Swim teams finish season in sectional finals

AVON--After swimming in their prelims on Thursday, the Putnam County swim teams went back to Avon for their sectional finals in hopes of bettering their times and qualifying for the State meet.

Unfortunately, no County team qualified, with Greencastle's 200 freestyle relay team of juniors Mallary Meyer, Corrie Romer, Amelia Smith and sophomore Cecilia Pohlar just missing the cut time.

The 200 Relay team of Mallary Meyer, Cecilia Pohlar, Corrie Romer and Amelia Smith placed third and set a new Greencastle school record with its time of 1:41.83. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

Avon took the meet with 458 points and Plainfield earned second place. Terre Haute South and Terre Haute North won third and fourth, respectively, and Greencastle placed fifth with 201. The Eagles finished ninth with 101 and North Putnam placed 10th with 72.

Greencastle had a great day as its 200 freestyle relay team set a new school record while the team had several podium finishes.

South Putnam's 200 freestyle relay team of Megan Arnold, Katie Hansel, Katie Jo Beasley, Sunniva Andersen placed eighth. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"It was just a great day for us," GHS swim coach Kent Menzel. "The highlight of the day was setting the 200 free relay record, which was last set in 2002. Then also it was resetting by a good solid margin our 400 freestyle relay to end the meet. We've been talking about those relays and this task all season long. I think the girls show great maturity and a solid sense of preparation as athletes."

Including the two relay teams, the Tiger Sharks placed in the top five six times. While Romer took fourth place in the 50 freestyle, Smith earned a second-place finish, missing the top spot by less than a second. Smith also took third in the 100 freestyle, and event where Romer took seventh.

Mallary Meyer of Greencastle swimming to a sixth place in the 100 butterfly. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"We had lifetime bests all across the pool all day long," Menzel said. "The girls were pouring their hearts out. I was very happy to see that happen. It's hard to go faster after (Thursday) but we were seeing that happen across the board."

Amelia Smith and Corrie Romer placed second and fourth for Greencastle in the 50 freestyle. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

Menzel was thrilled to see his two seniors Kristen Stevens and Beth Ann Hansen use their personal best times to help Greencastle in the 200 medley relay.

Mallary Meyer stands on the podium with her fourth place ribbon for her time in the 100 backstroke.

Meyer also joined her fellow relay swimmers some individual podium finishes. She placed fourth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 100 fly.

The Cougars swam well in their consolation events. The 200 freestyle relay team took ninth with senior Elizabeth Alford, sophomore Lauren Freije, freshmen Krisara Dill and Abigail Spencer beating Danville and West Vigo. Spencer had a good day also taking 13th in the 200 freestyle.

South Putnam's Megan Arnold and Greencastle's Cecilia Pohlar race neck-and-neck in the 200 IM. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"I think it was a good learning experience for my five freshman girls," said Cougar coach Tony Gray. "They were a little nervous on Thursday, but they really responded well and swam great today. We dropped six seconds in our 200 freestyle relay, missed the school record by 16 one-hundredths. That was a great swim. We dropped 15 seconds in our 400 free relay. So the young kids really responded well."

North Putnam's Abigail Spencer swims her 200 freestyle relay. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

In the 400 relay consolation event, North Putnam and South Putnam went head-to-head and the Cougar team of Lauren Freije, junior Hannah Gray, freshman Sydney Sims and senior Samantha Freije beat the Eagle team of seniors Sunniva Anderson, Olivia Arnold, sophomore Alicia Haywood and junior Maddy King by just three seconds.

The Eagle 200 medley team of Alex Fanning, Katie Hansel, Katie Jo Beasley and Megan Arnold celebrate its seventh place ribbon earned. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Eagles' best finish was in the 200 medley relay, where juniors, Katie Jo Beasley, Megan Arnold, Katie Hansel and freshman Alex Fanning placed seventh.

"It was great to be back today and have so many girls swimming in individual events today and even in the finals," Eagle coach Anna Kendall said. "We were really just here to race today and the girls did that really well. We've moved up a couple places in several events so that was exciting to see."

Eagle Katie Jo Beasley swims in her 500 freestyle. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

Beasley placed eighth in her 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay team of Beasley, Arnold, Hansel and Anderson placed eighth. Many of South Putnam's returning swimmers were underclassmen and that has Kendall excited about future seasons at South Putnam.

Katie Jo Beasley after her 500 freestyle in which she placed eighth for the Eagles. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"It's a really exciting place to be as far as looking forward to next year," Kendall said.

