Greyhounds have their day

Carmel wins ninth straight championship, Fishers places fourth

By RICHIE HALL

sports@readthereporter.com

INDIANAPOLIS – If you get it done on Friday, you can celebrate on Saturday.

That would be a good way to summarize the philosophy of the Carmel swim teams. The Greyhounds boys definitely got things done during the IHSAA state prelims last Friday, and they got to celebrate the next day with another state championship.

Carmel won its ninth consecutive boys state title last Saturday at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis. The ‘Hounds scored 363 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Zionsville’s 257. The Eagles made some noise at the meet with three individual championships, including two by new state records.

But Carmel picked up five individual victories, and also used its considerable depth to stay well ahead of the pack.

Carmel coach Chris Plumb said that the state meet “is about Friday night and getting those ‘A’ Finals through,” and that’s just what the Greyhounds did. Carmel had 18 swims reach the “A” Final in their respective events, thus earning top-eight medals.

In addition, Carmel had five other swims in the “B” Finals of events, getting extra points.

“It was a good a balance between some top-end performances, breaking national records and kids going best times, and then the kids getting eighth place like Lewis (Zhang), two ‘A’ Finals there. It was a good balance of that.”

The ‘Hounds won the first two events, starting with the medley relay. Sean Sullivan, Brandon Malicki, Aaron Shackell and Michael Gorey clocked in at 1 minute, 27.83 seconds. Shackell came back a few minutes later to claim the 200 free in 1:33.68.

To Shackell, who has committed to California, keeping the Carmel legacy going was paramount.

“That’s the most important thing,” said Shackell. “And I think that’s the most important part about being a senior is inspiring those below me so there is another Aaron Shackell, or Gregg Enoch, Drew Kibler or Jake Mitchell. Those guys inspired me to be who I am today. And I think that’s the most important part of what I’m doing right now is trying to inspire those below me so we can carry on that streak.”

“He just keeps getting better,” said Plumb. Shackell set the tone during the prelims when he set a new national record in the 200 free. Shackell trained with Drew Kibler, a former state champion Greyhound who went on to swim at the University of Texas and competed in the Olympics.

“To have two of the fastest high schoolers ever come through Carmel, it was cool to see that passing of the torch,” said Plumb. It was a special moment.”

“I’ve been swimming with Drew for six months,” said Shackell. “I wouldn’t say all of our time has been going into preparing for this, but especially the past few weeks, we’ve been really locking in and dissecting the specific parts of my 2 free and my 5 free to get that record and accomplish what I wanted to.”

Andrew Shackell (Aaron’s younger brother), placed sixth in the 200 free, with Zhang taking seventh, giving Carmel three medals in that event. The ‘Hounds also picked up three medals in the individual medley: Gregg Enoch led the way with a runner-up finish, while Gorey placed fourth and Malicki took sixth.

“He’s come a long way,” Plumb said of Enoch. “He’s swimming incredibly fast.”

Sullivan was the 50 free runner-up, then came back to claim the 100 free, defending his championship from last year. Aaron Shackell then picked up his third win of the day in the 500 free, with Enoch the runner-up to give Carmel a 1-2 finish.

The Greyhounds wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay. Andrew Shackell, Enoch, Robertson and Aaron Shackell cruised to the win in 2:59.52. Earlier, Carmel placed second in the 200 free relay, with Sullivan, Gorey, Malicki and Enoch finishing in 1:22.50.

Other Carmel medal winners were Andrew Shackell in the butterfly (fourth), Nicholas Plumb in the backstroke (fifth), Malicki in the breaststroke (fifth), Zhang in the 500 free (sixth), and AJ Robertson in the 100 free (eighth).

Carmel’s five “B” finalists were Gorey in the breaststroke (10^th), Plumb (12^th) and Emil Haig (13^th) in the butterfly, Carson Szotek in the backstroke (16th) and Robertson in the 50 free (16th).

Zionsville got two wins from Will Modglin, who set a new state record in the individual medley before picking up a victory in the backstroke. The Eagles also were first in the 200 free relay, setting a new record there.

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Fort Wayne Carroll placed third with 150 points. Fishers finished a close fourth, totaling 148 points. The Tigers had six medal winners, two of them for Connor Carlile. He placed third in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 free. Jonathan Hines was fourth in the 500 free, and Jacob Schade placed fourth in diving.

Fishers also got two fourth-place relay results. Carlile, Daniel Bennett, Hudson Lee and Keaton Chop swam the 200 free relay, with Carlile, Chop, Taichi Kataoka and Hines took competed in the 400 free relay.

Tommy Johanneman, Bennett, Luis Sanchez and Chop took 12^th in the 400 free relay, with Bennett 12^th in the IM and breaststroke. Hines finished 10^th in the 200 free.

“I think they stepped up,” said Tigers coach Joe Keller. “Before we came over, we talked about what lie ahead today. If everything stayed the same after prelims, we would be 23 points out of third. So we closed it to two, just didn’t quite have enough to get that done. But being top five, we’re really pleased with the performances this weekend.”

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Noblesville put together a fine performance to finish 14^th. Aidan Biddle made some noise towards the end of the meet, placing third in the breaststroke.

