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GHS girls win county swim Championship
In the final meet before the swimming sectional takes place at Avon, the Putnam County girls' swim teams gathered at South Putnam for the Putnam County Swim Meet.
Greencastle picked up seven wins, including all three relays, to power past the field 260-199-156, with the host Eagles finishing second and North Putnam placing third.
Winners for the Tiger Sharks included Kristen Stevens in the 100 backstroke, Mallary Meyer in the 200 IM, Cecilia Pohlar in the 50 free style and Grace Gillen in the 100 freestyle.
Amelia Smith and Corrie Romer helped to anchor all three relays to victories, with the duo being joined by Meyer and Kelly Hansen in the 200 medley relay, Pohlar and Megan Haltom in the 200 freestyle relay and Meyer and Stevens in the 400 freestyle relay.
Greencastle head coach Kent Menzel said the squad performed well and pointed to several efforts that impressed on the night.
"I'm happy to see Sydney Cash take second in diving," Menzel said. "She's been working so hard this year and has her eye toward next week and the 11-dive meet at the sectional championship.
"Also, we're very pleased with Kristen Stevens' races tonight. Stevens won the backstroke and was part of our winning 400 freestyle relay team.
"Kristen is one of our seniors and has worked very hard this season," Menzel added. "Beth Ann Hansen, our other senior, swam well in the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke."
"The rest of the team did their thing tonight. They swam hard, raced well and I think they're going to be ready next week, which is what we're really thinking about at this point in the season."
South Putnam picked up a pair of wins on the night as Megan Arnold won the 100 butterfly and Alex Fanning claimed first in the 100 breaststroke.
Eagle head coach Anna Kendall said the girls put in a solid effort to take second place.
"I was really pleased with our girls' performance overall," Kendall said. "In particular, Megan Arnold had a really good night with lifetime bests in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, which were great to see.
"Alex, one of our new additions, has taken off this year and it's been fun to watch her. She was really excited and got bit by the competitive bug, which was also good to see.
"I was impressed with Katie Jo (Beasley's) 200 freestyle race tonight," Kendall added. "She raced very well in a tough race to swim and I think she's finally settling in, figuring out how to race it and it was her best race in the event."
North Putnam had three wins on the evening as Abby Spencer was the only double individual champion of the evening, winning the 200 and 500 freestyle races, while Desirae Poynter won the diving competition.
Cougar head coach Tony Gray said the lack of depth hurt a team that, otherwise, swam very well all night.
"I think we swam how I expected us to swim," Gray said. "The girls swam well and we had a lot of lifetime bests tonight.
"Abby Spencer, a freshman, came out and got two impressive wins tonight in the 200 and 500 freestyle races. Desirae Poynter, in her first year of diving, was able to come away with the Putnam County championship.
"We knew coming in it was going to be a difficult road with only eight girls that were swimming," Gray added. "The numbers worked against us in this format because all the positions had points and we were giving away a lot of points in every event."
With the regular season now in the books, all three county schools turn their attention to the IHSAA Swim sectional at Avon High School next Thursday.
Gray felt the squad showed enough Wednesday to be ready for the big event.
"I saw a lot of good indicators tonight and this week in practice that are telling me they're right where they want to be," Gray said. "We're going to be fast next week when it counts."
Kendall said the girls were in the right frame of mind to compete next week.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do on Thursday," Kendall said. "I expect big things out of all of them and I think they're ready mentally.
"Tonight, we were not at where we're going to be yet for sectionals, but we will be ready."
Menzel, meanwhile, said he and the team were eager to get the sectional under way.
"It's kind of like Christmas right now," Menzel said. "You've got all those presents under the tree and you just can't wait until Thursday to get them all unwrapped.
"I think the girls have a great attitude toward next week. Our training has been on schedule and on target.
"Everything I see says we should be looking at some great performances from next week,"Menzel added. "We are cautiously confident and doing everything we can to be razor sharp in prelims and then Saturday in the finals."
