This year’s Carmel boys swimming sectional was one that re-wrote the record books.
In winning their own sectional championship, the Greyhounds set seven new sectional records, qualified 26 of their 27 swims by the state cut time and won 10 of 12 events at Saturday’s sectional finals. Carmel scored 560.5 points to claim its 11 consecutive sectional title and 31st overall.
The other Hamilton County schools had good days as well. Both Noblesville and Westfield qualified three swims for next weekend’s state meet at the IU Natatorium, with Shamrocks senior Chris Kenney breaking through for a win in the 100 freestyle. Hamilton Heights junior Jared Holder had a fantastic day, smashing the state cut time and qualifying for state in two events.
Senior Drew Kibler picked up three new sectional records for the ‘Hounds. He won the 50 freestyle in 20.10 seconds, then later dominated the butterfly race in 49.27 seconds. Kibler finished the meet by joining junior Patrick Cavanaugh and freshmen Augustus Rothrock and Griffin Hadley to set a new 400 freestyle relay mark of 3:06.67.
Sophomore Jacob Mitchell set two new records. First was the 200 free, which Mitchell swam in 1:38.09. Mitchell then swept the long-distance events by taking the 500 free, in a time of 4:28.88. Rothrock finished second; his time of 4:31.23, was a quarter-second under the old record, set last year by then-freshman Wyatt Davis.
Don’t feel bad for Wyatt, though: He got a record swim in the backstroke. Davis reset his own record in that event by over a second, clocking in at 49.20 seconds. In a very fast race, two other swimmers also finished under the old record: Holder, whose time of 49.98 set a new Hamilton Heights school record, and Carmel senior Drew Amaral, who took third in 50.09.
Finally, senior Andrew Couchon set a new mark in the breaststroke. He finished that race in 55.03, exactly 1.20 seconds faster than the old record. Senior Stefano Batista took second in 55.59, also under the old record.
The 50 free was exceptionally fast, with six swims under the state cut time of 21.59. You already know about Kibler’s time, but the next five are impressive: Kenney took second in 21.02, while Couchon placed third in 21.05. Holder’s fourth-place time of 21.27 is another Heights school record, while Noblesville junior Evan Diamente got into the mix with a time of 21.49. Batista’s swim of 21.54 took sixth, but placing doesn’t matter: Swim at or under the state cut in your event, and you are heading to the Natatorium.
Another good example of that is the 100 free, which featured five state cuts (the qualifying time is 47.42). Kenney got Westfield an individual victory in 45.97, followed by Carmel freshman Griffin Hadley (46.48) and junior Alec DeLong (46.79). Fourth place was a tie, with Noblesville junior Jack Wolfred and Carmel senior Andrew Morozov both clocking in at 47.01.
The Carmel foursome of Davis, Batista, junior Jota Iwase and Couchon began the meet with a victory in the medley relay. Davis was back in the pool minutes later to take first in the individual medley. The Greyhounds also took the 200 free relay, with Morozov, DeLong, junior Andrew Rafalko and Mitchell swimming in that race.
Other Carmel state cut qualifiers are: Rothrock and DeLong in the 200 free, Rafalko and senior Brett Sherman in the IM, Iwase in the butterfly, Rothrock and Sherman in the 500 free, Hadley in the backstroke and Rafalko in the breaststroke. The only Carmel time that wasn’t a state cut was Amaral’s butterfly swim, but his fourth-place time of 52.28 is close enough to get him a callback, which means it was fast enough to fill a field of 32 swimmers after all the sectional winners and state cut qualifiers are placed. Diamente finished third in the butterfly with 51.60, so he could get a callback as well.
Diamente and Wolfred are already going on in their individual events, and both also made the cut for the Millers in the 400 free relay. The two joined sophomore Cameron Kramer and senior Jakob Janson to swim the race in 3:13.07. That same foursome also swam the 200 free relay, and finished third in 1:28.37, just off the cut time and close enough for a callback consideration.
Westfield’s Kenney can also add a relay to his two individual state cut times. Kenney teamed with senior Cody Fenimore, sophomore Cameron Clayton and junior Brett Calvin to swim the 200 free relay in 1:27.75.
