County teams conclude season with strong swims

Greencastle sophomore Mallary Meyer had a day to remember Saturday at sectional, placing third in the 100 backstroke, sixth in the 100 butterfly (pictured) and being part of the second-place medley relay and sixth-place 200 freestyle relay teams. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

PLAINFIELD -- Swimming sectional finals Saturday marked the end of the road for Putnam County girls' swimmers, but on the way the girls went out with some of their best races of the season.

In a day that saw Avon, Plainfield and Terre Haute South run away with the top three spots, Greencastle finished fifth with 196.5 points -- tops among schools with populations less than 1,500.

South Putnam was ninth with 85 points, followed by North Putnam in 10th with 55 points.

The top Putnam County finish of the day came in the first event, with the medley relay team of Mallary Meyer, Emily Wheeler, Amelia Smith and Corrie Romer placing second with a time of 1:55.37.

The Tiger Cubs came out of the preliminaries with the top seed, but coach Kent Menzel said he knew Avon would return with its top medley team. With that in mind, the second-place finish ahead of strong Terre Haute South and Plainfield teams was huge.

"I think the medley relay getting second was a highlight of the meet," Menzel said. "The girls worked hard all season to get to that point and swam very, very well."

The relay marked the first of several good swims for the participants.

Sophomore Meyer had the top individual day for the Lady Tiger Sharks, placing third in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 100 butterfly.

"I was very pleased by what Mallary Meyer was able to accomplish today," Menzel said, "a couple of great swims and very solid finishes, which is a good setup for next year."

The coach also noted the performances of sophomores Smith and Romer.

Smith was fourth in the 50 freestyle and 11th in the 100 freestyle. Romer placed 13th in the 100 free.

"Add to that what our senior leadership was able to do -- Emily Wheeler, Rosio Gomez and Rachel Custis -- made for an amazing team effort today," Menzel said.

Wheeler placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and 12th in the 200 IM. Custis was 12th 100 backstroke and 15th in the 50 freestyle. Gomez concluded her career with a 14th-place finish in the 100 butterfly.

The coach was also proud of his other two relays. The 200 freestyle relay of Smith, Custis, Meyer and Romer placed fourth, while the 400 freestyle relay of Gomez, Cecilia Pohlar, Libby Brush and Wheeler was eighth.

"I thought that our 200 free relay was outstanding as well, all the girls just swimming out of their minds to bring down that time," Menzel said. "Both of those relays dropped time, as did our 400 free relay, where we saw a great team effort."

Sophomore Maddison Plunkett was the top finisher for South Putnam, placing eighth in diving.

For South Putnam coach Ann Kendall, perhaps the high point of the sectional was having individuals back for Saturday swims after strong races on Thursday.

"For the last two years since we've been at the sectional, we have not had anyone come back at all in individual events," Kendall said. "This was the first year that we were represented in three individual events, which was exciting for no bigger than our team is and where we're coming from."

Sophomore Katie Beasley placed 11th in the 500 freestyle and 12th in the 200 freestyle. Classmate Katie Hansel was 12th in the 50 freestyle, and her 27.04 time earned her a place in school history.

"Katie Hansel tied our 50 free record, literally to the hundredth of a second," Kendall said with a laugh. "That was still exciting. She's been working for that."

One team in the Eagle record book actually fell, with the 200 free relay team of Megan Arnold, Katie McHugh, Beasley and Hansel setting a record of 1:54.93.

"We came away with a new school record in our 200 free relay, which is really exciting and they've been working really hard for that," Kendall said.

Eagle sophomore diver Maddison Plunkett turned in the top individual performance with an eighth-place finish.

"Maddison did great," Kendall said. "We were so excited for her to be in the top eight. She finished ninth last year. She really represented us well there."

Overall, the coach saw this season as one of great strides for the Eagle program.

"Despite only having nine girls this season, I feel like we've done more with fewer girls," Kendall said. "It's just been really exciting to see so much progress with the small team that we have. They did big things."

She also gave credit to senior Katie McHugh for her presence and leadership.

"Kaite's our only senior and she's been an amazing example both in and out of the pool and leader for the girls," Kendall said. "They're really going to miss her. I'm really going to miss her. It's going to be difficult to fill her shoes."

North Putnam junior Elizabeth Alford swam to 13th place finish in the 200 freestyle (above) and 16th in the 100 freestyle.

Like South Putnam, a simple return for Saturday was a big deal for North Putnam. Junior Elizabeth Alford was the lone Cougar back for individual races, finishing 13th in the 200 freestyle and 16th in the 100 freestyle.

"I thought the girls swam really well top to bottom," coach Tony Gray said. "We had some good efforts and a lot of personal bests today. If you swim your best on the last day of the season, that's all a coach can ask for."

Four of those personal bests came from the 200 freestyle relay team of Alford, Rebecca Muse, Nikita Miller and Sierra Livesay, which finished ninth..

