FISHERS, Ind. —
In many respects, Thursday’s girls’ swim sectional at Fishers High School went better than expected for the small contingent of Anderson and Pendleton Heights swimmers in attendance.
With little hope of upending heavyweights Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Yorktown in the team standings, swimmers concentrated on individual performances and simply trying to advance to Saturday’s final round.
Each of the three relay teams for both schools advanced, along with one individual from each school.
The brightest star of the night was Pendleton’s Michala Booher, who placed fourth in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Booher set personal bests in both events.
Even before Thursday’s competition began, Arabians’ coach Jeff Maydak said Booher has been impressive this season after coming back from a broken leg last fall.
“She’s set herself up well for the finals,” Maydak said. “She has an outside shot at breaking a couple of school records and has really worked hard.”
Booher will also compete on Pendleton’s relay teams, teaming up with Jodi Hutslar, Breanna Odom and Jillyan Jackson for an 8th place finish on the 200 free and Jackson, Rebekah Monnier and Mason Mills to place 5th in the 400 free.
Tori Grinstead (200 and 500 free), Katey Stout (200 IM), Jackson (500 free) and Mason Mills (100 butterfly) all placed in the second group of eight during their respective event and will swim in the consolation bracket Saturday.
Mills just barely missed the final cut in her event, coming in just .05 seconds behind 8th-place Bailey Windell of Yorktown.
“We had a couple swimmers right on the cusp that missed out,” Maydak said. “We also had some people drop down and finish lower than expected, but that’s not necessarily our failure. Some of the other teams just looked faster than us today.”
Anderson coach Dave Renz said the event’s expanded scoring format was a boon to his team’s spirits. For the first time, IHSAA rules award points to 16 finishers instead of 12 on a eight-lane pool.
“A lot of our kids were emotionally involved because they felt they had something to compete for,” he said. “Last year that maybe was not the case, so that made it a lot more fun for us this time.”
Victoria Brown finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:14.98, matching her finish from last year’s sectional.
All three Anderson relay teams also advanced, with Brown, Esther Mishler, Anna Gustin and Katie Skeen placing fifth in the 200 medley relay with a 1:12.16 finish. Gustin, Mishler, Brown and Jessica Simmons finished 6th in the 400 relay, while the 200 free relay squad got in on the finals action by finishing 8th.
Of Anderson’s 22 entrants, 15 posted career-best swims in their events.
“They felt they had hope and so they really raced hard,” Renz said. “At least four people moved on that wouldn’t have last year and I think it will be a really positive experience for that group.”
Maydak said he was pleased overall with his team’s performance, but believed that better marks were possible for the next round — especially for the relay teams.
“Frankly, we knew it wouldn’t be that difficult to qualify in the relays,” he said, noting the nine-team field. “I think we’ll see some better times Saturday which should give us a good shot.”
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Related Photos
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Anderson senior Tori Brown swims her way to a time of 1:14.98 in the 100-yard breaststroke at the girls swimming sectional at Fishers High School on Thursday. The time was a personal best and earned Brown a spot in the sectional finals on Saturday. Chuck Bennett / Submitted photo
Discussion
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