Area swimmers set to compete in IHSAA state finals
INDIANAPOLIS − The Indiana High School Athletic Association state swimming and diving finals are this weekend at IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI.
Seven relay teams from the area, as well as nine individual event competitors, will compete Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. in the state preliminaries.
The top 16 return Saturday for the finals and consolation finals. Here are some storylines to know heading into the state meet.
Relays
Harrison qualified all three of its relay teams for the state meet from last week's sectional at West Lafayette.
Junior Lauren Salazar is a part of three of those relay teams, which are seeded 19th in the 200-yard medley, 24th in the 200 freestyle and 12th in the 400 free entering Friday based off last week's sectional times.
Salazar teamed with Alexandra Evans, Jillian Giese and Lauren Fecher in the 400 with a state cut swim of 3:35.37. Fecher, Giese, Salazar and Sawyer DeWitt also posted a state cut time of 1:48.70 in the medley relay. State cut times are based on the top 16 finishers at last year's state meet. DeWitt, Salazar, Evans and Kansas Smith competed in the 200 free relay, earning a call back with a time of 1:39.86, one of the fastest in the state from non automatic qualifiers.
West Lafayette will compete in two relays Friday with Chloe Chen, Lily Baumgardner, Laura Antalis and Isabel Owens earning a call back in the medley relay and Antalis, Baumgardner, Chen and Isabella Dodt swimming in the 400 free relay, where they're seeded 23rd.
Phenomenal freshman
One thing Josh Hill instituted when he became Faith Christian's athletic director was opening the door for athletes to compete in all sports, even if they weren't currently offered at the private Christian school on Lafayette's east side.
Welcome Maris Emmert, a freshman swimmer for the Eagles who has a chance not once, but twice, to be the first Faith athlete to reach a podium at a state meet.
Emmert is the 11th seed in the 500 freestyle and 13th in the 200 freestyle.
Who else might place?
Not only did Fecher help two Harrison relays qualify for state, the Raider junior is competing in two events as an individual.
Fecher finished the 100 backstroke at last week's sectional in a state cut time of 56.99 seconds, placing her second behind Zionsville's Molly Simmons, who is one of the favorites to win the state title in the event.
Fecher is the 13th seed in the backstroke and 19th in the 200 freestyle.
Also competing
Crawfordsville has two relays teams swimming Friday as well as sophomore Sophia Melevage in the 200 free and 100 butterfly, along with fellow Athenian sophomore Guinivere Schmitzer-Torbert in the 100 breaststroke. North Montgomery junior Annabel Anderson qualified in the 100 freestyle.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Area swimmers set to compete in IHSAA state finals
