By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
CARMEL – The IHSAA boys swimming post-season began Thursday with sectional preliminary tournaments taking place throughout the state.
Carmel hosted prelims at its natatorium, and everything there went according to plan for the nine-time defending state champions. The Greyhounds advanced all 27 of their swims to the “A” Final, or championship heat of Saturday’s sectional finals.
Carmel claimed 10 of the 11 top seeds. Gregg Enoch holds the first seed in the individual medley and 500 freestyle, while Andrew Shackell is the top seed in the 50 freestyle and butterfly. Lewis Zhang is first in the 200 free, Ethan Zhang paced the 100 free, Anderson Kopp is first in the backstroke, and Carmel has the top seed in all three relays.
L. Zhang
“I thought the kids did a nice job tonight,” said Greyhounds coach Chris Plumb. “We got everybody to the top eight. We did what we were supposed to and that’s all you really can do in the prelims.”
Noblesville also qualified all of its swims into the Saturday final. The Millers have 23 swims in the “A” Final, with their other four headed to the “B” Final. Anthony Mathis earned the top seed in the breaststroke.
“We had a goal of getting 20 top eight swims,” said Noblesville coach Aleks Fansler. The coach noted that his team was “just under that off the psych sheet,” so the Millers exceeded their goal.
“I think they came in focused and they knew what they needed to do,” said Fansler. “So, they did a good job with that.”
Westfield’s Jackson Burgess (left) gives teammate Garreth Thomas some
encouragement before the start of the individual medley. (Richie Hall)
Westfield sent all 27 of its swims on to Saturday, with 13 reaching the “A” Final and 14 advancing to the “B” Final. The Shamrocks’ top performance came in the 400 free relay, with Zach Welch, Garreth Thomas, Luca Barbosa and William Chambley getting second.
“Everybody advanced, so everybody did their job today,” said Westfield coach Darrick Thomas. “The kids that needed to be fast today were fast and the kids that could afford to sneak through and focus a little more on Saturday’s performance did that also.”
Guerin Catholic’s Will Ladine checks his time after finishing the 100 freestyle race. (Richie Hall)
Guerin Catholic had five swims reach the “A” Final and seven more qualify for the “B” Final. Drew Wilhite led the Golden Eagles by taking second in the backstroke and third in the 50 free.
“We had some ups, we had some downs,” said Guerin Catholic coach Abby Maroney. “For the most part, we got most of our team back for finals on Saturday.” The coach said she was “pretty happy” with how everyone swam.
The sectional finals begin with diving prelims and semifinals at 9 a.m., with the swimming and diving finals starting at 1 p.m.
Positions 1-8 qualify for “A” Final (championship heat), positions 9-16 qualify for “B” Final (consolation heat), positions 17 and 18 are alternates.
AT CARMEL
200 medley relay: 1. Carmel (Anderson Kopp, Brandon Malicki, Andrew Shackell, Michael Gorey) 1:36.93, 3. Noblesville (Caleb Mathis, Josh Naas, Lane Monger, Shep Huff) 1:40.69, 4. Guerin Catholic (Drew Wilhite, Will Ladine, Sam Holl, Charlie Jurewicz) 1:42.56, 5. Westfield (Harrison Barents Froman, Ethan Braasch, Bennett Morse, Silas Hendrix) 1:44.30.
200 freestyle: 1. Lewis Zhang (C) 1:43.48, 2. Ethan Zhang (C) 1:44.98, 3. Zach Welch (W) 1:45.48, 4. William Lathrop (C) 1:47.54, 5. Monger (N) 1:48.71, 6. Mason Snyder (N) 1:48.92, 7. Sean Halvorsen (N) 1:49.53, 8. Luca Barbosa (W) 1:51.28, 12. Sagan Blansette (W) 1:55.13, 13. Holl (GC) 1:57.02, 20. Lucas Morse (GC) 2:10.86, 24. Isaiah Gaskill (GC) 2:23.06.
200 individual medley: 1. Gregg Enoch (C) 1:52.05, 2. Brian Qian (C) 1:55.59, 3. Michael Gorey (C) 1:58.12, 4. Graham Kulp (N) 1:59.06, 5. Garreth Thomas (W) 1:59.78, 6. William Chambley (W) 2:00.17, 7. Zak Armstrong (N) 2:02.49, 8. Naas (N) 2:03.81, 10. Griffin Barents Froman (W) 2:04.36, 18. Joey Kunkel (GC) 2:23.99.
