Indiana Boys Sectional Roundup

By Owen V. Johnson

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, February 20. The six top-ranked teams in Indiana boys high school swimming won their sectional competitions last weekend on their way to this weekend's state high school championships in Indianapolis.

Two-time defending state champion North Central, behind senior Michael Christy, a three-time individual state champion, pushed aside a tough Carmel team to win the sectional at the Greyhounds' pool. Christy, who'll swim next year for Tennessee, won both the backstroke and the individual medley.

Sophomore Ted Minturn won the 500 freestyle and his classmate Ben Souders took the breaststroke for the Panthers, who swept the relays as they added nine swimmers to the state meet by surpassing state cut requirements.

Top-ranked Hamilton Southeastern set a school record in amassing 411.50 points in the sectional at the school pool. The Royals won ten events, two of them by Matt Kruse in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle competitions.

Third-ranked Chesterton nearly doubled up second-place Portage in cruising to victory at the LaPorte sectional on the shoulders of freshman phenom Kyle Whitaker. The younger brother of Talor Whitaker, who won two individual state titles this year, set a sectional record in prelims, despite having goggles full of water. He reset the record (1:54.49) in finals, and also broke the butterfly record (:51.39).

The Trojans also got two individual victories from Billy Bass in the 200 and 500 freestyle events and swept the relays. Junior Nick Pabon of Michigan City swam to victory in the breaststroke in the LaPorte sectional, earning the first state trip for a Wolves' swimmer in six years.

Fourth-ranked Homestead won every event with a state cut and set seven sectional records to outdistance second-place Huntington North by nearly 300 points in the Homestead sectional. Ryan Dafforn, Adam Lill, Zach Johnson and Robert Titcomb each won two events for the Spartans.

The second-place Vikings broke the school record in the medley relay, but failed to qualify anyone for state. Oak Hill set two school records in relay events and finished just three points behind Huntington North. Mark Yordy, the Eagle Coach, garnered coach of the year honors.

Fifth-ranked Munster won its 22nd consecutive sectional title at Crown Point. The Mustangs won two relays, while senior Joe Raycroft won the IM and the backstroke and is a member of two relay teams going on to state.

No. 6 Northridge swam to three relay victories and added two individual titles on the way to its fifth straight sectional title at Concord. Senior Logan Elliott won the backstroke for the Raiders and also qualified for state in the 100 free. Travis Hembree, a junior, won the 500 free.

Perhaps the most exciting finish Saturday was at Crawfordsville, where the host Athenians, after a superb showing in prelims, fell to Greencastle by 9 points.

It was the Tiger Sharks first sectional victory in 22 years. The margin was less than the 30-point victory Greencastle scored in the two teams' dual meet this year. The difference may have been the three Greencastle swimmers who swam in the championship heat of the 500.

Depth was indeed the key for the Sharks, who didn't win a single event.

Three teams made the Mooresville sectional very competitive, with Bloomington South taking the title with 269 points, while cross-town rival North scored 240.5, and Terre Haute North, which had won the previous four meets, finished third at 228. Senior Evan Childers won the 50 and 100 free and anchored the victorious relay teams for the champion Panthers.

"Four wins feels great, but the thing I'm really happy about is we won as a team," Childers told the Hoosier-Times.

Juston Lee won both the 200 and 500 freestyle events for Bedford North Lawrence to earn his third straight trip to state.

Carroll High School's boys joined the girls as sectional champs in Fort Wayne. Swimmers from six different schools earned trips to state with their performances. Tyler Lemert of Concordia Lutheran won both the breaststroke and the 50-yard freestyle and swam on the Cadets' two state-bound relay teams. Curtis Chaney of Northrop won the 100 and 200 freestyles and Sam Trahin of Carroll claimed victory in the individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle.

Zionsville, sporting "Man Up" t-shirts, used outstanding individual performances to stop Brownsburg's sectional string at three at the Bulldogs' pool. Alex Ismail, who will swim next fall at North Carolina, won the 100 and 200 freestyle events for the Bulldogs.

Earlier this season South Bend Riley beat Penn by 28 points, but the Penn men put a scare into Riley, falling only 30 points short of stealing Riley's sectional championship.

The meet's outstanding swimmer might have been Jon Hueni of Bremen who set sectional records in the butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle. His coach Jeff Fox certainly thought so.

"I've been swimming and coaching for 23 years and have never seen anyone better," he exuded to the South Bend Tribune.

East Central won its fourth straight sectional in taking the Columbus North meet. The host Bull Frogs finished second. EC won all three relays and had a double winner in junior Kyle House in the ‘fly and the 50 free. Zach Good claimed the 200 and 500 titles for the hosts.

Center Grove registered its 22nd straight sectional victory by taking the Indian Creek sectional by 45 points over Franklin. Noah Pashley, a sophomore, won the 200 and the 500 for the victorious Trojans.

Wawasee repeated as sectional champs in its pool, outlasting Culver Academies, 324.5 to 293. Cory Smith won the 100 and the 200 freestyle events and helped two Warrior relays to victory. Brandon Medlin won the IM and the breaststroke for Culver.

Franklin Central took its second straight sectional title at home, nearly one hundred points ahead of Indianapolis Roncalli. Junior Patrick Walters and senior Scott Meadows were double winners for the Flashes. Meadows won the 50 and 100 freestyle races and Walters the other two freestyle events.

Thanks to three sectional records and a couple of trips to the Dairy Queen, the sectional at New Palestine turned out not to be as close as expected. Richmond was the winner, behind sectional record setters Mike Maurer in the butterfly, Carlton Stewart in the 100 free and Jeremy Whited in diving.

Connorsville was happy to claim third in the sectional after spending the last couple of weeks pool hunting when its own pool suffered a broken heater.

Tyler Przybysz of Richmond earned trips to state in two relays. With no vowels in his last name, he must have tongue-tied many a meet announcer over the years.

Castle knocked six-time sectional champion Mt. Vernon off its perch in finishing No. 1 at the Wildcat pool. Nate Wetekamp, a move-in from Iowa, won both the 200 IM and the backstroke for Castle, while Kurt Greene of Mt. Vernon took the crown in the 50 freestyle and the breaststroke.

"Last year I had a temperature of 103 and strep throat," Greene observed to Dan Korb of the Evansville Courier and Press. "This year I made sure I got my rest and took my vitamins."

Noblesville won its sectional for the fourth year in a row. Nathan Conner won the 50 free for the Millers and Drew Wolfred, the coach's son, took the 500 free. Westfield, which qualified its largest ever contingent for the state meet, got a sectional record :59.67 from Colin Gray in the breaststroke.

Hamilton Heights had an outstanding victory from Lars Hellwig in the butterfly. Hellwig, an exchange student from Germany, has been looking forward to telling his family that he swam at state. Tylor Gauger, who's a triplet, won the 200 IM for Kokomo, which took second by one point over Westfield.

Tylor's brother Mitchell won the diving championship. Their sister Brittany finished 9th two weeks ago at the girls diving regional.

West Lafayette reclaimed its sectional championship, winning nine of twelve events. Tom Crecelius won both the 50 and the 100 freestyles for the Red Devils.

Host Jasper won its sectional and watched Floyd Central and Jeffersonville duel for second, with the Jeffersonville Red Devils eventually settling for bronze. Seven swimmers from seven different schools won individual titles. The only double winner was Zach Stewart of Vincennes in the 100 and 200 free. Jeffersonville won both freestyle relays.

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