Carmel’s Ellie Clarke earned the top seeds in the individual medley (pictured) and backstroke at the Carmel swim sectional prelims on Thursday. (Richie Hall)
Millers, Rocks also advance everyone to finals
By RICHIE HALL
The first step to 40 was an uneventful one for the Carmel girls swim team.
Noblesville’s Kyra Blackwell finished fourth in the individual medley and qualified for the “A” Final. (Richie Hall)
That’s a good thing, of course. The Greyhounds wanted, and got, an easy night as they hosted the Sectional 9 preliminaries at the Carmel Aquatic Center.
The Hounds qualified all 27 of their swims into the championship, or “A” Final, of Saturday’s sectional finals. Carmel already had swims under the state cut time, including Molly Sweeney, who earned the No. 1 seed in the butterfly and breaststroke.
Ellie Clarke and Lucy Enoch went 1-2 in the individual medley, both under the state cut. Clarke took the top seed in the backstroke in a cut time.
Other state cuts came from Sophia Floyd, the top seed in the 100 freestyle and Sabrina Ledwith, who took the No. 1 seed in the 500 free. Carmel swept the top seed in all three relays, including cuts in the medley and 200 free relays.
“It feels good to come into this meet and just take care of the business you need to take care of,” said Greyhounds coach Chris Plumb. “You can’t win the meet tonight, but you can certainly lose it, and we took care of business.
Westfield advanced all 27 of its swim to the Saturday finals, with 20 in the “A” Heat and the other seven going to the consolation, or “B” Final. All three of the Shamrocks’ relays finished second at the prelims, with Greta Smith and Nelani Hendrix both swimming in the medley and 400 free relays.
Nora Sperry competed in the medley and 200 free relays, with Delaney McCulloch and Gracie Alley competing in the 200 and 400 free relays.
Westfield’s Sophia Grimes talks with her coaches after swimming in the 100 freestyle. (Richie Hall)
“The girls did really well, especially our rookies in the meet,” said Westfield coach Darrick Thomas. “A lot of our freshmen really had outstanding swims. Really stepped up.”
Noblesville also sent all 27 swims to the finals, with 19 in the “A” Heat and the other eight in the “B” Heat.
Freshman Hayley Blackwell took the top seed for the 200 free, while Ava Middleton tied with Carmel’s Story Hughes for the No. 1 seed in the 50 free. All three of the Millers’ relays reached the “A” Final as well.
“All the girls swam great,” said Noblesville coach Jess Preston. “I’m really proud of them. I feel like the hard work is paying off. Great team spirit from start to finish.”
Guerin Catholic qualified seven swims for the Saturday finals. The Golden Eagles’ 200 and 400 relays both reached the “A” Heat, along with Kara Von Woerkom, who took the eighth seed in the 500 free.
Positions 1-8 qualify for championship (“A”) heat, positions 9-16 qualify for consolation (“B”) heat, positions 17 and 18 are alternates.
200 medley relay: 1. Carmel (Leah Debosch, Molly Sweeney, Ellie Clarke, Sophia Floyd) 1:45.90, 2. Westfield (Greta Smith, Makenzie Gater, Nora Sperry, Nalani Hendrix) 1:56.49, 4. Noblesville (Mallory Mehringer, Stella Cramer, Leilani Mark, Celia Springer) 2:00.75, 9. Guerin Catholic (Ellie Gove, Taylor Tragesser, Kara Van Woerkom, Chloe Traggeser) 2:09.73.
200 freestyle: 1. Hayley Blackwell (N) 1:54.16, 2. Haley Morris (C) 1:54.45, 3. Sabrina Ledwith (C) 1:54.63, 4. Madelyn Yonkus (C) 1:55.83, 5. Maya Preston (N) 1:57.26, 6. Adalyn Goettler (N) 1:57.45, 7. Katherine Cassidy (W) 1:58.82, 8. Delaney McCulloch (W) 1:59.35, 9. Smith (W) 2:01.49, 12. Van Woerkom (GC) 2:07.43, 21. C. Tragesser (GC) 2:29.76, 26. Mary Farrell (GC) 2:46.79.
