(TOP) Carmel’s Trent Allen defended his state titles in the 200 and 500 freestyles at the IHSAA state meet on Saturday, Feb. 28. Allen also swam on the first-place 400 free relay and helped the Greyhounds win their 12th consecutive state championship. (ABOVE LEFT) Carmel junior Yi Zheng won the individual medley in addition to swimming on the medley and 400 free relays. (ABOVE RIGHT) Senior Carter Hadley won the backstroke and also swam on the medley and 400 free relays. (Julie Brown)
By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – Whatever it takes, whatever is needed, the swimmers for Carmel will do it.
The Greyhounds boys team put that into practice this past weekend at the IHSAA state finals. Carmel put on a show during the Saturday, Feb. 28 finals at the IU Natatorium, powering to its 12th consecutive state championship with a team score of 408 points.
Along the way, the Hounds claimed six individual events, including a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 freestyle. Trent Allen defended his state championship in that race, clocking in at 4 minutes, 20.02 seconds. Lewis Zhang placed second and Austin Bruford was third.
Allen, a junior, is already thinking about next year.
“I feel like this team we have, me, Yi [Zheng], all the underclassmen, I feel like we’re building for something special next year,” said Allen. “And I feel like next year, a lot of records are going to come down.”
Allen had earlier won the 200 free, also in a state championship repeat. Allen won in 1:35.08, with Zhang second and William Lathrop placing fourth. Carmel coach Chris Plumb used a conversation with Lathrop as an example as to how the Greyhounds’ adaptability and team mentality guided them to another win.
“I said, ‘Hey, what do you think about this,’ and he was like, ‘Hey, I really want to go here, but I’ll do whatever you need,’” said Plumb. “And that’s just the attitude of these guys.”
Another example was Lukas Biller. Plumb pointed out the Biller is a 500 freestyle racer, but he raced in the much shorter 100 free race. Biller finished sixth.
“That’s what he needed to do and that’s where the team needed him,” said Plumb.
Zheng claimed a championship in the individual medley. Zheng dropped nearly two seconds off his prelim time to win the IM in 1:43.92, just off the state record of 1:43.92.
“I went for it, the first 100,” said Zheng. “Felt it a little bit at the end, but I’m glad I went for it. I did as well as I could.”
Allen, Zheng and Carter Hadley all finished the meet as three-event champion. Both swam on the 400 free relay with Carter Hadley and Zhang that cruised to victory in 2:57.63. The relay team sliced over eight and a half seconds from its prelim time and improved from a fourth seed to first.
Zheng, also a junior, began the meet by joining Hadley, Jack Street and Donald Zhao to win the medley relay. Carmel took that event in a time of 1:29.24.
“We’ve ran through relay starts, all that, the timing, mock meets, dual meets,” said Zheng. “We’ve ran through that so many times. I think I’m used to transitioning between those.”
Hadley, a senior, picked up a victory in the backstroke, winning that race in 48.41 seconds. It was Hadley’s first individual state title.
“I had to do my favorite thing in the world, which is racing,” said Hadley, who is committed to Southern Methodist University. He said he had been racing against opponents he had been competing against for “three, four years and at the end of the day, I just try to be my best self.”
Plumb said that his swimmers will “speak their mind,” but at the same time, the Hounds will do whatever is needed for the team.
“And that speaks to the brotherhood they’ve created and the culture,” said Plumb. “That’s all these guys. They love each other and they’re willing to go to work every day. They battle each other in practice, but they love each other outside the pool deck.”