"Our 200 free relay team went 1:57," Gray said. "Every one of them had a lifetime personal best in that one. That was a great swim by them."

Both North Putnam freestyle relays were heat winners on Saturday, with the 400 freestyle relay of Alford, Samantha Freije, Miller and Autumn Wolf also winning the consolation heat with a ninth-place finish.

Gray also took a moment to pay tribute to his graduating seniors.

"We're losing two seniors on the girls' side, Autumn Wolf and Sierra Livesay," Gray said. "They've meant a lot to the program. They've both swam for four years and it's been a joy to get to coach them."

All three schools return girls who had strong meets on Saturday. Menzel summed up his season in a comment that could have come from any of the three county coaches.

"The girls got great experience today, which they'll all use for next year," Menzel said. "And it's very hard to say goodbye to some seniors who have been incredibly important for helping this team the entire season to perform at its best."

At Plainfield
IHSAA Girls' Swimming Sectional
Finals
Team Standings
Avon 443.5, Plainfield 431.5, Terre Haute South 384.5, Terre Haute North 216, Greencastle 196.5, Danville 141.5, Cascade 130.5, Tri-West 112, South Putnam 85, North Putnam 55, West Vigo 24
200 Medley Relay
Finals: 1. Avon 1:49.47, 2. Greencastle (Meyer, Wheeler, Smith, Romer) 1:55.37, 3. Terre Haute South 1:46.70, 4. Plainfield 1:57.44, 5. Danville 1:59.44, 6. Cascade 2:03.90, 7. Terre Haute North 2:06.93, 8. South Putnam (Beasley, McHugh, Arnold, Hansel) 2:15.48.
Consolation: 9. Tri-West 2:17.89, 10. North Putnam (S Freije, L Freije, Muse, Livesay) 2:29.02, 11. West Vigo 2:36.61.
200 Freestyle
Finals: 1. Myers (Av) 1:55.49, 2. Kline (THN) 1:59.66, 3. Dillon (THS) 2:00.11, 4. Jones (TW) 2:00.60, 5. Graves (Pf) 2:04.14, 6. Christjansen (THS) 2:04.40, 7. Coapstick (Av) 2:08.33, 8. Lautenschlager (Pf) 2:09.72.
Consolation: 9. Fay (Av) 2:08.29, 10. Padget (THS) 2:12.08, 11. Vanwanzeele (Pf) 2:15.81, 12. Beasley (SP) 2:16.14, 13. Alford (NP) 2:17.31, 14. Cook (Dan) 2:19.17, 15. Ferguson (Cas) 2:19.37, 16. Armfield (Dan) 2:20.94.
200 IM
Finals: 1. Walters (Av) 2:09.18, 2. Adair (Pf) 2:14.74, 3. Smith (Av) 2:19.98, 4. Hance (Pf) 2:22.27, 5. Scott (THS) 2:22.66, 6. Schilling (THS) 2:23.13, 7. Charles (Pf) 2:23.82, 8. Powers (THN) 2:24.71.
Consolation: 9. Kirsch (THS) 2:26.54, 10, Miller (Av) 2:28.93, 11. Rosales (Cas) 2:31.27, 12. Wheeler (GHS) 2:32.27, 13. Breitweiser (THN) 2:32.85, 14. Brush (GHS) 2:33.00, 15. Breitweiser (THN) 2:33.97, 16. Breeding (Cas) 2:42.60.
50 Freestyle
Finals: 1. K Senseman (THS) 24.07, 2. Vandevoorde (Pf) 24.94, 3. Campbell (Av) 25.10, 4. Smith (GHS) 25.75, 5. Whicker (Pf) 25.78, 6. Ater (THS) 26.11, 7. Mattick (THN) 26.29, 8. Moore (THS) 26.37.
Consolation: 9. Scanland (Av) 26.75, 10. Romer (GHS) 26.76, 11. Hunter (Pf) 26.77, 12. Hansel (SP) 27.04, 13. Elliott (Dan) 27.31, 14. Hines (Av) 27.33, 15. Custis (GHS) 27.56, Fair (TW) 27.93.
Diving
