By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
With three weeks to go before the post-season begins, local swim teams are starting to think about sectionals.
Noblesville is no exception. Millers coach Rich Wolfred used his team’s dual meet with Zionsville Thursday to test out some of his swimmers in different events.
“We swam a little bit off tonight because I need to see some swims for sectional-type swims,” said Wolfred. “So we didn’t swim our best lineup against them. We just wanted to see these kids in different events.”
The Eagles swept the dual meet at the NHS pool, with the girls winning 124-62, and the two-time defending state runner-up boys winning 125.5-57.5. But Wolfred is happy with how his Miller team has been performing this season, especially since there are several young swimmers in the pool.
“We’re not a very young team, but we have a lot of young swimmers,” said Wolfred.
Some of the younger athletes have already stepped up. Freshmen Sammy Huff and Caitlin Marshall were both winners for Noblesville on Thursday, with Huff taking the 200 freestyle and Marshall placing first in the 100 free. Both ninth-graders were part of the winning 200 free relay team, along with another freshman, Abby Harvey, and junior Gillian Cripe.
As for the Millers boys, they won the 200 free relay team with a still-young but experienced group, consisting of juniors Jack Wolfred, Lawson Crum and Evan Diamente, plus sophomore Cameron Kramer. Sophomore Jared Newman placed first in the diving event.
Wolfred said that his freshmen came up through the Noblesville Swim Club, as most swimmers do. He noted that the freshman class is “very close,” which has made for a nice addition to the Millers team.
“It’s been an enjoyable year so far,” said Wolfred. “It’s a mix of kids. Freshmen came in, worked pretty hard and they fit in really well.”
Noblesville has three more regular-season meets to swim. The Millers host Fishers on Tuesday and Cathedral next Thursday (Jan. 18), then travel to Brownsburg for a Saturday, Jan. 20 meet.
Then begins the process of tapering for the sectional. The girls start with their preliminaries on Feb. 1, with the boys on Feb. 15. Wolfred said the team will stick with what works, noting that his swimmers tapered well over the summer, so the plan is to use the same tapering strategy in the winter that the Millers normally do.
Wolfred said the goal is always to get all three relays (medley, 200 free and 400 free) meet swimming under the state cut time in both the boys and girls divisions, which would automatically qualify them for the state meet.
“I think we have a better shot this year than we did last year,” said Wolfred.
GIRLS MEET
Team score: Zionsville 124, Noblesville 62.
200 medley relay: 2. Noblesville “A” (Brianna McBride, Sammy Huff, Caitlin Marshall, Gillian Cripe) 1:55.25.
200 freestyle: 1. Huff 2:00.02, 3. Abby Harvey 2:06.79.
200 individual medley: 3. Cripe 2:23.69, 5. Rachel Tat 2:29.92.
50 freestyle: 3. McBride 26.81, 5. Sarah Hayes 27.38.
One-meter diving: 3. Deirdre Leib 158.00, 5. Phoebe Benson 126.70.
100 butterfly: 3. Jordan Cooley 1:03.25, 5. Huff 1:05.13.
100 freestyle: 1. Marshall 55.14, 4. McBride 58.99, 5. Sophie Carmosino 59.93.
500 freestyle: 2. Brooke Haflich 5:41.06, 5. Claire Yeakey 5:51.28.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Noblesville “A” (Marshall, Harvey, Cripe, Huff) 1:43.98.
100 backstroke: 3. Kyra Smythe 1:04.87, 5. Emily DeCocq 1:08.05.
100 breaststroke: 3. Marshall 1:12.20, 4. Elizabeth Mulanax 1:16.21.
400 freestyle relay: 2. Noblesville “A” (Cooley, Haflich, McBride, Harvey) 3:57.26.
BOYS MEET
Team score: Zionsville 125.5, Noblesville 57.5.
200 medley relay: 3. Noblesville “A” (Nick Beeson, Sam Bleisch, Aaron Helms, Jakob Janson) 1:48.42.
200 freestyle: 4. Evan Diamente 1:55.37, 5. Will Huff 1:55.41.
200 individual medley: 2. Jack Wolfred 2:05.13, 4. Janson 2:11.05, 5. Helms 2:11.80.
50 freestyle: 2. Diamente 22.66, 5. Beeson 24.04.
One-meter diving: 1. Jared Newman 185.50, 2. Ryan Plummer 167.10.
100 butterfly: T3. Huff 57.16, 5. Cameron Kramer 59.02.
100 freestyle: 4. Beeson 52.27, 5. Isaac Stephan 52.70.
500 freestyle relay: 3. Janson 5:11.16, 5. Wesley Mathis 5:42.03.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Noblesville “A” (Wolfred, Kramer, Lawson Crum, Diamente) 1:30.08.
100 backstroke: 2. Kramer 58.74, 5. Andy Buna 1:03.32.
100 breaststroke: 4. Stephan 1:05.14, 5. Bleisch 1:05.32.
400 freestyle relay: 2. Noblesville “A” (Diamente, Kramer, Janson, Wolfred) 3:23.48.
ABOVE: Noblesville’s Jakob Janson swims in the boys 500 freestyle race during the Millers’ dual meet with Zionsville Thursday at the Noblesville pool. Janson finished third in the race.
BELOW: Noblesville’s Brooke Haflich (left) placed second in the girls 500 freestyle race at the Millers’ dual meet with Zionsville. (Bret Richardson)