In diving, two county sophomores placed in the top four: Noblesville’s Jared Newman was third and Carmel’s John Curcio took fourth. Both will advance to Tuesday’s diving regional at Hamilton Southeastern.
AT CARMEL
Team scores: Carmel 560.5, Noblesville 395.5, Westfield 369, Tipton 164, Kokomo 151, Northwestern 146, Maconaquah 142, Western 128, Hamilton Heights 82, Eastern 32, Guerin Catholic 1.
200 medley relay (state cut 1:37.75)
“A” final: 1. Carmel (Wyatt Davis, Stefano Batista, Jota Iwase, Andrew Couchon) 1:32.08, 2. Noblesville (Nick Beeson, Sam Bleisch, Will Huff, Seth Koszyk) 1:42.22, 4. Westfield (Zane Kaufman, Alex Casas, Jacob Roberts, Chandler Luedke) 1:44.60, 8. Heights (Jared Holder, Logan Fakes, Joe Ringer, Josh Glover) 1:50.69.
200 freestyle (state cut 1:43.10)
“A” final: 1. Jacob Mitchell (C) 1:38.09, new sectional record, 2. Augustus Rothrock (C) 1:40.57, 3. Alec DeLong (C) 1:41.65, 4. Brett Calvin (W) 1:44.17, 5. Aaron Helms (N) 1:45.45, 6. Jack Wolfred (N) 1:45.99, 8. Cody Fenimore (W) 1:47.31.
“B” final: 9. Jakob Janson (N) 1:48.07, 11. Evan Lesniewski (W) 1:54.02.
200 individual medley (state cut 1:55.25)
“A” final: 1. Davis (C) 1:52.18, 2. Andrew Rafalko (C) 1:52.74, 3. Brett Sherman (C) 1:54.52, 4. Cameron Clayton (W) 1:57.81, 5. Cameron Kramer (N) 1:57.83, 6. Isaac Stephan (N) 2:03.86, 7. Casas (W) 2:04.18, 8. Kaufman (W) 2:06.51.
“B” final: 9. Ben Griffin (N) 2:07.84.
50 freestyle (state cut 21.59)
“A” final: 1. Drew Kibler (C) 20.10, new sectional record, 2. Chris Kenney (W) 21.02, 3. Couchon (C) 21.05, 4. Holder (HH) 21.27, 5. Evan Diamente (N) 21.49, 6. Batista (C) 21.54, 8. Beeson (N) 22.76.
“B” final: 11. Lawson Crum (N) 23.18, 12. Roberts (W) 23.22, 15. Luedke (W) 23.47.
One-meter diving (top four advance to regional)
Finals: 1. Cameron Poe (Western) 394.35, 3. Jared Newman (N) 357.05, 4. John Curcio (C) 336.90, 5. Brandon Sandy (C) 316.20, 6. Ben Hobson (W) 315.90, 11. Lee Martin (HH) 273.95, 12. Ryan Plummer (N) 270.80, 13. Kaleb White (W) 261.60, 14. Thomas Nguyen (W) 245.70, 16. Dane Leonard (GC) 202.70.
100 butterfly (state cut 51.48)
“A” final: 1. Kibler (C) 49.27, new sectional record, 2. Iwase (C) 51.24, 3. Diamente (N) 51.60, 4. Drew Amaral (C) 52.28, 7. Roberts (W) 54.56, 8. Huff (N) 54.93.
“B” final: 9. Calvin (W) 54.30, 10. Crum (N) 55.98, 12. Kevin Estrada (W) 58.84.
100 freestyle (state cut 47.42)
“A” final: 1. Kenney (W) 45.97, 2. Griffin Hadley (C) 46.48, 3. DeLong (C) 46.79, T4.Wolfred (N) 47.01; Andrew Morozov (C) 47.01, 6. Fenimore (W) 48.67, 8. Janson (N) 49.75.
“B” final: 9. Michael Simpson (W) 49.98, 11. Griffin (N) 51.36.
