Girls state swimming: Carmel sets records in winning 35th straight state championship

Members of the Carmel girls swim team jump into the diving well after the Greyhounds won their 35th consecutive state championship Saturday at the IU Natatorium. Carmel scored a state-record 479 points. (Kirk Green)

Fishers takes 2nd, Casey repeats in diving, HSE places 7th

At an unusual state meet, the Carmel girls swim team was its usual dominant self.
The Greyhounds had a phenomenal day at the annual IHSAA state meet, which took place Saturday at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis. Carmel won the state championship, extending its national record win streak to 35 in a row.
The meet took place without any spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fans could watch on a livestream, and those that did saw a record-setting performance from the ‘Hounds. Carmel scored a state-record 479 points, easily besting its own mark of 445 from the 2015 state meet.
The Greyhounds also set two more records. Carmel won by 279 points over runner-up Fishers, which took second place for the second year in a row by scoring 200 points. Also, Greyhounds coach Chris Plumb collected his 15th state championship with the girls team and 24th overall, a new IHSAA state record. Plumb assumed the record for another Carmel legend, cross country coach Chuck Koeppen, who won 23 state titles for the ‘Hounds.
Carmel won six events at the meet, including all three relays. The Greyhounds began with the medley relay, which Berit Berglund, Margaret Love, Hayley Reed and Colleen Duffy finished in 1:40.38. Next up was Margaret Lueking, who took first in the 200 freestyle, repeating as state champion in that event with a time of 1:45.48.
Carmel would sweep the meet’s final four events, starting with the 200 free relay. The team of Meghan Christman, Madelyn Christman, Duffy and Lueking won that one in 1:31.21. Berglund defended her backstroke state title in 52.09. Lieske won a crowded breaststroke event with a time of 1:02.13; two-tenths of a second separated first from fourth place.
The Greyhounds finished the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay. Lueking, Berglund, Meghan Christman and Madelyn Christman won that event in 3:18.84, securing a Carmel relay sweep for the third year in a row.
At the conclusion of the meet, Love was named as the Mental Attitude Award winner. The daughter of Bill and Sandra Love, Margaret will swim at Purdue University this fall, studying Biomedical Engineering or Pre-Med. She holds a 4.40 grade-point average and is a volunteer with several events, including Carmel’s Champions Together Unified Swimming Relays.
FISHERS TAKES SECOND
The Tigers picked up their second straight runner-up finish, with senior Morgan Casey leading the way. Casey won the diving event for the second year in a row, scoring 517.30 points.
Fishers picked up two state medals in three separate events. Kate Mouser was fourth and Lydia Reade seventh in the 200 free, JoJo Ramey placed fourth and Kate Mouser fifth in the 500 free, while Reade was third and Grace Lux seventh in the breaststroke.
Ramey, Lux, Mouser and Kalli Agapios finished seventh in the medley relay, while Ramey also took fourth in the 500 free. The Tigers finished the meet with a fourth-place finish by Ramey, Mouser, Avery Stein and Charlie Ramey in the 400 free relay.
ROYALS IN THE TOP 10
Hamilton Southeastern earned another top 10 finish at state, placing seventh with 130 points.
The Royals were strong in the relays, with all three teams getting medals. The medley relay team of Rebecca Ang, Kennedy Fisher, Audrey Crawford and Molly Pedersen placed second to begin the meet. Ashley Saple, Pedersen, Fisher and Grace Newton took fourth in the 200 free relay, while Crawford, Pedersen, Saple and Newton placed fifth in the 400 free relay.
Pedersen had four medals at the meet, taking sixth in the 100 free. Crawford also finished eighth in the butterfly.
HUFF FOURTH FOR MILLERS
Noblesville’s Sammy Huff, the defending state champion in the breaststroke, placed fourth in that event, leading the Millers to a 14th-place finish as a team with 42 points.
Huff also swam on both of Noblesville’s competing relays, joining Sophie Resner, Caitlin Marshall and Maya McDonald on the 11th-place medley relay squad and Marshall, Claire Yeakey and Resner on the 16th-place 400 free relay team. Huff also placed 13th in the individual medley, while Marshall took 12th in the butterfly and 13th in the 500 free.
Westfield tied for 28th place with eight points. The Shamrocks’ medley relay team of Alexa Boillat, Annie Spaletto, Hannah Jones and Macy Hoaglan finished 13th.

