IHS sent fourteen swimmers, seven girls and seven boys, to Lewisburg Pennsylvania to compete in the state championship for high school swimming. The championship meet took place at Kinney Natatorium in Bucknell University over the span of two days. With two state champions, IHS considers this a successful competition.
The competition took place on March 15 and 16, causing the team to leave Indiana on the fourteenth and return home on the seventeenth. Two vans were provided, one for the girls and one for the boys, for the three hour road trip.
The meet was set up with a preliminary and final competition. This allows 32 swimmers to compete in the morning with the preliminary group and only 16 for the afternoon in finals. During finals, only the top eight will receive medals for their accomplishments.
State champions for Indiana include sophomores Preston Kessler in the 200 and 100 yard freestyle and Peyton Scott in the 100 yard breaststroke. Kessler is a returning state champion for both events while Scott claimed the second place last season. “It felt great to finally earn a first place at states after all the hard work and dedication my teammates and I put in throughout the season,” Scott says.
In other boys events, junior Alex Bauer placed fifth in the 200 yard individual medley and second in the 100 breast. Sophomores Joey Margita and Rey Nunez swam in the 100 yard butterfly with Margita placing 22 and Nunez in 30. Nunez also swam in the 500 yard freestyle, placing 27.
For the girls, Scott took seventh in the 200 yard individual medley. Freshman Sydney Anderson placed 20 in the 200 yard freestyle and 15 in the 100 yard freestyle. Finally, Maddy Bauer swam in the 500 yard freestyle, placing 27.
Relays for girls and boys were strong, with the girls medley relay, with swimmers Maddy Bauer, Peyton Scott, Emme Fry, and Sydney Anderson, taking second and the boys, consisting of Eli Aiken, Alex Bauer, Joey Margita, and Preston Kessler, in a solid fifth. In the 200 freestyle relay, girls Morgan Grove, Peyton Scott, Hadley Long, and Bella Donatelli placed 16 and the boys of Bauer, Nunez, Margita, and Kesslar took a strong second. For the final relay, the 400 freestyle, the girls Anderson, Grove, Fry, and Bauer came in 11 while boys Nunez, Matt Blystone, Aiken, and Margita placed 15.
Finally for diving, freshman Austin Schawl was the only member of IHS to qualify for the state competition. He placed thirteenth overall, representing our school through the diving portion. “It was a great time, I enjoyed hanging out in the hotel and watching the other divers,” Schawl comments.
Overall, states was a successful meet for all the swimmers who attended. The girls team finished 11 and the boys with an impressive third. With next season to look forward to for all of these swimmers, great things can be expected.
Sydney is a freshman and a first-year reporter for the High Arrow. She plays soccer, softball, and swimming for the high school. She is excited to start writing articles for the community at IHS.
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