50 freestyle: 1. Shackell (C) 21.45, 2. William Allen (C) 21.61, 3. Wilhite (GC) 21.76, 4. Malicki (C) 21.94, 5. Morse (W) 22.51, 6. C. Mathis (N) 22.55, 10. Locke Taylor (W) 22.98, 11. Henry Pham (W) 23.41, 13. Huff (N) 23.64, 16. Mark Berger (N) 24.08, 21. Adam Jurewicz (GC) 25.68, 23. Ethan Nimri (GC) 25.98.
Noblesville freshman Brayden Wright swims in the butterfly. (Richie Hall)
100 butterfly: 1. Shackell (C) 51.14, 2. Emile Haig (C) 52.80, 3. Qian (C) 52.86, 4. Anthony Mathis (N) 53.72, 6. Thomas (W) 54.42, 8. Armstrong (N) 55.19, 9. Barbosa (W) 55.50, 11. Brayden Wright (N) 57.98, 13. Owen Hudson (W) 58.87, 16. Lucas Morse (GC) 1:03.51, 7. Kunkel (GC) 1:04.37, 18. Jude Hubner (GC) 1:04.48.
100 freestyle: 1. E. Zhang (C) 47.83, 2. Carter Hadley (C) 48.77, 3. Allen (C) 48.78, 4. B. Morse (W) 48.90, 5. Snyder (N) 49.29, 6. Monger (N) 49.42, 7. C. Mathis (N) 49.73, 8. Ladine (GC) 50.31, 10. Taylor (W) 51.14, 13. C. Jurewicz (GC) 53.41, 15. Pham (W) 54.74, 23. A. Jurewicz (GC) 59.95.
500 freestyle: 1. Enoch (C) 4:36.62, 2. L. Zhang (C) 4:40.39, 3. Kopp (C) 4:41.63, 4. Welch (W) 4:44.93, 5. Halvorsen (N) 4:54.97, 7. Oliver Mark (N) 5:08.37, 8. Berger (N) 5:09.61, 9. Blansette (W) 5:09.89, 10. Holl (GC) 5:11.67, 12. Hudson (W) 5:22.67, 18. Nimri (GC) 5:57.23.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Carmel (Haig, Malicki, Allen, Enoch) 1:29.33, 3. Noblesville (Huff, Mark, Berger, Wright) 1:34.49, 5. Westfield (G. Barents Froman, Cole McGrath, Pham, Hudson) 1:40.06, 9. Guerin Catholic (Kunkel, L. Morse, Hubner, Nimri) 1:49.26.
100 backstroke: 1. Kopp (C) 51.86, 2. Wilhite (GC) 52.20, 3. Carson Szotek (C) 53.80, 4. Hadley (C) 54.74, 5. Kulp (N) 55.07, 6. Huff (N) 55.77, 7. Wright (N) 56.78, 10. H. Barents Froman (W) 57.54, 11. Jackson Burgess (W) 1:01.29, 12. C. Jurewicz (GC) 1:01.83, 15. Hendrix (W) 1:03.51.
100 breaststroke: 1. A. Mathis (N) 59.45, 2. Malicki (C) 59.52, 3. Gorey (C) 1:00.45, 4. Chambley (W) 1:00.65, 5. Landon Holmes (C) 1:00.84, 6. G. Barents Froman (W) 1:01.37, 7. Naas (N) 1:02.19, 9. Ladine (GC) 1:03.34, 11. Braasch (W) 1:03.89, 14. Mark (N) 1:09.35, 24. Jacob Gaskill (GC) 1:22.05, 25. I. Gaskill (GC) 1:23.70.
400 freestyle relay: 1. Carmel (L. Zhang, Enoch, E. Zhang, Hadley) 3:15.75, 2. Westfield (Welch, Thomas, Barbosa, Chambley) 3:22.24, 3. Guerin Catholic (Holl, C. Jurewicz, Ladine, Wilhite) 3:28.64, 4. Noblesville (A. Mathis, Berger, Setmeyer, Mark) 3:29.65.