Royals finish fourth; Millers place 13th; Lively-Mason medals for HH diving
By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – The Fishers girls swim team finally broke through in the pool at the IU Natatorium.
The Tigers team has finished on the podium and won three individual state diving titles, but had never gotten a swimming victory at the big meet. A freshman changed that last Saturday: Emily Wolf won the 500 freestyle event.
Wolf’s performance helped Fishers to finish third in the state, scoring 170 points. Fort Wayne Carroll was the team runner-up with 212.5 points. The Tigers thus finished in the top five at the state meet for the ninth consecutive season.
Wolf finished the 500 free in 4 minutes, 46.47 seconds, nearly five full seconds ahead of second place.
“I’m really happy with the way I’ve been swimming,” said Wolf. “I’ve been working really hard for the past few weeks with my 5-free and I’m just happy to leave it all out there today.”
The 500 free was one of three medals that Wolf won at state. The other two came from relay races. She joined junior Avery Hannon, senior Claire Francis and junior Frankie Ramey to place seventh in the medley relay, then teamed with senior Emma Schwertfeger, Hannon and senior Emma Schumacher to take third in the 400 free relay.
Fishers won seven medals at the state meet. Schumacher picked up four of them: she also medaled in the two long distance events, placing fourth in the 500 free and eighth in the 200 free. After the 500, Schumacher joined Francis, Schwertfeger and Hannon to take sixth in the 200 free relay.
Tigers coach Joe Keller said he was “really excited” for Wolf’s win and for his entire team.
“They’re a bunch of fighters,” said Keller. “They fought really hard all season long. There’s been some challenged along the way that they’ve had to work through.”
Fishers also had five “B” Final swims: Hannon (12th) in the individual medley, Schwertfeger in the 50 free (12th) and 100 free (14th), and Francis (ninth) and junior Polina Sopova (14th) in the breaststroke.
Hamilton Southeastern freshman Kendall Dieckman placed eighth in the 500 free and ninth in the individual medley. (Julie Brown)
Royals take fourth
Hamilton Southeastern finished fourth at the state meet with 142 points. It was a great performance for the Royals, who had an interim coach this season in Rich Wolfred.
The longtime Noblesville coach agreed to coach Southeastern this season, as they await new coach Jeff Thompson, who will join the team from Germantown Aquatics in Pennsylvania.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Wolfred. “The kids have been awesome. They accepted me coming in and coaching them.”
The Royals won five state medals, including podium finishes in all three relays. Southeastern finished the meet strong, with its 400 free relay placing second. Freshman Kendall Dieckman, junior Mia Henderson, sophomore Ellason Miller and senior Kiley Zoeller finished the relay in 3:26.56.
HSE’s medley relay began the meet with a third-place finish; that relay consisted of junior Naomi Haines, Dieckman, Miller and Zoeller. In between, the 200 free relay team of Miller, freshman Kinsey Bogaards, sophomore Payton Walker and Henderson placed eighth.
Zoeller had the top individual finish for the Royals, taking fourth in the 50 free. Dieckman placed eighth in the 500 free.
Southeastern also had six “B” Final swims, starting with Dieckman (ninth) and Bogaards (11th) in the IM. Miller (13th) and Haines (15th) both scored points in the butterfly. Zoeller was 12th in the 100 free and Haines took 16th in the backstroke.
Noblesville finishes 13th
Noblesville junior Haddie Vohs had two ninth-place finishes for the Millers in the 200 free and butterfly. (Julie Brown)
Noblesville had a solid day at state, scoring 53 points to take 13th place.
Junior Eryn McMahon led the Millers with a fourth-place finish in diving, scoring 406.65 points. McMahon steadily worked her way up the ladder, going for 10th place after the prelims to seventh place after the semifinals. McMahon finished the meet by scoring 45.60 points on her final dive, a reverse 1-1/2 somersault pike.
Noblesville had four “B” Final swims and made the most out of them. Junior Haddie Vohs won the “B” Final of both the 200 free and butterfly races, which places her ninth in each event for scoring purposes. Vohs joined seniors Ellie Hayward, Julia Santerre and Exley Tricker to place 10th in the 200 free relay, and Hayward, senior Olivia Motz and Tricker for a 14th-place finish in the 400 free relay.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Vohs. “Prelims didn’t go how I expected, but I brought it all for finals and I’m really happy with how my team and how I did.”
Heights, Westfield results
Hamilton Heights senior Campbell Lively-Mason finished seventh in diving, scoring 391.15 points. Lively-Mason was joined at state by sophomore Ayla Madara, who placed 10th in the 500 free.
Westfield’s medley relay team of senior Kiarra Thomas, sophomore Nora Sperry, freshman Evie Wheat and sophomore Maggie Alley finished 15th.
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