At South Putnam
Putnam County Girls' Swim Meet
Greencastle 260, South Putnam 199, North Putnam 156
200 Medley Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Meyer, Smith, K. Hansen, Romer) 2:06.47; 2. North Putnam (Spencer, Muse, Dill, Alford) 2:15.23; 3. South Putnam (Hansel, Fanning, Jones, M. Arnold) 2:17.60; 4. Greencastle (Roberts, B. Hansen, Selvia, Stevens) 2:17.93; 5. North Putnam (S. Freije, L. Freije, Gray, Sims) 2:30.89; 6. South Putnam (Andersen, Haywood, Chambers, O. Arnold) 2:39.49
200 Freestyle -- 1. Spencer (NP) 2:11.97; 2. Beasley (SP) 2:12.77; 3. Gillen (G) 2:19.17; 4. S. Freije (NP) 2:3.96; 5. Haywood (SP) 2:37.60; 6. Heithaus (G) 2:37.72; 7. King (SP) 2:48.65; 8. Gong (G) 3:53.14
200 IM -- 1. Meyer (G) 2:27.60; 2. Romer (G) 2:39.47; 3. Smith (G) 2:40.02; 4. M. Arnold (SP) 2:40.47; 5. Dill (NP) 2:52.81 6. L. Freije (NP) 2:54.95; 7. Chambers (SP) 3:01.28; 8. Kiste (SP) 3:04.36
50 Freestyle -- 1. Pohlar (G) 27.22; 2. Alford (NP) 27.93; 3. Hansel (SP) 28.53; 4. Stevens (G) 30.19; 5. Haltom (G) 30.81; 6. Gray (NP) 32.56; 7. Jones (SP) 33.06; 8. Andersen (SP) 33.07; 9. Nield (SP) 35.00
Diving -- 1. Poynter (NP) 129.60; 2. Cash (G) 107.65; 3. Nield (SP) 97.15; 4. Clifford (SP) 65.75
100 Butterfly -- 1. M. Arnold (SP) 1:11.62; 2. K. Hansen (G) 1:12.20; 3. Haltom (G) 1:19.36; 4. Selvia (G) 1:20.34; 5. Jones (SP) 1:21.12; 6. Dill (NP) 1:23.06; 7. Muse (NP) 1:26.84
100 Freestyle -- 1. Gillen (G) 1:01.85; 2. Hansel (SP) 1:02.75; 3. Alford (NP) 1:03.53; 4. Roberts (G) 1:07.97; 5. King (SP) 1:12.12; 6. B. Hansen (G) 1:12.47; 7. Sims (NP) 1:13.50; 8. Clifford (SP) 1:20.75; 9. Delano (SP) 1:23.14
500 Freestyle -- 1. Spencer (NP) 5:56.86; 2. Meyer (G) 6:01.72; 3. Beasley (SP) 6:03.42; 4. S. Freije (NP) 6:53.25; 5. Heithaus (G) 6:55.26; 6. Haywood (SP) 7:02.87; 7. O. Arnold (SP) 7:07.17; 8. K. Hansen (G) 7:55.75
200 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Romer, Haltom, Pohlar, Smith) 1:53.47; 2. North Putnam (Alford, L. Freije, Dill, Spencer) 1:59.43; 3. South Putnam (M. Arnold, King, Beasley, Hansel) 2:00.41; 4. Greencastle (Selvia, Gillen, K. Hansen, Heithaus) 2:07.41; 5. South Putnam (Chambers, Haywood, Nield, Jones) 2:18.90
100 Backstroke -- 1. Stevens (G) 1:17.99; 2. L. Freije (NP) 1:18.69; 3. Roberts (G) 1:19.15; 4. Gray (NP) 1:20.93; 5. Andersen (SP) 1:23.69; 6. Kiste (SP) 1:28.08; 7. O. Arnold (SP) 1:37.78; 8. Gong (G) 1:45.05
100 Breaststroke -- 1. Fanning (SP) 1:20.80; 2. Pohlar (G) 1:23.55; 3. B. Hansen (G) 1:24.94; 4. Muse (NP) 1:26.66; 5. Chambers (SP) 1:28.18; 6. Delano (SP) 1:41.17; 7. Selvia (G) 1:41.78; 8. Sims (NP) 1:56.96
400 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Greencastle (Meyer, Romer, Smith, Stevens) 4:14.77; 2. Greencastle (Gillen, Haltom, Roberts, Pohlar) 4:38.47; 3. South Putnam (Kin, O. Arnold, Andersen, Beasley) 4:48.24; 4. North Putnam (S. Freije, Gray, Muse, Sims) 5:11.17; 5. South Putnam (Nield, Clifford, Delano, Kiste) 5:54.23