The Ben Davis boys’ and girls’ swimming teams have been battling some illnesses the entire month of December and it carried over Tuesday evening as both the girls and boys squads lost to Warren Central.
More than eight of Ben Davis’ swimmers were out due to an illness or injury. Luckily, with the winter break coming up the Giants will not have another meet until January.
“We’re working through it,” Ben Davis coach George Fastrich said. “Unfortunately, once you get sick, they keep passing it around through each other, and it’s like a never-ending process.”
Against Warren Central, the boys lost 116-67 and the girls fell 102-79.
Of course, with so many athletes on the sidelines others had to step up and even swim certain events for the first time. Fastrich was impressed and praised his swimmers for performing under the given circumstances.
“We went into the meet coming out of county and just set them up in events that try to get some times on some of these kids on events we don’t have times on yet,” Fastrich said. “With our newer swimmers we’re starting to see a lot more progress, and the challenges that we’re starting to throw at them at meets, they’re really taking it on and doing the best they can.”
The girls won five events including the diving portion, which Maddie Cook won with a score of 152.25. Katie McKain won in the 50 free (27.47), the 500 free (6:09.78) and helped the 200 and 400 free relay teams to victory.
The 200-relay team of McKain, Morgan Stovall, Alis Marrero and Maddie Holmes had a time of 1:55.80. The 400-relay team of McKain, Stovall, Holmes and Kimmy Gramer swam a 4:20.61.
The boys also found winners on the relay races. Cole Crouch, Jess Partin, Caelan Priddy and Darrin Frazier swam a 1:35.42 in the 200 and a 3:35.22 in the 400 free relays for victories in each.
Partin also won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.22. Crouch won the 200 frees (2:00.40).
“With Warren’s team they’re pretty strong; they have a handful of faster swimmers than what we have on the guys side,” Fastrich said. “On the girls side, again missing people in a dual meet, it gets sort of hard if you don’t have your whole team.”
This was the second time in the short season Ben Davis has already faced off against Warren Central. In the Marion County meet last weekend, the Warriors got the better of both teams as the Ben Davis boys finished sixth and the girls tenth.
Coming out of the break, they will see the Warriors once more at the MIC Conference meet. While the Giants did get some times for first time swimmers, they should be at close to full strength the next time the two teams face off.
“As far as a county or a conference meet depending on how our upper swimmers do versus their upper swimmers, [it] can dictate a lot of how the outcome can be,” Fastrich said.
Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future
Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links
Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
Former Rep. Weiner Running for New York Mayor
Jodi Arias: Death Penalty Would Cause More Pain
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Families Begin Returning to Their Homes in Moore
Raw: Aerial View of Moore Tornado Damage
Looking for Love? Take the Prague Metro
First Person: Baby Falcons on a New York Bridge
Crews Race to Find Survivors of Okla. Twister
Oklahoma: Images of Devastation, Reunion
Raw: Students Clash With Police in Chile
Protests Outside Cincinnati IRS Office
New Xbox One Entertainment Console Unveiled