1. Coverdale (Pf) 512.75, 2. Fears (Pf) 465.50, 3. Blackburn (Cas) 334.85, 4. Howell (Av) 333.95, 5. Deaton (Av) 305.85, 6. Startzman (Dan) 257.25, 7. Warden (TW) 246.95, 8. Plunkett (SP) 233.70, 9. Ward (THN) 213.00, 10. Prose (THN) 212.45, 11. Thurston (THS) 205.95, 12. Dougherty (THN) 202.55, 13. Ford (GHS) 167.10, 14. Keller (GHS) 157.95.
100 Butterfly
Finals: 1. Qualls (Av) 59.73, 2. Adair (Pf) 1:00.12, 3. R Senseman (THS) 1:01.28, 4. Jones (TW) 1:02.05, 5. Schilling (THS) 1:03.67, 6. Meyer (GHS) 1:04.09, 7. Elliott (Dan) 1:05.63, 8. Vanwanzeele (Pf) 1:05.82.
Consolation: 9. Snoke (Pf) 1:04.31, 10. Fay (Av) 1:04.60, 11. Schilling (THS) 1:05.95, 12. Mothersead (Av) 1:15 98, 13. Rosales (Cas) 1:07.23, 14. Gomez (GHS) 1:08.75, 15. Pohlar (GHS) 1:12.26, 16. Burke (Dan) 1:16.12.
100 Freestyle
Finals: 1. K Senseman (THS) 52.65, 2. Campbell (Av) 54.16, 3. Vandevoorde (Pf) 55.24, 4. Whicker (Pf) 56.33, 5. Mattick (THN) 56.77, 6. Powers (THN) 56.82, 7. Charles (Pf) 57.27, 7. Moore (THS) 57.27.
Consolation: 9. Scanland (Av) 57.46, 10. Scott (THS) 57.57, 11. Smith (GHS) 57.68, 12. Breeding (Cas) 58.18, 13. Romer (GHS) 59.99, 13. Deweese (Cas) 59.99, 14. Fair (TW) 1:00.61, 16. Alford (NP) 1:01.43.
500 Freestyle
Finals: 1. Qualls (Av) 5:08.65, 2. Myer (Av) 5:11.62, 3. Kline (THN) 5:21.45, 4. Dillon (THS) 5:25.84, 5. Graves (Pf) 5:34.36, 6. Coapstick (Av) 5:39.57, 7. Carroll (Pf) 5:43.91, 8. Christjansen (THS) 5:47.82.
Consolation: 9. Lautenschlager (Pf) 5:43.50, 10. Kroll (Dan) 5:59.79, 11. Beasley (SP) 6:11.23, 12. Armfield (Dan) 6:15.42, 13. Weber (THN) 6:16.00, 14. Ferguson (Cas) 6:24.35, 15. Brush (GHS) 6:30.02, 16. Selvia (GHS) 6:41.67.
200 Freestyle Relay
Finals: 1. Terre Haute South 1:39.48, 2. Plainfield 1:40.14, 3. Avon 1:44.89, 4. Greencastle (Smith, Custis, Meyer, Romer) 1:45.81, 5. Cascade 1:49.38, 6. Cascade 1:49.38, 7. Tri-West 1:52.02, 8. South Putnam (Arnold, McHugh, Beasley, Hansel) 1:54.93.
Consolation: 9. North Putnam (Alford, Muse, Miller, Livesay) 1:57.41, 10. Danville 2:01.11, 11. West Vigo 2:12.64.
100 Backstroke
Finals: 1. Walters (Av) 58.03, 2. R Senseman (THS) 59.69, 3. Meyer (GHS) 1:02.20, 4. Ater (THS) 1:05.09, 5. Mothersead (Av) 1:05.10, 6. Vanwanzeele (Pf) 1:06.50, 7. Hance (Pf) 1:06.56, 8. Padget (THS) 1:07.95.
Consolation: 9. Miller (Av) 1:07.49, 10. Breitweiser (THN) 1:09.13, 11. Brown (Cas) 1:09.46, 12. Custis (GHS) 1;09.86, 13. Kroll (Dan) 1:09.93, 14. Newton (Pf) 1:10.74, 15. Rink (THN) 1:11.93, 16. Cox (TW) 1:15.46.
100 Breaststroke
Finals: 1. Smith (Av) 1:08.43, 1. Mitchell (Dan) 1:08.43, 3. Hunter (Pf) 1:12.36, 4. Heeger (Av) 1:12.94, 5. Wheeler (GHS) 1:14.18, 6. Snoke (Pf) 1:14.38, 7. Kelly (Av) 1:15.38, 8. Breitweiser (THN) 1:15.85.
Consolation: 9. Kirsch (THS) 1:16.45, 10. Carroll (Pf) 1:19.16, 11. Vaughan (THS) 1:19.47, 12. Kroll (Dan) 1:20.83, 13. B Hansen (GHS) 1:21.04, 14. Breeding (Cas) 1:21.08, 15. Brattain (GHS) 1:22.39, 16. Balzano (Cas) 1:26.50.
400 Freestyle Relay
Finals: 1. Plainfield 3:38.13, 2. Avon 3:38.76, 3. Terre Haute South 3:40.37, 4. Terre Haute North 3:53.24, 5. Cascade 4:00.75, 6. Danville 4:01.79, 7. Tri-West 4:07.34, 8. Greencastle (Gomez, Pohlar, Brush, Wheeler) 4:14.70.
Consolation: 9. North Putnam (Alford, S Freije, Miller, Wolf) 4:43.39, 10. South Putnam (Plunkett, Lorimer, Haywood, King) 4:58.21.