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Swimmers close out season at sectional
TERRE HAUTE — The big schools dominated the top spot on the winner’s stand at the Terre Haute South boys’ swimming sectional on Saturday.
Avon swimmers won six of the 12 event titles, yet placed only third in the team standings.
Overall winner Plainfield won three events while runnerup Terre Haute North won two and fourth-place Danville won one.
South Putnam’s medley relay team turned in the best time in Thursday’s preliminaries but finished second to Plainfield, which won the race by 2.39 seconds.
Eagle standout Evan Steffy had also been seeded first in the 100-yard breaststroke and despite breaking his lifetime best again placed third. Avon’s Brian Beasley broke the Wabash Valley Aquatic Center record with a time of 58.88, which was 2.92 seconds faster than Steffy.
South Putnam coach Anna Kendall was pleased with how her team performed.
“Our boys swam with real courage and determination on Saturday against the buzzsaw of the bigger schools,” she said. “Obviously, we would have loved a trip to the state meet in a swimming event, but the swimmers went out and swam lifetime bests again on Saturday, lowered several school records (again) and swam with real grit against athletes from schools eight times our size. That’s the best we can do, and I’m so proud of them for their remarkable effort. “
Greencastle coach Kent Menzel was also pleased with the efforts of his athletes.
“Seniors Jack Riggle (50 free and 100 fly) and Michael White (100 fly and 100 breast) truly paved the way to a great overall ream result for the Tiger Sharks,” Menzel said. “I was just amazed at how well the two of them swam and further amazed that those two and the rest of the men swam past their preliminary times, almost all of which were lifetime bests. Also strong for the night was senior Sal Martoglio who scored in both the 50 and 100 free.”
Menzel noted that three more seniors (Michael Thede, Josh Nally and Jack Howard) all recorded significant lifetime best 100 free splits, along with sophomore Eli Hardwick, to score well in the 400 free relay.
“It was also quite gratifying to see Shark diver Joey Kleffman record a breakthrough diving performance to finish seventh,” Menzel said. “Coach Elijah Brattain and Joey have been very diligent in their work and the effort was plain to see.”
Menzel was also happy with the effort of Cloverdale’s first-ever sectional swimmer.
“Chief among the great swims on the night was Carson Hall, the Cloverdale star, who bested his already lifetime best preliminary swims (200 free and 100 back),” Menzel said. “Carson’s future is bright for sure.”
Terre Haute South boys’ swimming sectional
Team scores — 1, Plainfield 423. 2, Terre Haute North 362. 3, Avon 335. 4, Danville 278. 5, South Putnam 208. 6, Greencastle 170. 7, North Putnam 121. 11, Cloverdale, 18.
Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay — 1, Plainfield 1:37.36. 2, South Putnam (Grant Cordell FR, Evan Steffy JR, Kyle Cunningham JR, Zion Harris JR), 1:39.75. 5, Greencastle (Jack Howard SR, Michael White SR, Jack Riggle SR, Sal Martoglio SR), 1:46.38. 9, North Putnam (Seth Thompson SO, Ethan Harrison FR, Carter Thomas FR, Gunner Burress SO), 2:00.84.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle — 1, Charlie King, Avon, 1:41.10. 8, Carson Hall, Cloverdale, 1:57.39. 10, Vincent Martoglio, Greencastle, 2:01.28. 11, Jacob Farrington, North Putnam, 2:01.67. 16, Jake Shinovich, North Putnam, 2:06.93.
Boys 200 Yard IM — 1, Maverick Bray, Avon, 1:55.32. 4, Grant Cordell, South Putnam, 2:03.93. 6, Kyle Young, North Putnam, 2:05.69. 16, Max Dunaway, South Putnam, 2:29.59.
Boys 50 Yard Freestyle — 1, Tyler Sommer, Terre Haute North 21.58. 5, Jack Riggle, Greencastle, 22.70. 6, Zion Harris, South Putnam, 22.82. 10, Sal Martoglio, Greencastle, 23.46. 13, Matthew Trotter, North Putnam, 24.06.
Boys 1 mtr Diving — 1, Holden Higbie, Danville, 526.10. 2, Lee Haywood, South Putnam, 465.10. 7, Joey Kleffman, Greencastle, 286.70.
Boys 100 Yard Butterfly —1, Jackson VanWanzeele, Plainfield, 50.19. 4, Jack Riggle, Greencastle, 54.92. 6, Kyle Young, North Putnam, 55.70. 7, Kyle Cunningham, South Putnam, 56.69. 8, Michael White, Greencastle, 59.09. 14, Max Dunaway, South Putnam, 1:02.67.
Boys 100 Yard Freestyle — 1, Tyler Sommer, Terre Haute North 46.74. 5, Evan Steffy, South Putnam, 49.20. 9, Sal Martoglio, Greencastle 51.75. 12, Zion Harris, South Putnam, 52.42. 13, Matthew Trotter North Putnam, 53.01.
Boys 500 Yard Freestyle — 1, Charlie King, Avon, 4:42.49. 11, Jacob Farrington, North Putnam, 5:31.22. 15, Jake Shinovich, North Putnam, 5:56.77.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Avon 1:28.49. 4, Greencastle (Sal Martoglio SR, Michael White SR, Vincent Martoglio SO, Jack Riggle SR), 1:35.98. 5, North Putnam (Matthew Trotter SR, Gunner Burress SO, Cody Perkins SO, Kyle Young SR), 1:36.15. 8, South Putnam (Daniel Johnson SR, Marcus Robinson JR, Max Dunaway SR, Lee Haywood JR), 1:43.46. (B - Final)
Boys 100 Yard Backstroke — 1, Maverick Bray, Avon, 50.29. 8, Kyle Cunningham, South Putnam, 1:01.59. 10, Carson Hall, Cloverdale 1:04.20. 15, Jack Howard, Greencastle, 1:08.69.
Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke —1, Brian Beasley, Plainfield, 57.88. 3, Evan Steffy, South Putnam, 1:00.80. 5, Grant Cordell, South Putnam, 1:01.10. 6, Michael White, Greencastle, 1:03.72. 16, Daniel Johnson, South Putnam, 1:12.06.
Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Avon 3:12.48. 4, South Putnam (Grant Cordell FR, Zion Harris JR, Kyle Cunningham JR, Evan Steffy JR), 3:21.56. 6, North Putnam (Matthew Trotter SR, Jake Shinovich SO, Justin Thomas SO, Kyle Young SR), 3:41.81. 8, Greencastle (Josh Nally SR, Eli Hardwick SO, Michael Thede SR, Jack Howard SR), 4:17.47.