Team Scores

Avon 458, Plainfield 353, Terre Haute South 344, Terre Haute North 240, Greencastle 201, Cascade 146, Danville 132, Tri-West 124, South Putnam 101, North Putnam 72, West Vigo 24

200 Medley Relay --1. Avon 1:48.41; 2. Terre Haute South 1:43.13; 3. Terre Haute North 1:58.91; 4. Plainfield 1:58.95; 5. Danville 2:00.05; 7. South Putnam (Beasley, Fanning, M. Arnold, Hansel) 2:08.85; 8. Greencastle (Roberts, B. Hansen, K. Hansen, Stevens) 2:11.58; 9. North Putnam (Spencer, Muse, Dill, Alford) 2:12.65

200 Freestyle -- 1. Myers (A) 1:51.25; 2. Jones (A) 1:55.85; 3. Jones (TW) 1:56.59; 4. Dillon (THS) 1:58.12; 5. Kline (THN) 1:59.78; 11. Beasley (SP) 2:10.45; 13. Spencer (NP) 2:13.18

200 IM -- 1. Walters (A) 2:09.30; 2. Scott (THS) 2:14.56; 3. Adair (P) 2:14.57; 4. Smith (A) 2:18.85; 5. Hance (P) 2:21.1; 11. Pohlar (G) 2:30.20; 13. M. Arnold (SP) 2:40.61

50 Freestyle -- 1. Vandevoorde (P) 24.32; 2. Smith (G) 24.99; 3. Snoke (P) 25.33; 4. Romer (G) 25.48; 5. Gage (THS) 25.50; 11. Hansel (SP) 26.57; 13. Gillen (G) 26.60

Diving -- 1. Fears (P) 538.08; 2. Zick (P) 397.05; 3. Blackburn (CA) 374.55; 4. Startzman (D) 315.66; 5. Warden (TW) 302.07; 12. Poynter (NP) 195.03; 13. Cash (G) 189.60

100 Butterfly -- 1. Qualls (A) 58.31; 2. Adair (P) 58.80; 3. Jones (TW) 58.97; 4. Senseman (THS) 59.84; 5. Waldbieser (THN) 1:01.65; 6. Meyer (G) 1:02.53; 13. Pohlar (G) 1:07.43; 15. M. Arnold (SP) 1:10.48

100 Freestyle -- 1. Jones (A) 52.82; 2. Kline (THN) 55.24; 3. Smith (G) 55.67; 4. Moore (THS) 56.13; 5. Snoke (P) 56.50; 7. Romer (G) 56.72; 15. Hansel (SP) 59.35

500 Freestyle -- 1. Myers (A) 5:02.78; 2. Qualls (A) 5:06.39; 3. Graves (P) 5:25.73; 4. Dillon (THS) 5:26.56; 5. Elder (A) 5:32.58; 8. Beasley (SP) 5:53.73; 10. Spencer (NP) 5:57.40; 13. Haltom (G) 6:19.85

200 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Plainfield 1:39.55; 2. Avon 1:40.81; 3. Greencastle (Meyer, Pohlar, Romer, Smith) 1:41.83; 4. Terre Haute South 1:42.33; 5. Cascade 1:49.52; 8. South Putnam (M. Arnold, Andersen, Beasley, Hansel) 1:54.36; 9. North Putnam (Alford, L. Freije, Dill, Spencer) 1:54.41

100 Backstroke --1. Walters (A) 57.37; 2. Senseman (THS) 59.39; 3. Mothersead (A) 1:02.27; 4. Meyer (G) 1:03.01; 5. Miller (A) 1:05.08; 15. Roberts (G) 1:14.70

100 Breaststroke -- 1. Smith (A) 1:07.16; 2. Mitchell (D) 1:08.84; 3. Scanland (A) 1:09.81; 4. Hunter (P) 1:10.89; 5. Waldbieser (THN) 1:10.95; 11. Fanning (SP) 1:20.30; 13. Chambers (SP) 1:26.22; 15. Muse (NP) 1:27.46

400 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Avon 3:33.87; 2. Terre Haute South 3:42.41; 3. Greencastle (Meyer, Gillen, Romer, Smith) 3:46.09; 4. Terre Haute North 3:52.10; 5. Tri-West 4:00.96; 9. North Putnam (S. Freije, Sims, Gray, L. Freije) 4:40.16; 10. South Putnam (Andersen, O. Arnold, Haywood, King) 4:43.44