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The Bloomington South boys came into the Counsilman Classic swim meet against rival North shorthanded, down three of their top athletes.
This year, the Panthers, like most teams, have a group of swimmers they're looking to take the next step in becoming varsity mainstays. They may not be winning events yet, but their depth points are valuable assets as they move up the ladder.
Or when teammates are out due to illness for a big meet.
South was down Conference Indiana two-time champs Easton Xiao and Dillon VanSant as well as Cam Seidenfaden, a state qualifier last year in the backstroke and one of South's best in the 200 individual medley. The Panthers still swept the relays and won all but three events in a 125-58 win over North Saturday, Jan. 17.
More: Owen Valley girls, Edgewood boys basketball show poise under pressure
More: South girls have tough time at IHSAA state wrestling meet
The host Panthers completed the sweep for the third year in a row with the girls' 137-44 win, their 20th in a row in the series. It's part of a strong run South has been on of late this season.
"The Center Grove Invite, the conference meet and today, we've had three pretty good performances in a row," South coach Phil Cole said. "We're battling some illness right now. Girls are pretty healthy. Guys, we had five guys out today.
"We were senior heavy last year, so this is a much younger team. We had kids swim at the conference meet, and it was the first time they've swum any championship meet. So, lots of development with this team. We're still got to improve but it's coming up on taper time for the girls. But I like where we're at."
South's girls won every event, with freshman Mia Bishop (50 freestyle, butterfly) the only double winner. Campbell Warren (200 free), Sakura Forney (200 individual medley), Leona Wang (100 free), Harper Eakin (500 free), Leighton Huffman (backstroke), Emily Wang (breaststroke) and Cece Merkel (diving) had strong showings as well.
North's boys got wins from Alex Madeira (back) and Bryan Huang (breast) and Wyatt Norrick (200 free). South's winners were Peter Kovacs (50 and 100 frees), Erik Jansen (fly), Gabrielle Marchionne (200 IM) and Kristof Katona (500 free), who was back after missing the conference meet.
Most swimmers stuck with their usual events, but it's not unusual at all to see some skip another or compete in off events for the Classic for various reasons, including setting the sectional lineups. Gaining experience of any kind is a big deal for the younger swimmers.
"I had one of our swimmers, (senior) Rehan Roe, he was like, 'I've never swum at conference before,'" North boys coach Jeff LeBeau said. "And he swam in two events and scored in both. So, you've gotta have kids who are stepping up and doing some things.
"We had kids doing different things than normal (today) and it showed a little bit. We wanted them to do it in a meet so we can get them ready for this championship season and figure out exactly what their events are going to be and who is going to be on what relay."
The 144 by South's girls is the highest point total scored by a winner of the Counsilman Classic, a fitting follow to a record-setting final chapter at the Conference Indiana Meet.
The Panthers won 10 of the very last 11 CI titles, breaking the old scoring record of 545 last week with a 565½, putting two swimmers in the top five of every individual race. Terre Haute South was way back in second (332½) with Bloomington North fourth 289.
The boys competition was practically a South-North dual meet, with the Panthers (537) and Cougars (442) distancing themselves from the field.
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"I was real pleased last Saturday, both girls and guys," Cole said. "We raced better. Sometimes, your times can be better but you don't necessarily race better, and we had a lot of good races last week and won some close races. You always look for that.
"It was clearly our best performance of the season."
North will be moving to the Mid-State Conference next year. That league holds its meet on the same weekend as the CI, but uses a two-day Thursday-Saturday format similar to sectionals.
Graduation took a heavy toll on all four teams, so who has made the biggest strides heading into the end of this season?
"Wyatt Norrick. He's improved by leaps and bounds," LeBeau said. "He swam club over the summer, and he did a really good job with that. Our seniors, Rehan Roe stepped into a role and the Madeiras (Jacen, Alex, Ty) have all stepped up. Ethan Teters is one who needs to step up. He's a junior now.
"Bryan Huang, he won conference last year (in breaststroke) and didn't do it this year, so I think that helped today. He swam well today."