500 freestyle (state cut 4:40.82)
“A” final: 1. Mitchell (C) 4:28.88, new sectional record, 2. Rothrock (C) 4:31.23, under old sectional record, 3. Sherman (C) 4:36.18, 4. Helms (N) 4:45.04, 5. Cameron Kramer (N) 4:50.26, 6. Evan Lesniewski (W) 5:05.40, 7. Huff (N) 5:07.70, 8. Nathanael Brown (W) 5:08.53.
“B” final: 10. Ryan Baird (W) 5:27.63.
200 freestyle relay (state cut 1:28.17)
“A” final: 1. Carmel (Morozov, DeLong, Rafalko, Mitchell) 1:25.68, 2. Westfield (Fenimore, Clayton, Calvin, Kenney) 1:27.75, 3. Noblesville (Wolfred, Janson, Kramer, Diamente) 1:28.37.
100 backstroke (state cut 52.46)
“A” final: 1. Davis (C) 49.20, new sectional record, 2. Holder (HH) 49.98, under old sectional record, 3. Amaral (C) 50.09, under old sectional record, 4. Hadley (C) 50.55, 5. Beeson (N) 55.66, 7. Kaufman (W) 58.02, 8. Andy Buna (W) 58.71.
“B” final: 9. Brown (W) 58.21, 10. Simpson (W) 58.98, 15. Wesley Mathis (N) 1:02.14.
100 breaststroke (state cut 58.47)
“A” final: 1. Couchon (C) 55.03, new sectional record, 2. Batista (C) 55.59, under old sectional record, 3. Rafalko (C) 56.77, 4. Clayton (W) 58.90, 5. Stephan (N) 1:02.80, 6. Bleisch (N) 1:03.15, 7. Casas (W) 1:03.74, 8. Koszyk (N) 1:04.35.
“B” final: 12. Estrada (W) 1:08.00.
400 freestyle relay (state cut 3:13.38)
“A” final: 1. Carmel (Kibler, Patrick Cavanaugh, Rothrock, Hadley) 3:06.67, new sectional record, 2. Noblesville (Diamente, Kramer, Janson, Wolfred) 3:13.07, 3. Westfield (Calvin, Fenimore, Clayton, Kenney) 3:14.37, 8. Heights (Holder, Ringer, Glover, Fakes) 3:35.38.
Over at Fishers, that sectional featured another close battle between the Tigers and Mudsock rival Hamilton Southeastern.
Fishers jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a medley relay win and 1-2-3 finishes in three events. That helped carry the Tigers through to their second team sectional championship, with a score of 533 points. Fishers won its first sectional title in 2016.
“The boys were outstanding today,” said Fishers coach Joe Keller.
Keller made a prediction before the meet: That his medley relay team would finish the race in 1:35 flat. Sure enough, the Tigers team of seniors Kyle Haflich and Joel Crull and juniors Trevor Adcock and Cory Jacocks won the event in – wait for it – 1:35.00.
Keller said he had made the statement to his coaches: “If we do that, we’re going to be outstanding all day.” He was right.
“That set the tone,” said Keller. “Back in the fall, I challenged this group. The best team has the best relays, and the relays today were awesome. I’m just really happy. It’s a team effort. Everybody had a contribution that was over the top.”
Fishers then swept the top three in the 200 free and the IM, giving them the maximum points (146) possible after three events. Junior Drake Stallworth won the 200 free, and Haflich powered his way to the IM victory.
Those were the first of two individual wins for both swimmers. Stallworth would later take the butterfly event, with Haflich placing first in the butterfly. The duo would finish the meet by teaming with senior Nicholas Harris and sophomore Aaron Frollo for a victory in the 400 free relay. Frollo also won the 500 free, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Fishers there.
For Stallworth, it was a great day as he broke 50 seconds in the butterfly for the first time. The junior’s time in that race was 49.90.
“It was really exciting,” said Stallworth. He had been trying to get past the 50 mark for a while. After trying last year and at Junior Nationals in December, Stallworth finally got it.
“It’s just really relieving to finally break that time,” he said.
In the diving well, senior Cole VanDevender had an outstanding day. VanDevender set a new pool record of 601.15 points – it’s a very rare achievement for a diver to break 600. VanDevender qualified for the diving regional at HSE on Tuesday.
