North, South shine in boys' swimming state finals

INDIANAPOLIS — For David Kovacs, it is now officially a trend.

The Bloomington South sophomore, no matter how good he is at sectional, no matter how much better he is in the state preliminaries, he will be at his best the day of the finals.

Even if it means, less than 24 hours after breaking Ian Finnerty’s eight-year-old school record, lowering it again.

Kovacs did just that. He was in effect, chasing the wind in the 100 backstroke final at thr IHSAA boys’ state swimming finals on Feb. 25 at the IU Natatorium. Zionsville’s Will Modglin was so far ahead of the field after breaking the state record on Friday, but Kovacs kept Modglin (45.69) in sight and also made sure no one else was going to catch himself, either.

Kovacs improved his start by .3 and lowered his school record to 48.54 for second place.

“That was cool swimming next to him, I guess,” Kovacs said. “He’s so fast. And I’m definitely going to strive for that record. Hopefully I‘ll get that senior year. There was nothing I could do but chase him.

“My coaches are really happy that at least one of (Finnerty’s) records are gone. Hopefully I get some others as well.”

Kovacs and his coaches went over Friday’s races looking for ways to improve and Kovacs nailed every one of them.

“We didn’t talk about Modglin at all,” South coach Phil Cole said. “You have to swim your race, regardless. I think he was just focused on doing what he wanted to do, I don’t think that mattered to him.”

Kovacs was also at his best in the 200 individual medley, lowering his best time to 1:49.32 for fifth.

“I’m so happy with it,” Kovacs said. “Under 1:50 was my goal and then hopefully get that Ian record as well. During prelims I took it out a bit too fast for my liking and I died a bit too hard. So I knew I wanted to take it out a bit slower, more relaxed and come back faster on that freestyle. It helped.”

His 23-flat start in the medley relay was third best of the meet as South took 10th (1:35.21) and his 45.86 was best in the 400 freestyle relay B Final to help the Panthers take 12th (3:12.42).

“Last night, he was really good,” Cole said. “But there were a small couple of mistakes that we talked about this morning. And he fixed everything today and was able to go even faster."

North relays shine again

South was 13th with 66 points, while Bloomington North piled up 84 points for ninth (it's best state total and finish since 2013) with its three relays, top butterflier Jay Stewart and diver Max Miller.

The Cougars jumped on the medal stand first with a seventh-place finish in the 200 medley as Stewart, Jeremiah Boshears, Jack Steiner and Ben Buehler went 1:34.38, just .24 off their school record from the prelims.

“It set great tone (on Friday). It meant the world to everybody on this team,” Buehler said. “We could not have started off better.”

Stewart (20.98), Steiner, Dixon and Buehler (21.51) went 1:26.19 for 10th in the 200 free relay and that same group, with Buehler and Stewart on the end, went 3:09.71, going from eighth halfway to sixth, just .23 off the school record.

“The week leading up to state everyone was super focused,” Buehler said. “We were super determined to break those records."

It will be an unforgettable season, with their names on the record board when next fall rolls around.

“I’ve been waiting to have that up there so long,” Buehler said. “It’s a great feeling.”

And a sense of relief as well.

“I was very nervous coming in,” North coach Max Irwin said. “Because with relays, there’s more things that can go wrong. You’ve got four moving pieces and they have to fit together just right.

“After that medley relay, I was really pleased, because I knew the rest of the meet was going to go fantastic. And it did. We prepared really well for the meet and we executed really well yesterday and today as well.”

Senior moments

Steiner is the only senior in the group is thrilled to end his career with two state medals.

“It’s a big deal,” said Steiner, his voice raspy from all the cheering. “Two sixth-place medals is huge. I’ve been to state other year but never have we been this close and I’ve never swam at finals before this year. It’s massively rewarding and I’m glad I got to do it with these guys.”

Committing to three relays got the job done.

“It was totally worth it give up doing another individual and do three relays,” Steiner said. “There’s not many times where you’re gonna be able to swim with three other swimmers who are as good as these guys. Without any one of us, we wouldn’t be here.

“It’s so crazy. I’m not a bad swimmer and these guys make me look slow.”

They also made his senior year more special than he might have imagined.

“Coming into the season as a senior, I didn’t have a whole lot of motivation,” Steiner said. “And being on the relays with these guys, I owe it to them to go fast. That definitely made me more motivated and I grinded it out a little harder.”

Stewart flies to third

Like Kovacs, Stewart was able to find another gear in his individual event. He had just made the A Final in the fly but came back with a stronger last half of his race to move all the way up to third and lowering his career best to 49.63.

“I definitely felt more confident, breaking that 50 barrier at sectionals,” Stewart said. “That was a mental block in my head. And that being gone, I felt like I could go all out in the last race.”

It’s the best individual finish by a Cougar since Irwin won the 500 free and was runner-up in the fly in 2012. Irwin saw a different swimmer entering the pool this weekend as opposed to last year’s rookie appearance.

“There’s a big learning curve to swimming and when you go to more championship level meets, you get better equipped to perform,” Irwin said. “And you move from participant to performer the more times you go. And he really made that switch from last year to this year.”

Paegle takes eighth

South sophomore Lukas Paegle made it into the A Final of the fly as a 17th seed coming in off a call-up, no less. He ended up eighth in 50.33.

“Yeah, I feel fortunate to be here,” said Paegle, who also swam two relay legs. “I definitely made lots of mistakes. I feel like I learned a lot of lessons this season. Just got to focus on next year.”