Team scores (Top 10 and county): 1. Carmel 479, 2. Fishers 200, 3. Chesterton 172, 4. Zionsville 151, 5. Franklin Community 141, 6. Homestead 136, 7. Hamilton Southeastern 130, 8. South Bend St. Joseph 126, 9. Fort Wayne Carroll 114, 10. Penn 96, 14. Noblesville 42, T28. Westfield 8.
200 medley relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Berit Berglund, Margaret Love, Hayley Reed, Colleen Duffy) 1:40.38, 2. Southeastern (Rebecca Ang, Kennedy Fisher, Audrey Crawford, Molly Pedersen) 1:42.74, 7. Fishers (JoJo Ramey, Grace Lux, Kate Mouser, Kalli Agapios) 1:43.85.
“B” Final: 11. Noblesville (Sophie Resner, Sammy Huff, Caitlin Marshall, Maya McDonald) 1:47.40, 13. Westfield (Alexa Boillat, Annie Spaletto, Hannah Jones, Macy Hoaglan) 1:48.67.
200 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Gretchen Lueking (C) 1:45.48, 4. J. Ramey (F) 1:47.54, 8. Reed (C) 1:51.12.
“B” Final: 10. Erin Cummins (C) 1:53.21.
200 individual medley
“A” Final: 1. Devon Kitchel (Zionsville) 1:57.69, 2. Madelyn Christman (C) 1:59.27, 3. MacKenna Lieske (C) 2:00.65, 4. Mouser (F) 2:03.04, 6. Keira Kask (C) 2:03.26, 7. Lydia Reade (F) 2:04.21.
“B” Final: 9. Crawford (HSE) 2:04.96, 13. Huff (N) 2:07.30, 15. Lux (F) 2:08.79.
50 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Lilian Christianson (Penn) 22.66, 2. Meghan Christman (C) 22.75, 3. Duffy (C) 22.97.
“B” Final: 10. Love (C) 23.67.
One-meter diving
Finals: 1. Morgan Casey (F) 517.30, 5. Alaina Heyde (C) 475.65, 6. Darci Commons (C) 472.80, 11. Natalie Bryan (F) 441.35.
Semi-finals: 19. Gretchen Osmun (F) 287.10.
100 butterfly
“A” Final: 1. Kitchel (Z) 52.93, 2. Lueking (C) 53.56, 3. Reed (C) 55.04, 8. Crawford (HSE) 56.33.
“B” Final: 10. Parker Kurzawa (C) 56.39, 12. Marshall (N) 56.90, 14. Diane Koo (F) 57.24.
100 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Kristina Paegle (Bloomington South) 48.78, 3. Me. Christman (C) 50.07, 4. Berglund (C) 50.15, 6. Pedersen (HSE) 50.89.
“B” Final: 11. Kask (C) 52.28.
500 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Mary Catherine Pruitt (South Bend St. Joseph) 4:45.73, 4. J. Ramey (F) 4:53.40, 5. Mouser (F) 4:57.54, 6. Cummins (C) 5:01.82, 7. Vivian Wilson (C) 5:02.14, 8. Ashlea Swingewood (C) 5:02.63.
“B” Final: 13. Marshall (N) 5:05.63.
200 freestyle relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Me. Christman, Ma. Christman, Duffy, Lueking) 1:31.21, 4. Southeastern (Ashley, Saple, Pedersen, Fisher, Grace Newton) 1:34.95.
“B” Final: 9. Fishers (Agapios, Avery Stein, Alexandra Stein, Charlie Ramey) 1:36.09.
100 backstroke
“A” Final: 1. Berglund (C) 52.09, 3. Ma. Christman (C) 53.22, 4. Duffy (C) 54.53.
100 breaststroke
“A” Final: 1. Lieske (C) 1:02.13, 3. Reade (F) 1:02.29, 4. Huff (N) 1:02.33, 6. Love (C) 1:02.95, 7. Lux (F) 1:03.61, 8. Wilson (C) 1:03.99.
“B” Final: 10. Fisher (HSE) 1:04.11.
400 freestyle relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Lueking, Berglund, Me. Christman, Ma. Christman) 3:18.84, 5. Fishers (Mouser, J. Ramey, Av. Stein, C. Ramey) 3:27.52, 6. Southeastern (Crawford, Pedersen, Saple, Newton) 3:28.98.
“B” Final: 16. Noblesville (Marshall, Claire Yeakey, Resner, Huff) 3:36.24.