Experience key as Martinsville, Mooresville, Indian Cree boys swim teams battle at sectionals
FRANKLIN — Sectional time has arrived for boys swimming, and this season it's brought Martinsville, Mooresville and Indian Creek to Franklin Community High School to battle it out for the chance of making the state finals.
For the Artesians, swimmer Blake Rains has his eyes set on making a third straight appearance to the state championship meet, but fellow seniors Konner Gardner and Jack Bruce, along with sophomore Ian Bain, stepped up to the plate to help front the team's efforts.
"Experience paid off today," Martinsville coach John Kirtland said. "If you had some experience on our team, you had a great meet. A lot of our young guys, they didn't really know what to expect. So, they kind of stumbled, but they got it back there at the end. Really impressed with our seniors."
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Both the Pioneers and the Braves brought more experienced squads with hopes of pushing some to the next level, and both saw swimmers advance to the final heat for Saturday's sectional finale.
"I'm super impressed by what the guys have been able to accomplish, everybody across the field has dropped time in every event," Mooresville coach Dakota Rhodes said.
"With a program like Mooresville's, the direction we're heading, I couldn't be happier to see the growth we've had over the season and to know we're going to capitalize on that heading into Saturday, but also looking three to five years out," he said.
Blake Rains dominates the 100-breaststroke
Rains didn't just win the 100-yard breaststroke, earning him the No. 1 seed this weekend.
He owned it.
Rains was the only swimmer in the event to finish in under a minute with a time of 58.74, topping next closest swimmers in Franklin's Franco Chirinos (1:01.63) and Center Grove's Connor Conkin (1:01.95) by nearly three seconds.
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"Overall, I thought he swam really well today," Kirtland said. "We feel like he's got a pretty good shot (to move on in the 100-breaststroke) at that. We'd like him to move on in two events, not just one. We'll see how things play out tomorrow in practice and go from there."
Rains was also a finalist in the 100-butterfly, placing third with a time of 53.16, which marked less than a second behind Indian Creek's Evan Dennis (52.44) and Franklin's Anthony Ries (52.73).
"We're going to have a dog fight in the 100-fly, we know that," Kirtland said.
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Ian Bain also advanced to the finals with an eighth-place finish in the 100-backstroke. Gardner placed 16th in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle, marking career best times and the first time he's been able to advance to day two in his career.
"Konner Gardner had a great meet tonight," Kirtland said. "He's worked real hard the past four years and for him to make it back in two events...it's huge for him. He was a catalyst today, very proud of him."
Avery Sylvester finished 16th in the 50-freestyle. Jack Bruce, Jamison Crabb, Everett Renner and Garrett Gardener all swam personal bests in the prelims.
Keegan Jones leads the way for Mooresville
Bolstering an experienced squad, Jones was one to stick out for the Pioneers, swimming his way to a sixth-place finish in the 50-freestyle to advance to the final heat. He also finished 11th in the 100-breaststroke (1:07.60)
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"He dropped incredible times, I say he got down to big boy times, going 22.94 in his 50, dropped two seconds in his 100-breaststroke," Rhodes said. "I'm really proud of him."
Jones is one of Rhodes' graduating swimmers. Watching him develop and compete like he did tonight has him excited for what's to come this weekend.
"He's one of my graduating seniors, I'm going to miss him a ton, but he did awesome," Rhodes said. "I'm so excited to see what he brings to the table in the finals."
Pioneers' senior Evan Wilson also had an impressive day, placing eight in 200 individual medley and ninth in the 100-freestyle. Junior Jacob Taylor just barely missed the cut in the 50-freestyle, finishing ninth at 23.26 seconds.
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Mooresville's 200-medley team placed third.
"I'm very excited to see our relays improve," Rhodes said. "We're aiming for Franklin for our 200 relay and with that aiming for a state qualifying time."
Indian Creek's Evan Dennis takes 100-fly by storm
Of the three Braves' swimmers who impressed in prelims, Dennis was the one that shined the brightest.
In what was one of the most competitive events in the 100-fly, Dennis was able to top some serious competitors in a battle that came down to a photo finish, topping Franklin's Reis by .29 milliseconds
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He also participated in the 50-freestyle, finishing in 23.07 with Franklin's Van Evanoff, barely outlasting him for the seventh-place spot (23.00).
Juniors Nolan Greene (sixth, 100-backstroke; eighth, 100-freestyle) and Evan Schaub (eighth, 500-freestyle, 10th, 200-freestyle) also willed their way to the final heats on Saturday.
The Braves also finished third in the 200 and 400-freestyle relays.
Looking ahead
Swimmers from Martinsville, Mooresville and Indian Creek will meet Saturday to determine which competitors get the opportunity to swim at the IHSAA state finals next weekend at the IUPUI Natatorium.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: IHSAA swimming: Experience key as boys teams battle at sectional prelims