North's girls have only three seniors and the junior class is small as well, so underclassmen make up the bulk of the squad and its potential sectional lineup. Sophomores Cali Allen, Bre Watkins and Chloe Madeira are among those impressing coach Taylor McGregor with their improvement this season.
"We have a nice strong senior class, so they're kind of leading that momentum," McGregor said. "Sydney Garrettson had a really great conference. She dropped time in the 200 free (2:09.22), so it's always nice to have those early swims at a meet like that because everybody feeds off that.
"And then Cali Allen has had a really great season building into some really great 100 breaststrokes lately (1:16.27 at conference), so having that at the end of a meet really bookends it."
The conference results really spoke volumes about South's most improved.
"On boys side, Dillon VanSant," Cole said. "I think he's way ahead of where he was at the same point last year. Easton Xaio, Cameron, those three in particular all had pretty good summers. And Connor Schmeckebier is also starting to put together a nice run.
"Girls, Emily Wang. She went a personal best in 200 IM at conference and won. She's always worked hard, but she's taken that to another level this year. Mia Bishop, a freshman, has been really good. And Sakura Forney is way ahead of where she was."
The focus now will quickly turn to the postseason, especially for the girls who in just over two weeks will swim the preliminaries of the East Central Sectional on Feb. 5 with the finals two days later.
"I was really excited about conference," McGregor said. "It was the last one so it kind of felt sentimental, right? But we've got a young team with a big class of freshmen coming in and a lot of sophomores. I feel like we've been building. We haven't had a lot of meets.
"So January's been our time to be like, we have to practice racing. What is it like to race? So I was really happy with conference, the races themselves and starting to get some practice in, 'How do I really push myself into that next level?' So I'm excited about that momentum coming off of that."
The boys will wait until Feb 19-21 at Columbus North to get their postseason journeys under way.
"I like how we are," LeBeau said. "We lost a lot from last season, but we are improving and the kids we have are doing a good job of working hard and being ready to swim. So, we're excited about what they're doing."
BOYS: BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 125, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 58
50 freestyle: 1. Peter Kovacs, S 21.37; 2. Connor Schmeckebier, S 23.10; 3. Jackson Thompson, S 24.13. 100 freestyle: 1. Kovacs, S 46.58; 2. Schmeckebier, S 50.15; 3. Thompson, S 53.63. 200 freestyle: 1. Wyatt Norrick, N 1:51.83; 2. Kristof Katona, S 1:55.62; 3. Noah Simon, S 1:57.52. 500 freestyle: 1. Katona, S 5:13.45; 2. Jacen Madeira, N 5:26.36; 3. Ben Simon, S 5:26.69. 100 backstroke: 1. Alex Madeira, N 58.00; 2. B.Simon, S 1:02.42; 3. Ricky Eakin, S 1:06.88. 100 breaststroke: 1. Bryan Huang, N 1:06.09; 2. Gabrielle Marchionne, S 1:07.31; 3. Ethan Teders, N 1:07.76. 100 butterfly: 1. Erik Jansen, S 56.85; 2. Norrick, N 57.23; 3. Noah Simon, S 58.46. 200 individual medley: 1. Marchionne, S 2:11.16; 2. Ethan Cheng, S 2:16.21; 3. Ivo Abad Rodriguez, S 2:21.07. Diving: 1. Robert Cole, S 196.25; 2. Sam Libby, S 158.45; 3. Liam Pleskac, S 151.40. 200 medley relay: 1. South (B.Simon, Marchionne, Jensen, Schmeckebier), 1:46.49; 2. North (A.Madeira, Huang, Teders, J.Madeira), 1:46.54. 200 freestyle relay: 1. South (Schmeckebier, N.Simon, Thompson, Kovacs), 1:32.65; 2. North (Heath Davis, Huang, Teders, Norrick), 1:34.68. 400 freestyle relay: 1. South (Thompson, Marchionne, Katona, Kovacs), 3:29.06.
