By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – The Carmel boys swim team was true to form at the IHSAA state finals: The Greyhounds started fast and finished fast.
Carmel rolled to another state championship Saturday at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis. The Greyhounds won their eighth consecutive state trophy by scoring 381 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Zionsville’s 247 points. Carmel began the meet with a new national record, then dominated the latter half of the meet, triumphing in five of the last seven events.
The ‘Hounds won the medley relay, the opening event, in dominating fashion, with their new national mark of 1 minute, 26.88 seconds. The team of Sean Sullivan, Ryan Malicki, Aaron Shackell and Christopher Holmes was over two seconds ahead of second-place Zionsville.
“It’s a huge tone-setter for the meet for us,” said Carmel coach Chris Plumb. “I thought we could go 1:27. To go 1:26 is awesome.” The coach called the race “a tremendous experience” and said he was “really proud of those guys.”
The Greyhounds had to wait for a few races before they got back in the winner’s circle, but they were also getting several top eight medals along the way. Aaron Shackell and Gregg Enoch placed second and fourth respectively in the 200 freestyle, then Ryan Malicki and Michael Gorey placed second and sixth in the individual medley, while Brandon Malicki placed 11th. Holmes was the 50 free runner-up.
“This meet’s about ‘A’ Finals,” said Plumb. “You got to have more ‘A’ Finals than the next guy, and to have so many step up last night. The state meet was won last night. We talk about that all the time, and then you try to win a national championship on Saturday. We executed that.”
Andrew Robertson’s consolation heat victory (officially placing him ninth), also added nine points to the Carmel total. After the diving break, the ‘Hounds led Fishers 134-100, but began to accelerate once action returned to the pool. Shackell helped start the run with a victory in the butterfly, clocking in at 47.69 seconds. Leo Han and Holmes also won medals, taking fourth and sixth.
Sullivan got the next blue ribbon, prevailing in the 100 free, while Robertson finished 11th. In the 500 free, Fishers’ Kyle Ponsler won the race, but points from Enoch (second), Connor Lathrop (eighth) and Carson Szotek (12th) kept Carmel well ahead.
The Greyhounds rolled through the final third of the meet, starting with a win in the 200 free relay. Holmes, Graham Seaver, Enoch and Sullivan pulled away from Zionsville to finish in 1:22.53. Han took third in the butterfly, with Lathrop (13th) and Emile Haig (16th) adding points as well.
Ryan Malicki triumphed in the breaststroke in a time of 53.89 seconds, with Brandon Malicki placing fifth and Gorey taking 12th. Carmel finished the meet with a big win in the 400 free relay; Shackell, Enoch, Brandon Malicki and Sullivan finished that race in 2:58.11.
Sullivan finished the meet with four state titles, including all three relays.
“Last year, I was in two individual events, no relays or anything,” said Sullivan. “So this year I really had to prepare myself different mentally. I had to have more of a team mindset, think about what would be best for the team rather than my individual success.”
“I always look at how far people have come to get there,” said Plumb. “And watching Sean Sullivan get almost two seconds faster in the 100 free in the past year and going 19 (seconds) in the 100 relay and leading off at 21 next to Will Modglin, I think he has really just come so far. And obviously any champion we had did amazing jobs to win, but when you watch people who have come so far to excel is just as awesome.”
The 381 points Carmel scored is the second-most in state history. The Greyhounds totaled 417 points in the 2016 state meet.
TIGERS TAKE THIRD
Fishers finished a strong third place behind the Greyhounds and Zionsville, scoring 208 points.
It was a thrilling number for the Tigers, but also a little scary if you ask coach Joe Keller. The coach called his team’s performance “awesome,” noting that all but one of Fishers’ swims either held or moved up in position from the prelims.
So what was scary? Well, Fishers had a certain number in mind when it came into the state meet…
“The goal that we set was 208 points, which is kind of eerie that that actually happened, because that was the most points our girls team had ever scored prior to this year,” said Keller. “And so we wanted to be at or above that. So we’re pretty excited.”
The Tigers were led by senior Kyle Ponsler, who scored an event victory for his team. Ponsler won the 500 free in a time of 4:23.30, outpacing second place by one and a half seconds.
“I think that that was part of the race plan was to set it up pretty smooth and easy, and then when we got towards the 300 (mark), to start building legs and then start attacking,” said Ponsler. He wanted to go “a little bit faster, but honestly, I was just racing for the win.”
Ponsler, who will swim for North Carolina State this fall, was happy to win, as he finished second last year – “it was good redemption,” he said.
“He’s been awesome,” said Keller. “He’s a really, really tough kid and we felt pretty confident he can win that event.”
Ponsler’s 500 free win was part of nine championship medals for the Tigers. All three of Fishers’ relays swam in the “A” Final, with the best result coming from the 200 free relay. Connor Carlile, Reed Beaumont, Daniel Bennett and Ponsler finished in third place.
Fishers’ other two relays took fifth place. Logan Ayres, Beaumont, Bennett and Keaton Chop achieved that finish in the medley relay to start the meet, while Ponsler, Chop, Taichi Kataoka and Carlile completed the meet with a fifth-place result in the 400 free relay.
Ponsler also took third in the 200 free, giving him four medals on the day. Carlile also picked up four medals, as he took fifth in both the IM and 100 free. Fishers’ divers had an outstanding day, as William Jansen was the runner-up and teammate Sebastian Otero placed third.