Speaking of qualifying, Fishers had 14 swims make it to the state meet. After the winners – all of whom achieved state cut times – other state qualifiers were senior Sam Kuhn in the 200 free, Frollo and Jacocks in the IM, Harris and Kuhn in the 500 free, the 200 free relay team of Stallworth, Crull, Adcock and Jacocks and senior Noah Baldwin in the breaststroke. Baldwin finished second in that race in 57.59, just out-touched by Yorktown junior Nathan Hicks’ 57.58. Crull placed third in 58.48, just .01 seconds off the state cut time of 58.47 – he would be the first callback. Jacocks’ 58.95 also puts him in callback territory.
“I think they swam amazing,” said Stallworth of his teammates. “Going in, some people dropped six seconds in the 200 IM, and two seconds in the 50. And I was like, ‘Wow.’ This is probably one of my favorite meets, because you get to see people drop so much time. It gets me really excited for state.”
Southeastern finished second with 506 points. The Royals are young, but had some great swims in the sectional finals.
Sophomore DJ Rogers led the way with victories in the 50 and 100 freestyle races, leading a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 free. Rogers was also part of an all-sophomore, first place 200 free relay. Rogers joined classmates Marcus Eden, Andrew Christopher and Connor Harrison to win that race.
The Royals had three other swims qualify for state in cut times. Harrison and Christopher teamed with junior Blake Ratliff and sophomore Andrew Truxall to get a cut in the medley relay, while Eden, Rogers and Ratliff joined freshman Keegan Streett to qualify in the 400 free relay. Both took second place. Ratliff also earned a state cut in the IM.
“I thought our kids were really, really good today,” said HSE coach Andy Pedersen. “I was proud of so many different swims. Tough effort, stayed with it all day.”
Pedersen was pleased with how his swimmers kept their heads up after Fishers got off to its fast start.
“I was just proud that our guys stuck in there,” said Pedersen. “That could have been very demoralizing, and our guys just stayed with it. I was really proud of them for that.”
Two Southeastern divers, senior Garrett Garwood and junior Nathan Barr, placed third and fourth respectively and will advance to the Tuesday regional.
AT FISHERS
Team scores: Fishers 533, Hamilton Southeastern 506, Yorktown 246, Oak Hill 243, Pendleton Heights 196, Anderson 173, Marion 70, Elwood 64, Liberty Christian 40, Lapel 18.
200 medley relay (state cut 1:37.75)
“A” final: 1. Fishers (Kyle Haflich, Joel Crull, Trevor Adcock, Cory Jacocks) 1:35.00, 2. Southeastern (Blake Ratliff, Andrew Truxall, Connor Harrison, Andrew Christopher) 1:35.23.
200 freestyle (state cut 1:43.10)
“A” final: 1. Drake Stallworth (F) 1:41.93, 2. Sam Kuhn (F) 1:42.65, 3. Nicholas Harris (F) 1:43.17, 4. Keegan Streett (HSE) 1:43.60, 5. Evan Sellers (HSE) 1:47.14, 6. Cameron Knurek (HSE) 1:48.75.
200 individual medley (state cut 1:55.25)
“A” final: 1. Haflich (F) 1:50.51, 2. Aaron Frollo (F) 1:53.33, 3. Jacocks (F) 1:54.76, 4. B. Ratliff (HSE) 1:55.23, 6. Harrison (HSE) 1:57.16, 8. Ethan Christopher (HSE) 2:01.43.
50 freestyle (state cut 21.59)
“A” final: 1. DJ Rogers (HSE) 21.01, 2. A. Christopher (HSE) 21.66, 3. Crull (F) 22.12, 4. Marcus Eden (HSE) 22.17, 5. Adcock (F) 22.27, 8. Christopher Goolsby (F) 23.03.
One-meter diving (top four advance to regional)
Finals: 1. Cole VanDevender (F) 601.15, 3. Garrett Garwood (HSE) 415.00, 4. Nathan Barr (HSE) 414.00, 6. Garrett Fox (F) 249.55, 7. Ethan Weiss (F) 240.80, 8. Jack Bisesi (HSE) 234.60.