GIRLS: BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 144, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 44
50 freestyle: 1. Mia Bishop, S 26.02; 2. Sara Buehler, N 26.63; 3. Paikea Buss, S 26.91. 100 freestyle: 1. Leona Wang, S 57.90; 2. Buehler, N 58.11; 3. Campbell Warren, S 59.03. 200 freestyle: 1. Warren, S 2:08.30; 2. Sydney Garretson, N 2:09.54; 3. Sami Mandell, S 2:09.75. 500 freestyle: 1. Harper Eakin, S 5:18.43; 2. Sakura Forney, S 5:41.80; 3. Bre Watkins, N 5:51.72. 100 backstroke: 1. Leighton Huffman, S 1:08.19; 2. Mandell, S 1:09.84; 3. Lula Brown, S, 1:11.99. 100 breaststroke: 1. Emily Wang, S 1:08.54; 2. Eliza Biltz, S 1:15.07; 3. Cali Allen, N 1:16.47. 100 butterfly: 1. Bishop, S 1:01.05; 2. Emeleia McLauchlin, S 1:04.73; 3. Brooklyn Vogel, S 1:05.12. 200 individual medley: 1. Forney, S 2:23.17; 2. Biltz, S 2:28.67; 3. Sophia Renn, N 2:42.32. Diving: 1. Cece Merkel, S 201.90; 2. Nia Johnson, S 193.25; 3. Mia Schnatzmeyer, N 171.50. 200 medley relay: 1. South (Huffman, E.Wang, Buss, L.Wang), 1:59.06. 200 freestyle relay: 1. South (L.Wang, Buss, Warren, E.Wang), 1:45.81. 400 freestyle relay: 1. South (Forney, Eakin, Warren, Bishop), 3:53.18; 2. North (Buehler, Garretson, Chloe Madeira, Watkins), 4:04.50.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South boys, girls swimming sweeps North in IHSAA action
Continue reading...
This year, the Panthers, like most teams, have a group of swimmers they're looking to take the next step in becoming varsity mainstays. They may not be winning events yet, but their depth points are valuable assets as they move up the ladder.
Or when teammates are out due to illness for a big meet.
South was down Conference Indiana two-time champs Easton Xiao and Dillon VanSant as well as Cam Seidenfaden, a state qualifier last year in the backstroke and one of South's best in the 200 individual medley. The Panthers still swept the relays and won all but three events in a 125-58 win over North Saturday, Jan. 17.
More: Owen Valley girls, Edgewood boys basketball show poise under pressure
More: South girls have tough time at IHSAA state wrestling meet
The host Panthers completed the sweep for the third year in a row with the girls' 137-44 win, their 20th in a row in the series. It's part of a strong run South has been on of late this season.
"The Center Grove Invite, the conference meet and today, we've had three pretty good performances in a row," South coach Phil Cole said. "We're battling some illness right now. Girls are pretty healthy. Guys, we had five guys out today.
"We were senior heavy last year, so this is a much younger team. We had kids swim at the conference meet, and it was the first time they've swum any championship meet. So, lots of development with this team. We're still got to improve but it's coming up on taper time for the girls. But I like where we're at."
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South's girls won every event, with freshman Mia Bishop (50 freestyle, butterfly) the only double winner. Campbell Warren (200 free), Sakura Forney (200 individual medley), Leona Wang (100 free), Harper Eakin (500 free), Leighton Huffman (backstroke), Emily Wang (breaststroke) and Cece Merkel (diving) had strong showings as well.
North's boys got wins from Alex Madeira (back) and Bryan Huang (breast) and Wyatt Norrick (200 free). South's winners were Peter Kovacs (50 and 100 frees), Erik Jansen (fly), Gabrielle Marchionne (200 IM) and Kristof Katona (500 free), who was back after missing the conference meet.
Most swimmers stuck with their usual events, but it's not unusual at all to see some skip another or compete in off events for the Classic for various reasons, including setting the sectional lineups. Gaining experience of any kind is a big deal for the younger swimmers.
