).

The only individual events not won by Cascade were the 100-yard backstroke and diving.

GHS swimmer Rachel Custis was credited with a win in the back, surpassing teammate Mallary Meyer.

South Putnam diver Maddison Plunkett picked up the Eagles lone win.

The Tiger Cubs started the swimming portion of the day with medley relay win by Meyer, Emily Wheeler, Brush and Amelia Smith.

GHS also had a number of events they finished in second- and third-place, racking up points and putting itself in position to get a win in the final race.

"I told the girls' they need to find ways to be great today; find ways to be extraordinary," Menzel said. "From the final result you can see that they were able to do that.

"There were some great swims by the Cascade girls, particularly in the 200 IM and the 200 free, that created a little bit of concern for us, but then our backstrokers and our breaststrokers ... just brought the meet right back for the girls."

For the Eagles, coach Matthew Edwards said his team got off to a great start and carried that momentum throughout the competition.

"It was a really good performance by our divers scoring first and second (Courtney Sullivan)," Edwards said. "Being that we did diving in the morning, the rest of the girls got here and found out that we got a great start, so we needed to maintain that."

For North Putnam, a small, inexperienced team, the WCC meet was about more than winning.

"We had a personal best, at least one, by every single swimmer that swam tonight, so I was really, really enthused by that" NPHS coach Tony Gray said. "The No. 1 objective for them is just to have fun. As long as they have fun, it's been a successful meet for them. With their numbers, they weren't going to be able to win these types of meets but as long as they keep having fun and swimming their personal bests, its going to be a success."

Greencastle hosts Cascade in a dual meet on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

North Putnam hosts Cascade and Covington on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.

South Putnam hosts North Montgomery on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

"You hope that whether you win or lose is not as important as how you swim," Menzel said. "But that being said, for both (boys' and girls') teams to be able to jump into the pool together and celebrate like that is an amazing thing and a great thing.

"It's easier that way, and certainly a lot more fun."



2013 West Central Conference Swim Meet
Girls - Final
1, Greencastle 377. 2, Cascade 374. 3, South Putnam 237. 4, North Putnam 120.

All-conference swimmers
200 Medley Relay: Meyer, Wheeler, Brush, Smith, GHS
200 Free: Brown, CAS
200 IM: Rosales, CAS
50 Free: Solik, CAS
Diving: Plunkett, SPHS
100 Fly: Rosales, CAS
100 Free: Breeding, CAS
500 Free: Breeding, CAS
200 Free Relay: Solik, Rosales, Heegan, Breeding, CAS
100 Back: Custis, GHS
100 Breast: Solik, CAS
400 Free Relay: Brush, Gomez, Romer, Cox, GHS

Comments
View 1 comment
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Congratulations GHS Swim Team and Coach Menzel!

    -- Posted by terricollins13 on Mon, Jan 7, 2013, at 11:20 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: