by Todd Taylor
ZIONSVILLE – Hendricks County had four relay teams and individuals in seven events advance out of Saturday’s sectional meet at Zionsville High School.
Two county athletes were crowned sectional champions – Danville’s Savannah Mitchell in the 100 back (1:01.3) and Avon’s Emmie Ryan, who defended her title in the 500 free (5:00.43) and broke her own sectional record.
Mitchell became the first Danville swimmer in more than a decade (Kristy Lakin in 1998) to advance to the state finals.
Ryan finished seventh in the 500 free at state last season, but the field continues to improve.
“The state level is crazy in the 500 freestyle this year,” Avon coach Jon Karr said. “I remember her freshman year she was at 5:04 and got third, last year she was 5:03 and got seventh. I think the top eight might all be under five minutes, so it’s really hard to say right now. If she swims like she did today and hopefully faster, she should be able to squeeze in the top eight and that would be good.”
Ryan will also return to the state meet in the 200 free, where she finished fourth (1:54.71) Saturday. She placed 11th in the event at state last year.
Avon’s Allison Badgley advanced to the state competition in two individual events – the 200 free (fifth, 1:55.60) and the 100 free (fourth, 53.43).
Two Avon relay teams will also make the trip to state – the 200 free relay team of Badgley, Began Buis, Sarah Lorenz, and Ryan (third, 1:41.60) and the 400 free relay team of Badgley, Lindsey Hill, Lorenz, and Ryan (second, 3:38.47).
“I was hoping we’d get more swims next week, but we had some very good races,” Karr said. “Overall it was a pretty good performance.”
Brownsburg will be represented in two individual and two relay races Saturday.
Heather Partlow moves on in the 200 IM after finishing second in 2:10.94, while Janet Watson’s seventh-place finish (1:57.83) in the 500 free earned her a spot in the state field.
Also heading to state for Brownsburg is the 200 free relay team of Claire Partlow, Molly Birrer, Danielle Gaerke, and Heather Partlow (second, 1:41.30) and the 400 free relay team of Claire Partlow, Birrer, Madeline Ketchem, and Heather Partlow (third, 3:39.77).
“We really swam well today,” Brownsburg coach Josh Saylor said. “That was the goal all along, to get kids out to the state meet and we did that.”
Zionsville won Saturday’s sectional meet for the fifth consecutive time with a team score of 356.
Avon placed second (216) with Brownsburg finishing close behind in third (204). Plainfield finished sixth (108), Danville seventh (70), Tri-West 10th (52), and Cascade 11th (27).
Tri-West diver Carissa Rose finished third in diving (313.3) to advance to the regional diving tournament. Rose will compete in the Plainfield Regional at 6 p.m. today.
Plainfield didn’t send any swimmers to the state meet, but had two fifth-place individual finishes – Melissa Haley in the 50 free (25.73) and Emily Justus in the 100 breast (1:13.49).
Terre Haute South’s Cristina Elliott set two sectional records Saturday, finishing the 200 IM in 2:09.60 and the 100 fly in 57.18.
Swimming prelims for the state meet at IUPUI begin at 6 p.m. Friday. Diving prelims and semis are set for 9 a.m. Saturday, while swimming consolations and finals will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $8 per session or $12 for both days.
