SWIMMING: Tipton, NW finish 2-3 in HC girls meet, Western 2nd in HC boys meet

Jan. 17—West Lafayette emerged from a pack of contenders to take the girls title in the Hoosier Conference swim meet on Saturday at Purdue University.

West Lafayette edged Tipton by two points, 331-329, for the title. Northwestern (284), Hamilton Heights (280), Rensselaer (273) and Western (268) followed not far behind.

"Teams were shuffling places all day long," Western coach Brad Bennett said.

Cass (167), Benton Central (98), Lafayette Catholic (88) and Twin Lakes (33) rounded out the standings. All of Twin Lakes' points came from Thursday's diving program. COVID protocols kept the Indians out of Saturday's swimming.

Runner-up Tipton won five events. Individually, Ashlyn Vehikite won the 50-yard freestyle (:25.08), Sophia Walker won the 100 breaststroke (1:09.78) and Sami Morris won the diving program (329.30). Jules Hoover, Abi Hoover, Walker and Vehikite teamed to win the 200 medley relay (1:56.04) and Walker, Abi Hoover, Lylli Tragesser and Vehikite teamed to win the 200 free relay (1:44.31).

Also for the Blue Devils, Vehikite was second in the 100 free (:55.65), Abi Hoover was second in the 100 backstroke (1:03.29) and third in the 200 IM (2:16.52), and Walker was third in the 100 butterfly (12:04.60).

For Northwestern, Catherine Bath and Jaylyn Harrison led the way. Bath was first in the 100 butterfly (1:00.66) and second in the 200 IM (2:15.57) and Harrison won the 100 backstroke (:59.94) and took second in the 200 free (1:57.06). Harrison set a school record in the backstroke.

In addition, Bath and Harrison teamed with Ashley Ream and Lauren Martin to win the 400 free relay (3:48.28).

"It was a dogfight [in the 400 relay]. Jaylyn Harrison had about a four-second deficit when she hit the water and she caught the girl, swam stroke for stroke until the flags and just inched herself away from her. It was a great swim," Northwestern coach Donita Walters said.

Northwestern was third in a razor-tight finish in the 200 free relay. Tipton was first in 1:44.11, Western was second in 1:44.13 and Northwestern was third in 1:44.32.

The Tigers' Ream was fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.74).

"The girls just executed flawlessly," Walters said. "I love conference because it brings out a fire in their belly like you don't see in dual meets and it's so much fun."

Gracie Burns and Anna Moore had Western's top swims. Burns took second in the 50 free (:25.59) and third in the 100 free (:56.50) and Moore took third in the 200 free (2:04.80) and third in the 500 free (5:38.18). Chase Hayes was fourth in the 50 free (:26.75) and Genesis Everling had fifth-place swims in the 100 free (:58.81) and 100 backstroke (1:06.74).

Moore, Everling, Hayes and Burns took second in the 200 free relay (1:44.13) and third in the 400 free relay (3:53.11).

"Genesis Everling was on fire," Bennett said. "All four of her events were in the last six races. She kicked it off in the 100 freestyle, seeded at 1:02 and went :58.8 — the first time she's ever broken a minute in the 100 whether it be the standard 100 or in a relay swim. And then in the backstroke, she did the same thing. Her best this year was a 1:10 and she went 1:06.74. She went from being the ninth seed all the way up to fifth. She had great splits in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay as well."

Erika Baber was a star for Cass. She took victories in the 200 free (1:56.19) and 100 free (:53.89). Also for the Kings, Maryn Zeck was fourth in the 100 back (1:05.83).

KOKOMO SPLITS

Kokomo's girls team split a double dual with Anderson and Muncie Central, beating Anderson 50-41 and falling to Muncie Central by one, 47-46.

"I made a mistake in the way I lined up the meet and should not have put both [Aubrey] Simmons and [Macee] Reckard in the 100 backstroke," Kokomo coach Trevor Trimpe said. "Had I put one of them in 200 free or 100 butterfly, we would have beat Muncie Central by a couple points instead of losing by one."

Kokomo's 200 medley relay team of Paige Wilson, Simmons, Reckard and Milla Hawkins opened the meet with a win. Reckard won the 200 IM in a personal-best time, Simmons won the 500 free with her second-best time of the season and Simmons and Reckard went 1-2 in the 100 backstroke.

Also for Kokomo, Hawkins won the 100 free, Emily Lucas won the 100 breaststroke and Hawkins, Wilson, Simmons and Reckard won the 400 free relay by more than 30 seconds. Trimpe also noted Kylie Lewis' third-place finish in diving and Taylor Belzer's personal-best swim in the 100 free.

BOYS SWIMMING

HOOSIER MEET

West Lafayette took the title with a big score of 538. Western was second with 333.

"You want to win it, but the bottom line is you want your kids to perform well and my guys really did," Western coach Brad Bennett said.

Hamilton Heights was third with 301 and was followed by Northwestern (267), Tipton (204), Benton Central (146), Cass (138), Rensselaer (136) and Twin Lakes (7). All of Twin Lakes' points came from Thursday's diving program. COVID protocols kept the Indians out of Saturday's swimming.

Individually, Pete Bradshaw had two of Western's top swims, taking second in the 100 free (:50.39) and third in the 50 free (:22.35). Luke Mawbey was third in the 100 backstroke (1:01.90) and fourth in the 100 fly (:58.42). Avery Berryman was fourth in the 50 free (:23.61) and fifth in the 100 free (:52.25). Tanner Vance was fifth in the 200 IM (2:18.12).

The Panthers took second in both the 200 and 400 free relays. Bradshaw, Mawbey, Berryman and Kole Shock composed the 200 team (1:34.63) and Bradshaw, Berryman, Mawbey and Charlie Conkle formed the 400 team (3:52.56).

Bennett noted he had solid swims up and down the lineup.

"Each heat has eight kids in it and we score all 16, but the top eight get recognized on the podium. All day, we had guys coming from second heat [slower heat] and making the podium," he said, pointing to Vance in the IM and backstroke and Wyatt Edwards and Ty Frazier in the 500 free as examples.

Northwestern's Caleb Champion was one of the stars of the meet. He won two events — and set school records in both. He clocked 2:01.85 in the 200 IM, breaking a record that had stood since 1990. And he went :59.34 in the 100 breaststroke, bettering his own record.

"He had an exceptional meet," NW coach Donita Walters said.

Champion helped the Tigers take third in the 200 free relay. Will Baxter, Alex Baxter, Wyatt Harrell and Champion clocked 1:38.51.

Walters pointed to multiple Tigers dropping time as another highlight. She said Parks Ortman dropped nearly :08 in the 100 breaststroke.

For Tipton, Stone Conaway had a big meet. He won the 50 free (:21.86) and took second in the 100 free (:50.39). Drake Boyer was third in the 500 free (5:20.20).

Cass' top swim came from Braxten Armstrong in the 100 free. He took third in :51.49.

KOKOMO SPLITS

Kokomo's boys team took a 55-37 victory over Muncie Central, but Anderson edged the Katfish 46-44 in a double dual.

Gabe Booher, Isaac Elkin, Isaac Flamino and Andrew Jay started teamed to win the 200 medley relay to open the meet. Individually, Jay won the 500 free, Booher won the 100 backstroke in a personal-best time and Elkin won the 100 breaststroke by better than 10 seconds.

The team of Jay, Booher, Flamino and Talon Hawkins capped the meet by winning the 400 free relay.

"Jay was able to hold off the late charge from Anderson and touched first with 0.3 to spare," Trimpe said.

Trimpe also noted runner-up swims by Matias Ayala in the 100 free and Hawkins in the 200 IM.