Senior day to remember for North swimmer Karen Tabbal
The youth movement going on in Bloomington swimming right now is hard not to notice, from the state medals to the multiple broken conference, school and meet records over the past two seasons.
At the same time, it makes a performance like the one North's Karen Tabbal had at Saturday's annual Counsilman Classic stand out even more. Tabbal wanted to make her last North-South meet, the first held at North's new pool, a great one and she did as the only senior to leave with four wins.
"I think the hours of work that we've been putting in over winter break every day is really paying off," Tabbal said. "There's always things to work on but I'm excited to have the opportunity to work on them."
She took care of one of her usual events, winning the 50 freestyle (25.24) then went off-script to win the 100 butterfly (1:03.42) in a tight battle with South's Alex Eakin.
"I've been also dabbling in the breaststroke. It's been fun. We'll see what happens at sectionals but I'm definitely loving it today. The energy was so there. Everyone was just cheering. The fly, when I was doing it, they were screaming, and then boom, hand on the wall."
Then she had her race of the meet, finishing off the 200 free relay in 24.94 to bring the Cougars from second to first and a win by a mere .48 of a second in 1:46.54.
"It was really exciting. I love the two free relay just because I love anchoring it," Tabbal said. "I know no matter what, I'm going to get my hand on the wall first if I just push a little bit harder. I held my breath all the way down and all the way back and 'boom'. It was just great looking up at that board."
Teammates Annie Murer and Ashley Freel made sure she was 4-for-4 by finishing off the 400 free relay with splits of 56.07 and 53.16.
"Karen had a great day," North coach Taylor McGregor said. "She's really trying to focus in practice on the little things. As a sprinter you have to get every piece right. I know she's been working really hard on every element of her race and so it's nice to have a race like the anchor of the two free relay where it starts to fall together."
Kovacs a wonder for South
Just one meet record was broken but it's one South sophomore David Kovacs figured he had a bead on considering he'd just broken the Conference Indiana record with a 50.62 last week. So Nick Wonder's 53.06 from 2013 was in definite jeopardy and was subsequently erased with a 51.26.
Kovacs also won the 200 individual medley by nearly 10 seconds in 1:57.60, four seconds faster than the 2022 meet.
"There's always little things that I can work on," said Kovacs, last year's H-T boys' swimmer of the year. "But this year, I really started focusing on breaststroke, because I knew that was a weak point in my strokes in my IM. And work on my endurance for that.
"Last year's it was just getting into the high school season and trying things. Seeing where I could be and this year, I know what I can do and what I did last year."
Having a greater handle on his races and his capabilities this season, Kovacs is aiming high, shooting to break 50 seconds in the back and Ian Finnerty's school record 49.68, and break 1:50 in the IM. The competition he sees whenever North is at the same meet is a big help in pushing him on.
"It's nice because we always know what we can get better at because they're always getting better, too," Kovacs said. "So we always have to chase them and they always have to chase us in the same way. We're always pushing each other. It's great."
South girls rule again
South's girls won the city meet for a 17th straight time, rising up for a 114-72 margin that's actually been one of the biggest between the two over the past three seasons. The Panthers won but five events, but put at least two competitors in the top three of each event, highlighted by a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 individual medley and a 1-2 finish in the medley relay when North's 'A' team was DQ'd.
"Each meet is an opportunity to get better and they're doing that," South coach Annie Eakin said. "Watching athletes perform beyond their own beliefs is really rewarding as a coach. And that's what we've seen over the past few weeks. It's them letting go of their preconceptions about who they should be and then achieve something really great."
Sophomore Anna Asplund won the 100 free (54.18) and 100 back (1:00.60), led off the winning 200 medley relay and posted a team best 54.57 to start the 400 free relay (3:47.40). Junior Kate Seidenfaden took first in the 200 IM (2:19.93) by less than a second over teammate Grace Nelson. Nelson also placed second in the 100 breast by .45 to fellow Panther Alex Eakin (1:11.31) and by .01 over North's Lucy Mitchell.
South went 1-2 in diving behind Carina Jacobson (217.00) and Claire Lutz (189.45).
North's Ashley Freel decided to get in some distance work and it paid off with a 1:57.74 to win the 200 free and a 5:14.66 to top South's Harper Eakin by .9 in the 500.
"Having conference last week was different because it was earlier than normal," McGregor said. "But it gave us a little insight to, Where is our racing at? Where do we need to be? And it's always nice to have that built in benchmark against South. There's good racing across the board, whether it's in a dual meet scenario like this or at conference."
North boys take 5
North's boys won their fifth straight in the series, 94-91 as South came at the Cougars hard after last week's Conference Indiana meet that North ruled.
North's Jay Stewart held off South's Lukas Paegle twice, winning the 50 free (21.72) by .58 and the 100 fly (51.01) by .91. But Paegle got him, 46.78-46.82, to finish the 400 free relay with a win for South by just .2. North's Hunter Tang won the breast (1:02.98) and Ben Buehler the 100 free (49.71). North had to change up a few spots on the relays with one of its top sprint freestylers, Ben Dixon, unavailable.
Max Miller (249.95) topped Michael Tierney (199.95) in the early morning six-dive competition.
"I was very pleased with the performance last week at conference," North boys' coach Max Irwin said. "And was expecting a little bit more than what we got today but I think maybe with the week of training, they were tired. And maybe they underestimated our opponents today and that showed.