"I had one of our swimmers, (senior) Rehan Roe, he was like, 'I've never swum at conference before,'" North boys coach Jeff LeBeau said. "And he swam in two events and scored in both. So, you've gotta have kids who are stepping up and doing some things.
"We had kids doing different things than normal (today) and it showed a little bit. We wanted them to do it in a meet so we can get them ready for this championship season and figure out exactly what their events are going to be and who is going to be on what relay."
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Conference sweep for Panthers
The 144 by South's girls is the highest point total scored by a winner of the Counsilman Classic, a fitting follow to a record-setting final chapter at the Conference Indiana Meet.
The Panthers won 10 of the very last 11 CI titles, breaking the old scoring record of 545 last week with a 565½, putting two swimmers in the top five of every individual race. Terre Haute South was way back in second (332½) with Bloomington North fourth 289.
The boys competition was practically a South-North dual meet, with the Panthers (537) and Cougars (442) distancing themselves from the field.
More: WGCL radio has a new name and format. Here's what the change means
More: South's Everly Clark stands tall to lead H-T All-Area Volleyball Team
"I was real pleased last Saturday, both girls and guys," Cole said. "We raced better. Sometimes, your times can be better but you don't necessarily race better, and we had a lot of good races last week and won some close races. You always look for that.
"It was clearly our best performance of the season."
North will be moving to the Mid-State Conference next year. That league holds its meet on the same weekend as the CI, but uses a two-day Thursday-Saturday format similar to sectionals.
You must be registered for see images
Most improved swimmers
Graduation took a heavy toll on all four teams, so who has made the biggest strides heading into the end of this season?
"Wyatt Norrick. He's improved by leaps and bounds," LeBeau said. "He swam club over the summer, and he did a really good job with that. Our seniors, Rehan Roe stepped into a role and the Madeiras (Jacen, Alex, Ty) have all stepped up. Ethan Teters is one who needs to step up. He's a junior now.
"Bryan Huang, he won conference last year (in breaststroke) and didn't do it this year, so I think that helped today. He swam well today."
North's girls have only three seniors and the junior class is small as well, so underclassmen make up the bulk of the squad and its potential sectional lineup. Sophomores Cali Allen, Bre Watkins and Chloe Madeira are among those impressing coach Taylor McGregor with their improvement this season.
"We have a nice strong senior class, so they're kind of leading that momentum," McGregor said. "Sydney Garrettson had a really great conference. She dropped time in the 200 free (2:09.22), so it's always nice to have those early swims at a meet like that because everybody feeds off that.
"And then Cali Allen has had a really great season building into some really great 100 breaststrokes lately (1:16.27 at conference), so having that at the end of a meet really bookends it."
The conference results really spoke volumes about South's most improved.
"On boys side, Dillon VanSant," Cole said. "I think he's way ahead of where he was at the same point last year. Easton Xaio, Cameron, those three in particular all had pretty good summers. And Connor Schmeckebier is also starting to put together a nice run.
"Girls, Emily Wang. She went a personal best in 200 IM at conference and won. She's always worked hard, but she's taken that to another level this year. Mia Bishop, a freshman, has been really good. And Sakura Forney is way ahead of where she was."
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On to championship season
The focus now will quickly turn to the postseason, especially for the girls who in just over two weeks will swim the preliminaries of the East Central Sectional on Feb. 5 with the finals two days later.
"I was really excited about conference," McGregor said. "It was the last one so it kind of felt sentimental, right? But we've got a young team with a big class of freshmen coming in and a lot of sophomores. I feel like we've been building. We haven't had a lot of meets.
"So January's been our time to be like, we have to practice racing. What is it like to race? So I was really happy with conference, the races themselves and starting to get some practice in, 'How do I really push myself into that next level?' So I'm excited about that momentum coming off of that."
The boys will wait until Feb 19-21 at Columbus North to get their postseason journeys under way.
