By RICHIE HALL
When the Carmel girls swim team won the state championship in 2015, it did so by scoring a new-record total of 445 points.
Such a high point total would be a difficult number to reach again, right? Yes. But if there’s one thing the Greyhounds seem to know how to do every year, it’s meet and surpass their own high standards.
Carmel won state again Saturday, its record 35th consecutive state title and 36th overall. The Greyhounds won with a new-record total of 479 points and also set a new mark for the biggest winning margin, besting runner-up Fishers by 279 points. The Tigers scored 200 to place second for the second year in a row and third overall.
“I think they have been through so much together and they were incredibly grateful for the opportunity,” said Carmel coach Chris Plumb. “They had great leadership from the team and they helped all the girls succeed.”
Time for a math lesson. The most points that can be scored at a state swim meet are 597. In individual events, champions receive 20 points, second-place finishers 17 points and third-place finishers 16 points. That’s 53 points for a 1-2-3 sweep. Multiply that by nine and you get 477 points.
Now add in the relays, which count for double, so a victory is worth 40 points. If a team sweeps all three relays, that’s another 120 points.
Those relay sweeps have been a reason why the Greyhounds keep their streak going every year. Starting with the 2009 state meet, Carmel has won all but TWO relay events. That’s 37 victories in 39 state relays. The only non-Greyhounds teams that have been able to win a relay during that stretch are Zionsville, which took the 200 freestyle relay in 2012, and Northridge, the 2018 champion in the 200 free relay.
Two Carmel swimmers won three events, taking one individual event and then swimming on two relays. Junior Gretchen Lueking finished first in the 200 free, while sophomore Berit Berglund won the backstroke. Both swimmers competed on the first-place 400 free relay with senior Madelyn Christman and sophomore Meghan Christman. Berglund joined senior Margaret Love, junior Hayley Reed and senior Colleen Duffy on the winning medley relay, and Lueking teamed up with Meghan Christman, Madelyn Christman and Duffy on the first-place 200 free relay.
In terms of championships, Lueking now has eight state titles while Berglund is at six state titles.
One unique item about this meet is that it took place with no spectators do to COVID-19 restrictions. It was the first time this had happened in what is usually a well-attended IHSAA event. Last year’s state meet attracted 4,129 fans.
“Obviously, it was quieter and less energy,” said Plumb. The coach noted that in some ways, “the athletes were able to just focus on themselves. They have also been racing all year with limited or no spectators, so they were ready.”
This was the 15th season for Plumb as coach of both the Carmel girls and boys teams, and thus the 15th time that he coached the girls in a state championship. Plumb has also won nine state titles with the boys, giving him a new record total of 24 state championships, surpassing the Greyhounds’ longtime cross country/track and field coach Chuck Koeppen’s total of 23.
“I think Carmel does everything well,” said Plumb. “The administration supports you and they have high expectations. The community is filled with successful people and when you combine all those things, you have to raise your own standards.”
Carmel’s Berit Berglund (above) and Colleen Duffy take their marks for the backstroke race during Saturday’s IHSAA state finals. Both did their part in helping the Greyhounds to their 35th consecutive state title. (Kirk Green)