"I thought South had a fantastic day, so definitely good to have our guys woken up a little bit before sectional. I think after today they'll be a little more motivated."
South's Botund Kun was first in the 500 (4:55.66) with Kian Kadlec taking the 200 in 1:51.99. The Panthers roared to a win in the 200 medley relay by 12 seconds.
"I love that we have really good competition within our city," Annie Eakin said. "We don't have to go drive an hour to go find it. That's what we bring to each other."
Broshears is back
North junior Jeremiah Boshears' finishes didn't make news — he was fourth in the 100 breast and eighth in the 100 free — but the fact he was back in the pool sure does.
Back in 2021, he was a state qualifier in the breast and with the 200 medley relay team before walking away from swimming. But he came back to a meet recently and realized how much he missed the competition. Boshears is still working, which alters and limits his training schedule.
Early December, he attended his first practice as a test drive, making his debut in the meet against Columbus North earlier this month, and Irwin is thrilled.
"I'm very impressed with him so far," Irwin said. "For the 50 breast on a relay, a 100 breast individually, I'm real excited. He was 1:05.1 so I think he's on a good path. If you take a year off and can go within two seconds of your best time in a 100? I think that is a great place to be. He's got the fire."
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
COUNSILMAN CLASSIC
BOYS: NORTH 94, SOUTH 91
50 freestyle: 1. Jay Stewart, N, 21.72; 2. Lukas Paegle, S, 22.30; 3. Jack Steiner, N, 22.62. 100 freestyle: 1. Ben Buehler, N, 49.71; 2. Carter Warren, S, 51.55; 3. Charlie Weida, N, 53.54. 200 freestyle: 1. Kian Kadlec, S, 1:51.99; 2. Ty Mayer, N, 1:56.20; 3. Weida, N, 1:58.38. 500 freestyle: 1. Botund Kun, S, 4:55.66; 2. Mayer, N, 5:05.45; 3. Kadlec, S, 5:07.27. 100 backstroke: 1. David Kovacs, S, 51.26 (meet record; old record, 53.06, Nick Wonder, S, 2013); 2. Warren, S, 1:00.42; 3. Alex Madiera, N, 1:00.62. 100 breaststroke: 1. Hunter Tang, N, 1:02.98; 2. Leo Nelson, S, 1:04.91; 3. Will Foley, N, 1:05.35. 100 butterfly: 1. Stewart, N, 51.01; 2. Paegle, S, 51.92; 3. Kun, S, 56.44. 200 individual medley: 1. Kovacs, S, 1:57.60; 2. Buehler, N, 2:07.03; 3. Luke Miller, N, 2:09.50. Diving (6-dives): 1. Max Miller, N, 249.95; 2. Michael Tierney, S, 199.95; 3. Teagan Hojem, N, 159.85. 200 medley relay: 1. South (Kovacs, Nelson, Paegle, Gabe Arthur), 1:38.38; 2. North (Will Whitaker, Landon Yake, Leo Wang, L.Miller), 1:50.27. 200 freestyle relay: 1. North (M.Miller, Landon Mobley, L.Miller, Steiner), 1:33.89; 2. South (Arthur, Nelson, Kadlec, Kun), 1:34.71. 400 freestyle relay: 1. South (Paegle, Kadlec, Kun, Kovacs), 3:17.01; 2. North (Steiner, Weida, Buehler, Stewart), 3:17.31.
GIRLS: SOUTH 114, NORTH 72
50 freestyle: 1. Karen Tabbal, N, 25.24; 2. Lucy Tait, S, 26.38; 3. Merlyn Rojas, S, 26.99. 100 freestyle: 1. Anna Asplund, S, 54.18; 2. Annie Murer, N, 57.41; 3. Lucy Mitchell, N, 58.23. 200 freestyle: 1. Ashley Freel, N, 1:57.74; 2. Harper Eakin, S, 2:03.39; 3. Abby Smith, S, 2:09.63. 500 freestyle: 1. Freel, N, 5:14.66; 2. H.Eakin, S, 5:15.56; 3. Tait, S, 5:56.67. 100 backstroke: 1. Asplund, S, 1:00.60; 2. Kate Seidenfaden, S, 1:04.37; 3. Kate Thies, N, 1:07.31. 100 breaststroke: 1. Alex Eakin, S, 1:11.31; 2. Grace Nelson, S, 1:11.76; 3. Mitchell, N, 1:11.77. 100 butterfly: 1. Tabbal, N, 1:03.42; 2. A.Eakin, S, 1:03.95; 3. Tamara Kun, S, 1:05.57. 200 individual medley: 1. Seidenfaden, S, 2:19.93; 2. Nelson, S, 2:20.84; 3. Kun, S, 2:23.28. Diving (6-dives): 1. Carina Jacobson, S, 217.0; 2. Claire Lutz, S, 189.45; 3. Bella Martin, N, 183.95. 200 medley relay: 1. South (Asplund, A.Eakin, Nelson, Tait), 1:54.77; North, DQ. 200 freestyle relay: 1. North (Mitchell, Leona Wang, Sara Buehler, Tabbal), 1:46.54; 2. South (Nelson, Nora Nelson Laird, Abby Smith, H.Eakin), 1:46.92. 400 freestyle relay: 1. North (Tabbal, Greta Kollbaum, Murer, Freel), 3:45.31; 2. South (Asplund, H.Eakin, Tait, A.Eakin), 3:47.40.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Senior day to remember for North swimmer Karen Tabbal