"I like how we are," LeBeau said. "We lost a lot from last season, but we are improving and the kids we have are doing a good job of working hard and being ready to swim. So, we're excited about what they're doing."
BOYS: BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 125, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 58
50 freestyle: 1. Peter Kovacs, S 21.37; 2. Connor Schmeckebier, S 23.10; 3. Jackson Thompson, S 24.13. 100 freestyle: 1. Kovacs, S 46.58; 2. Schmeckebier, S 50.15; 3. Thompson, S 53.63. 200 freestyle: 1. Wyatt Norrick, N 1:51.83; 2. Kristof Katona, S 1:55.62; 3. Noah Simon, S 1:57.52. 500 freestyle: 1. Katona, S 5:13.45; 2. Jacen Madeira, N 5:26.36; 3. Ben Simon, S 5:26.69. 100 backstroke: 1. Alex Madeira, N 58.00; 2. B.Simon, S 1:02.42; 3. Ricky Eakin, S 1:06.88. 100 breaststroke: 1. Bryan Huang, N 1:06.09; 2. Gabrielle Marchionne, S 1:07.31; 3. Ethan Teders, N 1:07.76. 100 butterfly: 1. Erik Jansen, S 56.85; 2. Norrick, N 57.23; 3. Noah Simon, S 58.46. 200 individual medley: 1. Marchionne, S 2:11.16; 2. Ethan Cheng, S 2:16.21; 3. Ivo Abad Rodriguez, S 2:21.07. Diving: 1. Robert Cole, S 196.25; 2. Sam Libby, S 158.45; 3. Liam Pleskac, S 151.40. 200 medley relay: 1. South (B.Simon, Marchionne, Jensen, Schmeckebier), 1:46.49; 2. North (A.Madeira, Huang, Teders, J.Madeira), 1:46.54. 200 freestyle relay: 1. South (Schmeckebier, N.Simon, Thompson, Kovacs), 1:32.65; 2. North (Heath Davis, Huang, Teders, Norrick), 1:34.68. 400 freestyle relay: 1. South (Thompson, Marchionne, Katona, Kovacs), 3:29.06.
GIRLS: BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 144, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 44
50 freestyle: 1. Mia Bishop, S 26.02; 2. Sara Buehler, N 26.63; 3. Paikea Buss, S 26.91. 100 freestyle: 1. Leona Wang, S 57.90; 2. Buehler, N 58.11; 3. Campbell Warren, S 59.03. 200 freestyle: 1. Warren, S 2:08.30; 2. Sydney Garretson, N 2:09.54; 3. Sami Mandell, S 2:09.75. 500 freestyle: 1. Harper Eakin, S 5:18.43; 2. Sakura Forney, S 5:41.80; 3. Bre Watkins, N 5:51.72. 100 backstroke: 1. Leighton Huffman, S 1:08.19; 2. Mandell, S 1:09.84; 3. Lula Brown, S, 1:11.99. 100 breaststroke: 1. Emily Wang, S 1:08.54; 2. Eliza Biltz, S 1:15.07; 3. Cali Allen, N 1:16.47. 100 butterfly: 1. Bishop, S 1:01.05; 2. Emeleia McLauchlin, S 1:04.73; 3. Brooklyn Vogel, S 1:05.12. 200 individual medley: 1. Forney, S 2:23.17; 2. Biltz, S 2:28.67; 3. Sophia Renn, N 2:42.32. Diving: 1. Cece Merkel, S 201.90; 2. Nia Johnson, S 193.25; 3. Mia Schnatzmeyer, N 171.50. 200 medley relay: 1. South (Huffman, E.Wang, Buss, L.Wang), 1:59.06. 200 freestyle relay: 1. South (L.Wang, Buss, Warren, E.Wang), 1:45.81. 400 freestyle relay: 1. South (Forney, Eakin, Warren, Bishop), 3:53.18; 2. North (Buehler, Garretson, Chloe Madeira, Watkins), 4:04.50.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South boys, girls swimming sweeps North in IHSAA action
Continue reading...
