IHSAA girls swimming: Freel makes more North history at state finals
Bloomington North's Ashley Freel can really fly.
The Cougar senior went out with a bang, breaking her school record in the 100 butterfly in her last three postseason swims, finally settling for a 54.63 to take fourth place at the IHSAA Girls State Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis on Saturday.
It tied for the best finish by a North swimmer since Andrea Jastremski was fourth in the 200 individual medley and the fly back in November of 1986 when it was a fall sport.
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"She had a really nice sectional swim, but we knew she had more in the tank," North coach Taylor McGregor said. "To have that prelim swim that was just that much better than sectionals, I think it gave her more of an itch to break into the 54s. And to get that, and not just barely, she was even a little bit surprised when she touched the wall.
"To see that happiness, she was obviously stoked with what happened."
She had to give everything she had down the stretch, finishing just .02 ahead of fifth and .03 ahead of sixth, after a 25.36 start.
"It was a matter of finger tips," McGregor said. "To win that touch-out was huge.
"She always goes out for it. She went out pretty fast in the prelims and got tired in the last 15 (yards). I think she went about the same speed, but it took less energy so she had more drive to stay in there."
Freel was also 10th in the 100 backstroke in 56.26, not quite at the school record 56.12 she timed in the preliminaries.
"We knew it would be hard to break into the top eight," McGregor said. "It was faster than last year when she was sixth with a 56.99, so I think she was just happy with the drop and let's just see what's left in the tank."
South duo finishes well
South junior Anna Asplund and junior Harper Eakin both had solid days to finish up the season.
Asplund was 15th in the 100 free in 52.59, right at what she swam in the prelims, then came back to go 57.63 in the 100 back, slower than Friday but she moved up from a 16th seed to take 13th.
"Anna swam her heart out this weekend," South coach Annie Eakin said. "She always does. Last night, she tied for 14th in the 100 free, and we were wondering, how is it possible to tie (two years in a row). Thankfully, it was not for 16th again.
"I think she swam pretty well in the free. She had a really good medley split in the back (on Friday) and her 100 back was probably her best event of the meet. She worked really hard this year."
Harper Eakin, a sophomore, took 12th in the 500 free in 5:03.00, just .75 off her PR from the day before as she inches closer to Mackenzie Looze's school record 4:59.69.
"It's been her goal since freshmen year to break that record," Annie Eakin said. "She's going to have to break the 5-minute barrier to get that. Next year be the year. She was fantastic, dropping time and scoring this year. She had a really strong, tough showing this year."
It all came after all the Panthers, including the three relays, lowered their times from sectional to the prelims and finished higher than their original seeds.
"That's the thing we're most proud of, most happy about," Eakin said. "We had 8 of 8 all faster this year, and every swim moved up, except for the 100 back, but that was a really fast event.
"Really happy with how well everyone swam yesterday."
Carmel wins again
Carmel won its 38th straight team title with 433 points, while Penn celebrated taking second with 212 to edge Fishers (202). North tied for 21st with 22 points and South tied for 30th with 11 points.
The Greyhounds saw Alex Shackell repeat in the 100 fly in a state record 50.25 and take the 100 back in 51.63; Lynsey Bowen win the 200 free (1:45.72) and repeat in the 500 with a state record 4:40.74 and Molly Sweeney repeat in the 200 individual medley (1:56.38) and breaststroke (59.47).
Penn's Lily Christianson won the 50 free in a state record 21.72 over Wawasee's Julie Mishler (21.85). Both were under last year's record time of 21.93. Christianson also repeated in the 100 free in 48.45. Amelia Rinehart of Fort Wayne Snider won diving with a 513.40.
Carmel took the 200 medley relay (1:39.13) and 400 free relay (3:18.66) titles for the 16th year in a row and Penn won the 200 free relay (1:31.94) for the first time as Christianson finished in 21.65.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North's Freel makes more history at girls state swim meet