The Millers were to swim in the 400 free relay “B” Final afterwards, which made for a busy 10-minute span. Immediately after getting his medal, Biddle was in the warm-up lane preparing for the relay, and in fact was still warming up after the race began. He got to the blocks in time to anchor, and Noblesville finished 13^th in the relay. Graham Kulp, Jonah Setmeyer and Mason Snyder swam the first three legs.

“After I finished the breaststroke, I feel like I just needed to get as prepared as I can to help my team succeed,” said Biddle. He said he had to get his heart rate down and get ready for that final 100-yard swim “as fast as I could with the two minutes that I had.”

Jeremiah Ledwith, Biddle, Kulp and Caleb Mathis swam in the medley relay, which placed 11^th. Noblesville also got a medal from diving, with Aiden Kless finishing in fifth place. Add all that up,and the Millers scored 50 points, good for 14^th place.

“I am so proud of this team,” said Biddle. “Just seeing where we came from, my freshman year and sophomore year. So now, it’s a gigantic difference.”

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Hamilton Southeastern finished 20^th with 34 points. The Royals got one medal winner: Jihoon Jung finished seventh in the IM and also took 13^th in the butterfly.

Eli Pache won the “B” Final of the breaststroke, giving him ninth for scoring purposes. Collin Huston finished 16^th in that event. Southeastern had two relays place: Jacob Frey, Huston, Jung and Chouchi Ding were 15^th in the medley relay and Jung, Derek Robison, Pache and Jack Waren were 14^th in the 400 free relay.

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Guerin Catholic’s Quinn Sweeney finished 13^th in the 200 free, giving the Golden Eagles four points.

Team scores (top five and all county): 1. Carmel 363, 2. Zionsville 257, 3. Fort Wayne Carroll 150, 4. Fishers 148, 5. North Central 130, 14. Noblesville 50, 18. Hamilton Heights 37, 20. Hamilton Southeastern 34, T39. Guerin Catholic 4.

200 medley relay

“A” Final: 1. Carmel (Sean Sullivan, Brandon Malicki, Aaron Shackell, Michael Gorey) 1:27.83.

“B” Final: 11. Noblesville (Jeremiah Ledwith, Aidan Biddle, Graham Kulp, Caleb Mathis) 1:35.23, 12. Fishers (Tommy Johanneman, Daniel Bennett, Luis Sanchez, Keaton Chop) 1:35.26, 15. Southeastern (Jacob Frey, Collin Huston, Jihoon Jung, Chouchi Ding) 1:36.90.

200 freestyle

“A” Final: 1. Aa. Shackell (C) 1:33.68, 4. Connor Carlile (F) 1:38.50, 6. Andrew Shackell (C) 1:40.57, 7. Lewis Zhang (C) 1:40.95.

“B” Final: 10. Jonathan Hines (F) 1:41.38, 13. Quinn Sweeney (GC) 1:42.23.

200 individual medley

“A” Final: 1. Will Modglin (Z) 1:43.74, new state record, 2. Gregg Enoch (C) 1:45.5, 4. Gorey (C) 1:49.25, 6. Malicki (C) 1:51.93, 7. Jung (HSE) 1:53.47.

“B” Final: 12. Bennett (F) 1:54.06.

50 freestyle

“A” Final: 1. Matthew Klinge (Harrison) 19.95, 2. Sullivan (C) 20.52.

“B” Final: 16. AJ Robertson (C) 21.67.

One-meter diving

Finals: 1. Ethan Swart (HH) 512.15, 2. Nathan Cox (HH) 503.65, 4. Jacob Schade (F) 474.15, 5. Aiden Kless (N) 414.90.

100 butterfly

“A” Final: 1. Klinge (Harrison) 47.90, 4. An. Shackell (C) 49.64.

“B” Final: 12. Nicholas Plumb (C) 50.81, 13. Emil Haig (C) 51.16, 15. Jung (HSE) 51.52.

100 freestyle

“A” Final: 1. Sullivan (C) 44.09, 8. Robertson (C) 46.30.

500 freestyle

“A” Final: 1. Aa. Shackell (C) 4:15.35, 2. Enoch (C) 4:20.40, 3. Carlile (F) 4:25.97, 4. Hines (F) 4:30.12, 6. Zhang (C) 4:33.36.

200 freestyle relay

“A” Final: 1. Zionsville 1:20.53, new state record, 2. Carmel (Sullivan, Gorey, Malicki, Enoch) 1:22.50, 4. Fishers (Carlile, Bennett, Hudson Lee, Chop) 1:25.74.

100 backstroke

“A” Final: 1. Modglin (Z) 45.69, 5. Plumb (C) 50.71.

“B” Final: 16. Carson Szotek (C) 52.40.

100 breaststroke

“A” Final: 1. Adam McCurdy (FWC) 54.69, 3. Biddle (N) 55.29, 5. Malicki (C) 55.39.

“B” Final: 9. Eli Pache (HSE) 56.45, 10. Gorey (C) 57.12, 12. Bennett (F) 57.48, 16. Huston (HSE) 58.53.

400 freestyle relay

“A” Final: 1. Carmel (An. Shackell, Enoch, Robertson, Aa. Shackell) 2:59.52, 4. Fishers (Carlile, Chop, Taichi Kataoka, Hines) 3:07.96.

“B” Final: 13. Noblesville (Kulp, Jonah Setmeyer, Mason Snyder, Biddle) 3:12.48, 14. Southeastern (Jung, Derek Robison, Pache, Jack Waren) 3:13.80.