West Lafayette swimming sweeps Hoosier Conference meet

Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier
·2 min read
Will LaCount set four Hoosier Conference records on Saturday.
Will LaCount set four Hoosier Conference records on Saturday.

WEST LAFAYETTE — West Lafayette senior Will LaCount put his name in the Hoosier Conference swimming record books four times Saturday, helping the Red Devils sweep the girls and boys championships.

LaCount took down one of the conference's two oldest remaining records at Boilermaker Aquatic Center when he won the 100-yard freestyle in 47.46 seconds, breaking the mark of former Red Devil Thomas Blake of 47.72 seconds set in 1991.

LaCount also set the league's 50 free mark in a time of 21.60 seconds and was part of two record-breaking relays.

West Lafayette's boys maintained a stranglehold on the Hoosier Conference title with its seventh in a row. West Side has won ever conference title dating back to 1994 with the exception of 2015.

The Red Devil girls relied on depth to pile up just enough points to edge Tipton 331-329 to win their first Hoosier Conference title since 2015.

Junior Lily Baumgardner was West Side's lone individual girls champion, winning the 200-yard individual medley in 2:14.28.

Baumgardner also placed second in the 500 freestyle, an event where teammate Laurie Antalis placed fourth.

Antalis, Baumgardner, Chloe Chen and Lina Idrissi Alami combined for a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay, while Baumgardner, Antalis, Chen and Isabel Owens were runner-up in the 400 free relay to cap the meet and clinch the team championship.

Idrissi Alami claimed fourth in the 200 freestyle, Anja Owens was fifth in the individual medley and Chen posted pair of individual top-three finishes with a second place in the 100 butterfly and third in the 100 backstroke.

In addition to LaCount's two individual records, he partnered with Ryan Knipp, Lucas Arnaldo and Landon VanMatre to set a new mark in the 200 medley relay in 1:38.68. LaCount, Knipp, VanMatre and Ray Li are the new record holders in the 200 freestyle relay with a mark of 1:28.59.

Knipp also touched the wall first in the 200 and 500 freestyle races.

VanMatre won the 100 fly in 52.95 seconds and Li was first in the 100 backstroke in 55.58.

West Side capped its championship with a victorious 400 free relay team of Li, Braylon VanMatre, Zheng-Yin Lee and Jeremy Dukes.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: West Lafayette swimming sweeps Hoosier Conference meet