100 butterfly (state cut 51.48)
“A” final: 1. Stallworth (F) 49.90, 2. Harrison (HSE) 51.52, 3. E. Christopher (HSE) 52.14, 5. Ethan Forbes (HSE) 53.89, 6. Adcock (F) 54.35.
“B” final: 9. Nicolas Silveira Silva (F) 56.37.
100 freestyle (state cut 47.42)
“A” final: 1. Rogers (HSE) 46.94, 2. A. Christopher (HSE) 48.12, 3. Eden (HSE) 48.21, 4. Noah Baldwin (F) 48.26, 6. Goolsby (F) 49.53, 8. Peyton Dewaelsche (F) 50.83.
500 freestyle (state cut 4:40.82)
“A” final: 1. Frollo (F) 4:35.65, 2. Harris (F) 4:36.62, 3. Kuhn (F) 4:38.46, 4. Streett (HSE) 4:44.90, 5. Sellers (HSE) 4:51.85, 6. Knurek (HSE) 5:00.24.
200 freestyle relay (state cut 1:28.17)
“A” final: 1. Southeastern (Rogers, Eden, A. Christopher, Harrison) 1:26.21, 2. Fishers (Stallworth, Crull, Adcock, Jacocks) 1:26.49.
100 backstroke (state cut 52.46)
“A” final: 1. Haflich (F) 51.20, 2. B. Ratliff (HSE) 52.54, 3. Forbes (HSE) 54.23, 5. Israel Harding (F) 54.61, 8. Dewaelsche (F) 57.32.
“B” final: 9. Andrew Ratliff (HSE) 58.55.
100 breaststroke (state cut 58.47)
“A” final: 1. Nathan Hicks (Yorktown) 57.58, 2. Baldwin (F) 57.59, 3. Crull (F) 58.48, 4. Jacocks (F) 58.95, 5. Truxall (HSE) 1:01.88, 6. John Kirby (HSE) 1:02.18, 7. Thomas Reising (HSE) 1:02.87.
400 freestyle relay (state cut 3:13.38)
“A” final: 1. Fishers (Harris, Stallworth, Frollo, Haflich) 3:09.59, 2. Southeastern (Eden, Rogers, Streett, B. Ratliff) 3:11.34.
University placed sixth at the North Central sectional.
Freshman Keegan Priest led the way for the Trailblazers with a second-place finish in the butterfly. His time was 53.44 seconds. He also took fourth in the backstroke in a time of 54.19 seconds.
AT NORTH CENTRAL
Team scores: North Central 478, Lawrence North 337.5, Franklin Central 277, Warren Central 200, Shelbyville 185, Cathedral 175, University 162, Beech Grove 139, Lawrence Central 115, Bishop Chatard 84, Heritage Christian 76.5.
200 medley relay
“A” final: 6. University (Keegan Priest, Cole Reinholt, Cordell Wilson, Roy Raz) 1:44.21.
200 freestyle
“A” final: 6. Raz 1:51.65.
“B” final: 12. Hayden Suarez-Davis 1:58.34.
200 individual medley
“B” final: 13. Reinholt 2:17.58.
100 butterfly
“A” final: 2. Priest 53.44.
“B” final: 9. Wilson 58.22.
100 freestyle
“B” final: 15. Suarez-Davis 53.94.
500 freestyle
“A” final: 5. Raz 5:00.55.
200 freestyle relay
“B” final: 10. University (Suarez-Davis, Wilson, Austin Clark, Reinholt) 1:39.68.
100 backstroke
“A” final: 4. Priest 54.19.
100 breaststroke
“A” final: 4. Reinholt 1:03.21.
400 freestyle relay
“A” final: 5. University (Raz, Clark, Suarez-Davis, Priest) 3:33.45.
ABOVE: The Carmel boys swim team won its 11th consecutive sectional championship on Saturday. The Greyhounds scored 560.5 points, set seven new sectional records and qualifies 26 swims to state. (Bret Richardson)
BELOW: Fishers won its own sectional on Saturday, scoring 533 points. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in three events and qualified 14 swims on to the state meet. (Richie Hall)