Guerin Catholic’s Ellie Gove warms up for the 100 freestyle. (Richie Hall)
200 individual medley: 1. Clarke (C) 2:03.95, 2. Lucy Enoch (C) 2:06.61, 3. Debosch (C) 2:08.74, 4. Kyra Blackwell (N) 2:12.72, 5. Evelyn Wheat (W) 2:15.18, 6. Gracie Alley (W) 2:16.40, 7. Emily Wilhelm (N) 2:18.51, 9. Cramer (N) 2:20.34, 10. Gater (W) 2:24.61, 23. Evie Scott (GC) 3:12.79.
50 freestyle: T1. Ava Middleton (N); Story Hughes (C) 25.29, 4. Avery Aiello (C) 25.53, 5. Claire Cate (C) 25.85, 8. Caroline Sindelar (W) 26.26, 9. Mark (N) 26.47, 10. Christie Stuart (W) 26.59, 11. Sophia Grimes (W) 27.00, 12. Springer (N) 27.10, 20. Caroline Bradley (GC) 30.78, 22. Farrell (GC) 32.77.
100 butterfly: 1. Sweeney (C) 55.89, 2. Maria Daily (C) 58.53, 3. Wheat (W) 59.01, 4. Sperry (W) 59.31, 5. Isabelle Harger (C) 1:00.33, 6. Alley (W) 1:01.26, 7. Mehringer (N) 1:03.86, 8. Meredith Nickloy (N) 1:05.14, 10. Norah Mathes (N) 1:06.30, 15. T. Tragesser (GC) 1:19.21.
100 freestyle: 1. Floyd (C) 52.73, 2. Enoch (C) 53.44, 3. H. Blackwell (N) 54.14, 4. Macy Brown (W) 54.73, 5. Middleton (N) 54.85, 7. Natalie Powers (C) 56.03, 8. Hendrix (W) 56.68, 9. Mark (N) 58.06, 10. Grimes (W) 58.71, 19. Gove (GC) 1:05.71, 22. Amber Sawchuk (GC) 1:10.83, 24. Bradley (GC) 1:13.91.
500 freestyle: 1. Ledwith (C) 5:04.67, 2. Morris (C) 5:08.17, 3. Helayna Weller (C) 5:10.49, 4. McCulloch (W) 5:13.08, 5. Preston (N) 5:21.53, 6. Cassidy (W) 5:23.01, 7. Smith (W) 5:28.94, 8. Van Woerkom (GC) 5:44.59, 9. Cramer (N) 5:46.30, 12. Springer (N) 5:55.46, 21. C. Tragesser (GC) 6:50.47.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Carmel (Floyd, Enoch, Morris, Sweeney) 1:38.58, 2. Westfield (Sperry, Alley, Sindelar, McCulloch) 1:44.29, 4. Noblesville (Wilhelm, Mark, K. Blackwell, H. Blackwell) 1:52.49, 8. Guerin Catholic (Farrell, Scott, Sawchuk, Bradley) 2:08.33.
100 backstroke: 1. Clarke (C) 55.62, 2. Debosch (C) 58.03, 3. Weller (C) 58.70, 4. Goettler (N) 1:01.50, 5. Brown (W) 1:01.69, 6. Mehringer (N) 1:03.12, 7. Audrey Brown (N) 1:05.27, 8. Sindelar (W) 1:06.32, 11. Ava DeCraene (W) 1:10.51, 16. Gove (GC) 1:17.35, 24. Sawchuk (GC) 1:31.38.
100 breaststroke: 1. Sweeney (C) 1:02.71, 2. Yonkus (C) 1:07.38, 3. Payton Clark (C) 1:07.52, 5. K. Blackwell (N) 1:09.09, 6. Sperry (W) 1:10.30, 7. Wilhelm (N) 1:11.71, 8. Hendrix (W) 1:12.09, 10. Rowen Foster (N) 1:12.80, 11. Stuart (W) 1:15.66, 17. T. Tragesser (GC) 1:23.12, 24. Scott (GC) 1:34.01.
400 freestyle relay: 1. Carmel (Yonkus, Morris, Ledwith, Weller) 3:39.47, 2. Westfield (McCulloch, Smith, Alley, Hendrix) 3:50.55, 5. Noblesville (Goettler, Middleton, Cramer, Preston) 4:09.79, 8. Guerin Catholic (Gove, C. Tragesser, T. Tragesser, Van Woerkom) 4:20.33.
