Cougars sixth at swim sectional

Sunday, February 23, 2014
North Putnam senior Dane Gray led off the school record-breaking 200 medley relay team of Jonah Creamean, Trevor Troyer and Nick Kaufman, as well as breaking the 200 IM and 100 backstroke records. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

AVON -- Three seniors have been with the North Putnam swim team since it could barely field a relay to its sixth-place finish Saturday in a highly-competitive Avon Sectional.

Dane Gray, Nick Kaufman and Trevor Troyer finished their high school swimming careers on Saturday, but went out with several quality swims, some school records and a legacy of helping to build the Cougars' swimming program.

"I really want to talk about my three seniors -- Trevor Troyer, Nick Kaufman and my son Dane Gray," coach Tony Gray said. "We've gone from four total swimmers three years ago to now we've got about 29 or 30 kids in the high school program. So they've been very instrumental in building the program.

"They went out on a high note. I know they didn't achieve everything they wanted to achieve but at least they reached for greatness."

It was a day full of school records for Gray, who set two individual records and contributed to a relay record.

The senior swam a 55.46 in the 100 backstroke, good enough for fifth place and a North Putnam record. Likewise, his time of 2:06.83 in the 200 IM set a record and placed eighth in sectional.

All three Cougar relays made the finals, with the 200 medley of Gray, Jonah Creamean, Troyer and Kaufman finishing fifth and setting another record at 1:46.56.

The 400 free relay of Gray, Creamean, Kaufman and Troyer was also fifth with a time of 3:31.54.

Placing seventh was the Cougar 200 free relay of Kaufman, Bailey Allen, Joseph Davis and Andrew Rogers.

Besides three relay swims, Kaufman made his only individual swim with an eight-place finish in the 50 freestyle.

Troyer and Creamean each made a pair of consolation finals swims for North Putnam. Troyer was 12th in the 100 freestyle and 13th in the 200 IM, while Creamean placed 11th in the 100 butterfly and 13th in the 200 freestyle.

Other Cougar finishes included Nick Young, 12th in the 500 freestyle; Davis, 14th in the 100 breaststroke; and Allen, 16th in the 100 freestyle.

First-year divers Chase Ruble and Andrew Rogers were also 12th and 13th, respectively.

"The kids really competed well. They gave me everything I could ask for," Gray said. "They came and stood toe to toe with some of the best teams and didn't back down."

Even losing three quality seniors, Gray said he is excited for what the future holds for the Cougars.

"We have seven freshman boys on the team this year and four of them got experience in finals," Gray said. "We've got a good core of eighth-grade kids coming in, so the future's really bright for North Putnam."

North Putnam senior Nick Kaufman made top-eight finishes in the 50 freestyle and all three Cougar relay teams. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)
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