Carmel High Looks to Extend Streak at Indiana State High School Champs

By Owen V. Johnson

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, February 8. NOT a single member of this year's Carmel High School Girls team was even born the last time the Greyhounds didn't win the state championship. This year's team will be trying to notch the 21st state title when the 33rd state girls finals get underway with preliminary heats Friday night at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

It's the longest current streak for any high school team in the country, men or women.

Fans can also see some great individual performers and a race between the two women who last year tied for the 50-yard free championship. Three other swimmers are also back to defend individual championships

Carmel wound up number one in the state high school poll this year, one determined not by the vote of coaches, but by how fast the swimmers have gone. It has 13 individual swimmers entered in the meet, the most of any team in the state

If you went strictly by the heat sheets, you'd have Carmel winning by 60 or 70 points. But second-ranked Hamilton Southeastern could pull off an upset if everything went just right. The Royals, who will be favored to win the boys meet in two weeks time, are not ready to concede the girls state championship.

In two of the relays, Carmel is seeded number one and HSE number two. In the other one, the Royals are number one and Carmel is number three. But those aren't tapered times.

The Greyhounds and the Royals each have one individual seeded number one. For Carmel, its senior captain Alex Young, entered at 5:03.58 in the 500. She's seeded second in the butterfly, where freshman Nikki Hubbard of Penn is the top seed at 56.43.
The Royals' top seed is freshman Carly Mercer in the 100 freestyle at 51.60. Mercer is seeded second in the 50.

A top candidate for the top individual in the meet will be Michelle McKeehan, a junior from Center Grove, who has already won both the 200 IM and the breaststroke twice. If she does it again, she'll tie match only two other swimmers who have won the same two events in the first three years of their high school career.

Debbie Daniel of Anderson won the 50 and the 100 free, 1981-83, and the famed Lindsay Benko of Elkhart Central took both the 100 and the 200 from 1991 to 93. Benko did it once more in 1994, setting a record of 1:48.08 that still stands.

McKeehan has already gone 2:00.01 this season. That would be good enough to beat the state record of 2:00.33 set by Leah Retrum of Columbus North in 2002. Her seed-time is four seconds faster than anyone else.

The Trojan standout has already clocked 1:00.35 in the breaststroke this year. That would easily beat the state record of 1:01.98 set by Laura Swander of Center Grove in 2002. The public high school national record is 59.20, set by Jessica Hardy of Woodrow Wilson (Calif.) High School two years ago. McKeehan's entry time leads the field by nearly two seconds.

Last year Kelsi Hall of Yorktown tied Jeffersonville's Ariel Martin in 23.54 for the state title in the 50. This year Hall has the top seed time of 23.03, while Martin is eighth. Lacey Boutwell of Noblesville set the meet record of 22.90 as a freshman in 1998.

Senior Talor Whitaker of Chesterton is back to defend her 100 freestyle championship. She's seeded eighth. If she wins, it will put the pressure on brother Kyle, a freshman, who is outstanding in the fly, where he has the best time in the state and the IM, where he's ranked second.

Jenny Connolly of Harrison (West Lafayette) will try to defend her championship in the 100 backstroke. She won last year in 56.41. Megan Sparks of Carmel is seeded second and freshman Aubrey Hertzler of Hamilton Southeastern third.

Number one seed in the 200 this year is Kayla Sergesketter of Jasper, who finished fourth last year in the 100. She was just three one-hundredths off the pace in this season's final state rankings. She's seeded number two in the 100

Three members – Jessica Hammes, Emily Dibenigno & Young — of Carmel's defending champion 200-yard medley relay are back to swim the event again.

Two years ago, Andy Pederson, the coach at Hamilton Southeastern, was selected by his peers as girls coach of the year. You can be sure he'd be happy to exchange that award for a Royal championship Saturday afternoon.

Swimming prelims start at 6 p.m. Friday. The top 16 return Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., with consolation heats followed by championship heats.

The 32 divers will take the first round plunge at 9 a.m. Saturday. The top 21 will continue into a three-dive semifinal, after which the top 16 will join the swimmers for the afternoon finals.

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