Certainly a third state meet will be on his plate, but Cole hopes the margins of error in reaching it are done.

“Lukas, he gets up for this meet, and he makes the coaches nervous at sectional,” Cole said. “Him and David are battling every day. but in competitions, he’s a little harder to predict.

“He was really good at this meet last year and since that meet, he’s had some ups and downs. I felt like we had a little breakthrough last night. He did well in everything he swam.”

Diver done

North senior Max Miller went into the state finals knowing it was the last meet of his career after deciding not to pursue the event in college. The goal was to relax and make the best of it and he did, improving his spot from last year.

Miller earned a spot in the finals for the first time, sitting 14th after the semifinals and settled for 15th with a 365.50.

“I was just happy to come to this meet,” Miller said. “My goal for the season was to get to the finals because I was 18th last year. I came here just trying to enjoy the moment because I’m not going to dive in college. It’s my last time diving so it was really special.

“I tried to stay relaxed. Some of my dives were not my best but I put my best into it and I’m happy with the result.”

Carmel, again

Carmel won its ninth straight title with 363 points, with Zionsville the runner-up for the second year in a row with 257. That’s the most points for a second-place team since 2008.

Modglin had a hand in the only state records broken in the finals, going 1:43.74 in the IM (breakin his mark from last year) and helping the 200 free relay to a 1:20.53, erasing a 1:21.21 by Carmel in 2017.

IHSAA BOYS' STATE SWIMMING MEET

TOP TEAMS: 1. Carmel 363; 2. Zionsville 257; 3. FW Carroll 150; 4. Fishers 148; 5. North Central 130; 6. South Bend Riley 120; 7. Homestead 93; 8. Penn 86; 9. Bloomington North 84; 10. Chesterton 75½; 11. Center Grove 71; 12. West Lafayette 69; 13. Bloomington South 66; 14. Noblesville 50; 15. WL Harrison 46; T16. Castle 39; Elkhart 39; 18. Hamilton Heights 37; 19. Munster 36; 20. Hamilton Southeastern 34.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

50 freestyle: 1. Matthew Klinge, WLHarr, 19.95; 2. Sean Sullivan, Carm, 20.52; 3. Lucas Byrd, Elkht, 20.59; 4. Colin Parker, NC, 20.73.

100 freestyle: 1. Sullivan, Carm, 44.09; 2. Will Raches, Z, 44.23; 3. Walker Mattice, Z, 45.46; 4. Cole Baker, BNL, 45.75.

200 freestyle: 1. Aaron Shackell, Carm, 1:33.68; 2. Mattice, Z, 1:38.25; 3. Raches, Z, 1:38.31; 4. Connor Carlile, Fish, 1:38.50.

500 freestyle: 1. Shackell, Carm, 4:15.35; 2. Gregg Enoch, Carm, 4:20.40; 3. Carlile, Fish, 4:25.97; 4. Jonathan Hines, Fish, 4:30.12.

100 backstroke: 1. Will Modglin, Z, 45.69; 2. David Kovacs, BSouth, 48.54; 3. Gannon Crosser, York, 50.60; 4. Ignatius Rusko, SBRiley, 50.69.

100 breaststroke: 1. Adam McCurdy, FWCarr, 54.69; 2. Lucas Byrd, Elkh, 54.84; 3. Aidan Biddle, Nob, 55.29; 4. Christopher Bar, SBRiley, 55.35.

100 butterfly: 1. Klinge, WLHarr, 47.90; 2. Isaac Martin, Mun, 48.62; 3. Jay Stewart, BNorth, 49.63; 4. Andrew Shackell, Carm, 49.64; 8. Lukas Paegle, BSouth, 50.33.

200 individual medley: 1. Modglin, Z, 1:43.74 (state record; old record, 1:44.10, Modglin, Z, 2022); 2. Enoch, Carm, 1:45.55; 3. Adam McCurdy, FWCarr, 1:47.15; 4. Gorey, Carm, 1:49.25; 5. Kovacs, BSouth, 1:49.32.

Diving: 1. Ethan Swart, HamHts, 512.15; 2. Nathan Cox, HamHts, 503, 65; 3. Grant Cates, Oak Hill, 496.75; 4. Jacob Schade, Fish, 474.15; 15. Max Miller, BN, 365.50.

200 medley relay: 1. Carmel, 1:27.83; 2. Zionsville, 1:30.14; 3. Penn, 1:33.28; 4. Fort Wayne Carroll, 1:33.36; 6. Bloomington North (Stewart, Jeremiah Boshears, Jack Steiner, Ben Buehler), 1:34.38. (10. Bloomington South (Kovacs, Leo Nelson, Paegle, Gabe Arthur), 1:35.21.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Zionsville, 1:20.53 (State record; old record, 1:21.21, Carmel, 2017); 2. Carmel, 1:22.50; 3. North Central, 1:25.24; 4. Fishers, 1:25.74. (10. Bloomington North (Stewart, Steiner, Ben Dixon, Buehler), 1:26.19.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Carmel, 2:59.52; 2. Zionsville, 3:05.38; 3. North Central, 3:07.33; 4. Fishers, 3:07.96; 6. Bloomington North (Steiner, Dixon, Buehler, Stewart), 3:09.71. (12. Bloomington South (Paegle, Kovacs, Kian Kadlec, Botund Kun), 3:12.42.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: North, South shine in boys' swimming state finals