Four more Tigers swam in consolation heats. Beaumont won the “B” Final of the IM (placing him ninth officially) and was 11th in the breaststroke. Ayres took 10th in the backstroke and Jonathan Hines was 16th in the 500 free.
WESTFIELD RISES TO NINTH
Westfield had been in striking distance of the top 10 the entire meet, and delivered an outstanding finish to rise to ninth place, scoring 65 points.
The Shamrocks jumped into the top 10 by winning the consolation heat of the two freestyle relays. The same team – Noah Brauer, Bennett Morse, Aiden Yonkus and Evan Lake – took care of business in both the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. Again, they were officially ninth-place finishes, but both performances scored 18 team points, so Westfield got 36 points out of those swims.
Brauer and Lake both earned medals as well. Brauer placed seventh in the IM, while Lake took eighth in the 200 free. In addition, Lake finished 14th in the 500 free, Morse was 15th in the 100 free and Brauer was 16th in the butterfly.
“I’m super thrilled,” said Shamrocks coach Darrick Thomas. “We’ve had a really great run of several weekends going all the way back to our girls at sectionals and state, and the boys last weekend at sectionals. “We had more swims in this meet this weekend than we’ve had in a long, long time. We advanced more swims to finals, and we stayed busy through the whole meet, which is really exciting. So, top 10 finish for us is great. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in that position. I’m really super proud of our boys.”
MEDALS FOR HUSKIES, MILLERS
Hamilton Heights and Noblesville each scored 13 points, tying them for 30th place.
The Huskies got all of their points from diver Nathan Cox, who finished in sixth with a total score of 453.80 points. Cox was in seventh place after eight dives, and moved up a spot with a solid final dive.
Aidan Biddle accounted for all of the Millers’ team points. Biddle earned a seventh-place medal in the breaststroke, and also took 16th in the individual medley.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Matt Truxall finished 15th in the breaststroke, giving the Royals two points.
Team scores (Top 5 and all county): 1. Carmel 381, 2. Zionsville 247, 3. Fishers 208, 4. Chesterton 148, 5. Fort Wayne Carroll 147, 9. Westfield 65, T30. Hamilton Heights 13; Noblesville 13, T45. Hamilton Southeastern 2.
200 medley relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Sean Sullivan, Ryan Malicki, Aaron Shackell, Christopher Holmes) 1:26.88, new state and national record, 5. Fishers (Logan Ayres, Reed Beaumont, Daniel Bennett, Keaton Chop) 1:35.17, 8. Southeastern DQ.
200 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Mitchell Schott (Culver Academies) 1:35.48, 2. Shackell (C) 1:36.19, 3. Kyle Ponsler (F) 1:36.97, 4. Gregg Enoch (C) 1:38.10, 8. Evan Lake (W) 1:42.80.
200 individual medley
“A” Final: 1. Will Modglin (Zionsville) 1:45.11, 2. R. Malicki (C) 1:47.52, 5. Connor Carlile (F) 1:49.26, 6. Michael Gorey (C) 1:52.06, 7. Noah Brauer (W) 1:53.35.
“B” Final: 9. Beaumont (F) 1:52.68, 11. Brandon Malicki (C) 1:53.00, 16. Aidan Biddle (N) 1:56.51.
50 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Matthew Klinge (Harrison) 20.43, 2. Holmes (C) 20.53.
“B” Final: 9. Andrew Robertson (C) 21.24.
One-meter diving
Finals: 1. Holden Higbie (Danville) 535.75, 2. William Jansen (F) 477.55, 3. Sebastien Otero (F) 469.00, 6. Nathan Cox (HH) 453.80.
Preliminaries: 28. Parker Mutter (N) 156.50.
100 butterfly
“A” Final: 1. Shackell (C) 47.69, 4. Leo Han (C) 49.00, 6. Holmes (C) 49.60.
“B” Final: 16. Brauer (W) 51.56.
100 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Sullivan (C) 44.22, 5. Carlile (F) 45.88.
“B” Final: 11. Robertson (C) 46.61, 15. Bennett Morse (W) 47.21.
500 freestyle
“A” Final: 1. Ponsler (F) 4:23.30, 2. Enoch (C) 4:24.82, 8. Connor Lathrop (C) 4:37.74.
“B” Final: 12. Carson Szotek (C) 4:37.33, 14. Lake (W) 4:41.41, 16. Jonathan Hines (F) 4:42.21.
200 freestyle relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Holmes, Graham Seaver, Enoch, Sullivan) 1:22.53, 3. Fishers (Carlile, Beaumont, Bennett, Ponsler) 1:24.14.
“B” Final: 9. Westfield (Brauer, Morse, Aiden Yonkus, Lake) 1:26.50.
100 backstroke
“A” Final: 1. Modglin (Zionsville) 46.16, 3. Han (C) 49.61.
“B” Final: 10. Ayres (F) 51.48, 13. Lathrop (C) 52.50, 16. Emile Haig (C) 52.70.
100 breaststroke
“A” Final: 1. R. Malicki (C) 53.89, 5. B. Malicki (C) 56.29, 7. Biddle (N) 56.81.
“B” Final: 11. Beaumont (F) 57.44, 12. Gorey (C) 57.81, 15. Matthew Truxall (HSE) 58.50.
400 freestyle relay
“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Shackell, Enoch, B. Malicki, Sullivan) 2:58.11, 5. Fishers (Ponsler, Chop, Taichi Kataoka, Carlile) 3:08.09.
“B” Final: 9. Westfield (Brauer, Lake, Yonkus, Morse) 3:10.50.