Several Braves hoping for state-finals return
Jan. 31—Terre Haute South will host the Indiana high school girls swimming Sectional 11 on Thursday and Saturday at the Vigo County Aquatic Center, hoping the home-pool advantage will help send some Braves back to the state finals.
Only the winners of each swimming event qualify for the state finals Feb. 9-10 at the IUPUI Natatorium, although the state-finals field will be completed by swimmers who reach the state cutoff standard or who have the best times among non-qualifiers.
Preliminary swims Thursday will trim the field to 16 in each event: the top eight to Saturday's finals, the next eight to the consolation finals that day. In diving, the top four sectional competitors advance to the diving regional Tuesday at Plainfield after the field is trimmed in a Saturday morning test.
The Braves have a defending sectional championship relay team, the 400 freestyle team of Demme Hancewicz, Makenzie Ingle, Lyric Irish and Layla Johnson, and first-year coach Madison Hall hopes they'll be headed back to the state again — and not be there by themselves this time.
Three of those four also compete in the 200 free relay — Hancewicz, Irish, Johnson and Mia Belfi — which also has a chance to get out. Individually, Irish is seeded first in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle and Hancewicz is seeded second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 breaststroke.
"I'm hoping to bring a good mix of them to state next week and I also see all five of them advancing in both their individual [events] to the sectional finals on Saturday," Hall concluded.
Neither Terre Haute North nor West Vigo has swimmers expected to qualify for the state finals.
Coach Mary Smith of North expects freshman Katelyn Pittman to reach the top eight after Thursday's swims and figures senior Caroline Gauer will do the same in the 50 freestyle.
"Ella Tapy and Kasssandra Merritt will also be top swimmers [for us]," said Smith. "We are aiming for several best times."
West Vigo coach Ian Loomis classified his team's performance this year as "a medium season. The girls continue to grow and do well. I'm interested to see their performances at the sectional."
Ashlyn Sharp, Cassie Roush and the relay teams should do well, he predicted.
Best chance for advancement among the Vikings is diver Reagan Belleu, who reached the diving regional last year. Heather Parsons, who coaches the Viking divers, expects Belleu, South divers Kalyn Alivio and Haley Overton (who both also reached the diving regionals last year) and a diver from North Putnam to be among the contenders for four regional spots.
—Also — At Crawfordsville, North Vermillion, South Vermillion and Parke Heritage (Cassie Miller) will compete.
