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Eagles lead county contingent with fifth-place finish at Avon Girls' Swim Sectional
AVON – South Putnam opened and closed Saturday’s IHSAA Avon Girls’ Swimming and Diving Sectional with two third-place relay finishes while Kallie Pastore finished runner-up in the 100 breaststroke for the top overall finish among Putnam County Swimmers.
The Eagles (168) finished fifth overall in the team standings with Greencastle (129) seventh and North Putnam (95) 10th overall. Plainfield (496) won its fifth-straight sectional title by nearly 100 points over second-place Avon (398) with Cascade (240.5) edging out Terre Haute South (236) for third.
Elise Kendall, Bella Fanning, Pastore and Megan Bumgardner got South Putnam off to a flying start with a 200 medley relay time of 2:00.32, beating out Avon by .56 seconds for third. Greencastle’s relay team of Penny Cummings, Avery Capps, Meredith Ball and Brooklyn Tyson (2:28.14) beat out North Putnam’s team of Addison Jones, Adelia Thomas, Lilly Gaddis and Kate Myers (2:34.70) for ninth overall in the event.
Greencastle’s Caroline Gooch (2:03.19) finished fifth overall in the 200 free with Cougar Alaina Chew (2:12.38) ninth and Tiger Cub Kylie Flint (2:28.63) 15th overall in the event.
Fanning (2:45.10) topped Capps (2:46.72) and Jones (2:55.27) for 14th place in the 200 IM while North Putnam’s Keaton Burress (27.33) narrowly edged out Kendall (27.36) for 11th in the 50 free with Tiger Cub Sophie Riggle (27.81) 15th overall.
Bumgardner (1:06.58) finished seventh overall in the 100 fly with Ball (1:15.35) finishing 14th overall.
Pastore (57.28) finished sixth in the 100 free with Burress (1:00.36) beating out Riggle (1:00.89) for 10th place in the event.
Gooch (5:38.57) added a second fifth-place finish on the day in the 500 free with Chew (5:50.17) joining her on the podium in eighth place.
Greencastle’s top finish came in the 200 free relay as Riggle, Flint, Capps and Gooch (1:52.20) finished fourth overall with North Putnam’s Jones, Bailee Pride, Addison Everman and Burress (1:57.04) finishing sixth and South Putnam’s Fanning, Carley Dickenson, Stevie Keenan and Josey Helton (1:59.07) finishing eighth overall.
Bumgardner (1:05.97) claimed sixth overall in the 100 back with teammate Kendall (1:09.76) finishing ninth. Ball (1:11.42) 11th and Jones (1:16.35) 14th overall.
Pastore (1:08.16) finished as runner-up to Plainfield’s Taylor Brackney in the 100 breaststroke with teammates Fanning (1:17.50) 11th and Helton (1:20.03) 13th overall. Capps (1:23.57) placed 14th in the event.
South Putnam closed out the meet by finishing third in the 400 free relay through Kendall, Helton, Bumgardner and Pastore (4:00.86) with Greencastle’s team of Gooch, Flint, Ball and Riggle (4:06.99) finishing fifth and North Putnam’s team of Gaddis, Pride, Chew and Burress (4:24.91) finishing ninth overall.
Coach’s Comments
South Putnam head coach Anna Kendall
“I was really happy overall with the way the girls competed in such a tough sectional,” Kendall said. “Our relays in particular were superb; for us to hold off Avon in the 200 medley for a third-place finish was really exciting and speaks to our potential.
“Kallie broke our school record in the 100 free in prelims and finished sixth overall before her second -place finish in the 100 breaststroke for the second year in a row. Megan grew a lot this year and found herself in the A final for all of her events; I was really proud of the way she handled the extra pressure of her position on the team this year.
“We also had several freshmen that really dug in and embraced high school competition; their eagerness for success and willingness to work drove the team in a lot of ways and paid off throughout the meet,” Kendall added. “The girls did a great job of finishing well, lowering their own school record in the 400 free relay and finishing third overall.
“We only have one senior, Carley Dickenson, who has been a great asset to the team culture in terms of her positive nature. The rest of the girls will be back next year and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do with another year of development.”
Greencastle head coach Kent Menzel
“I was very happy with the performance of the Tiger Sharks this past weekend,” Menzel said. “We had challenged the team to perform at their best and we were able to achieve that through preliminaries and then into finals.
“We were led by senior Caroline Gooch, who had tremendous swims and great finishes in both of her events. Caroline was also core to two of our relays, both of which had great finishes, and both of which represented exceptional swims from all team members. We will very much miss Caroline, as she has been a wonderful leader for the team.
“Meredith Ball, Sophie Riggle and Avery Capps all had great meets, all three of them swimming back to finals in two events,” Menzel added. “Kylie Flint was also able to make it back in the 200 free with a great effort in Thursday’s preliminaries.
“In addition to strong swims from our Individuals, all of our relays were very strong and able to swim at or much better than our predictions. I am very proud of our team, they worked hard all season, they prepared well for this season culminating championship and, when they got in the pool, they swam extraordinarily well.”
North Putnam head coach Wes Richardson
“The girls had a lot of fun at sectionals and did a great job finishing their 2022-23 season,” Richardson said. “Several swimmers recorded their PR’s in the Avon pool. I am proud of their hard work and accomplishments over the season.
“We will be losing two valuable seniors this year in Alaina Chew and Keaton Burress. Both of these young ladies have contributed a great deal to the success of the Cougars’ swim program over the years. Their efforts, talent and leadership will truly be missed. I wish these two awesome ladies great success in their future as they begin the next chapter in their lives.
“Breaking down the numbers on sectional with tough and talented competition, North Putnam’s ladies represented well,” Richardson added. “Three athletes returned for individual finals in six different events with North represented in two A finals on Saturday with the coaching staff was very pleased.
“We wanted to congratulate Alaina for making the A final in the 500 free; she has been working extremely hard in dropping her time in this event, ending the season with a lifetime PR and a season drop of 20.57 seconds. We also wanted to congratulate the girls’ 200 free relay team that made the A finals with members Addison Jones, Bailee Pride, Addison Everman and Keaton Burress; this team ended the season with an 8.36 second drop in time.
“As we close out the 2022-23 girls’ season, we are looking forward to next year’s season and are in the process of discussing exciting changes for the program.”