By Ali Draves, For The Herald Bulletin
The season is already under way for local girls high school swim teams, and each squad is looking to improve on last year’s performances.
State qualifiers junior Autumn Brown of Pendleton Heights and senior diver Kate Hillman of Shenandoah were last season’s top performers in the area and should lead local competitors again.
Coaches are expecting a lot out of their teams, including Anderson head coach Jeff Eddy, who is stressing the importance of improvement this season.
“We only won one meet last year,” Eddy said. “We’d like to win more this year if we can.”
Eddy’s optimism relies on his core of returnees, who will provide the much-needed depth that was missing in years past.
Senior Hannah Harrison has been coined the team’s new utility swimmer, and Eddy has high hopes for her.
“I’m not positive where she is going to end up,” he said. “But she is a very, very hard worker, and she is versatile. She’ll provide leadership in those spots that need to be filled.”
Other noteworthy returnees include juniors Kali Harrison and Sarah Bohenkamp, who already have put in their work on the soccer field before hitting the water. Harrison is looking for a big comeback after suffering a debilitating shoulder injury last season and hopes to dominate the sprint freestyle. Bohenkamp will be Eddy’s lead breaststroker, and he hopes she’ll top all of her performances in the past.
Pendleton Heights
Although his roster is a little slimmer than usual, Pendleton Heights head coach Jeff Maydak isn’t too worried. He has some top-notch athletes in his midst.
Brown, a repeat state qualifier and a four-time school record holder, will be looked to as a leader. Her primary events include sprint freestyle, butterfly and backstroke. Her latest performance at state was a little disappointing, but Maydak thinks that experience will drive her forward for even better results.
Senior Amberleigh Clauson, who holds three Hoosier Heritage Conference titles in both the freestyle and individual medley, also will be a first-place finisher, according to Maydak.
Jillyan Jackson, one of the few underclassmen on the team, is a multi-dimensional swimmer and will be filling in holes throughout the roster.
Senior Lacey Jackson, a previous conference champion in the 500-meter freestyle, is going to be the key distance swimmer for the Arabians.
Maydak will rely on this quartet and says he’ll worry about depth later.
Elwood
Depth doesn’t worry Elwood head coach Tammy Douglas.
Although she has only 13 swimmers, Douglas believes they will score well.
“Just because we are smaller doesn’t mean we won’t be able to compete and do well,” she said.
Douglas has a particularly fast relay team she hopes will produce some big numbers for her. She also named junior Sophie Sechler her team captain and knows Sechler will use her many years of experience to guide the underclassmen.
Douglas says sophomore Ellie Settig should dominate in the backstroke and individual medley and has shown consistent improvement.
Alexandria
Returners will be the key for Alexandria this season, according to head coach Jamie Haase.
“We have a lot more returners who have swam for us in previous years, and they are stronger,” he said. “We have more numbers, too. So that doesn’t hurt either.”
Ashleigh Wilson is the lone senior and will provide solid leadership and experience, he said.
Junior Sarah Walker is a jack-of-all-trades. Walker holds the school record for diving, and Haase believes she will most likely break the school’s breaststroke record before the end of the year.
Haase says freshman Shelby Anderson also looks extremely promising and will potentially compete in the freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke.
Highland and Shenandoah’s coaches were unavailable for comment.
