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'This whole team is immortal.' Penn boys swimming finishes runner-up at IHSAA state finals

Austin Hough, South Bend Tribune
·4 min read

INDIANAPOLIS — Jess Preston gathered his team once the meet ended. He wanted to make sure everyone knew the plan once the state runner-up trophy was presented to them.

Penn made school history Saturday. The boys swim team finished second at the IHSAA state finals, matching the performance of the girls team two weeks ago. It’s the first time the Kingsmen have been runner-up at the state championship meet in the same year.

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“It means everything,” Preston said, who coaches both programs. “Coming into this year, we’ve only had three total state runner-up finishes between the boys and girls, so to add two in one year is definitely unprecedented. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again. I think it’s big for the state of Indiana, too. Besides Carmel, I don’t know how many teams have been able to hoist hardware two weeks from each other.”

Penn senior Alex Fleming raises the state runner-up trophy as he and his teammates celebrate following the IHSAA boys swimming state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Penn senior Alex Fleming raises the state runner-up trophy as he and his teammates celebrate following the IHSAA boys swimming state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

The second-place finish came down to the 400-yard freestyle relay. Heading into the final race, the Kingsmen led Fishers by one point and Zionsville by 10. Carmel was way ahead of the field, leaving no drama on who’d win the team title for a 10th-straight year.

Penn’s quartet had to finish ahead of both Fishers and Zionsville, and it did. Sophomore Matthew Weeks, junior Nathan Temeles, sophomore Leo Ni and senior Reid Ohlson put together a third-place time of 3:07.81, causing an eruption from the Kingsmen swimmers, coaches and fans.

Penn sophomore Matthew Weeks reacts after his team clinched second place in the team standings at the IHSAA boys swimming state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Penn sophomore Matthew Weeks reacts after his team clinched second place in the team standings at the IHSAA boys swimming state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

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“It was the last race of my career, so I just had to swim it with everything I got,” said Ohlson of the final 100 yards. “I swam it like a 50 and let the second 50 happen. We had nothing to lose. … It’s just kind of crazy to think about right now.”

Each senior had an important moment for Penn Saturday. Chris Oberlie was asked to kickoff the 200-yard freestyle relay after not participating in the event during prelims Friday. He set the pace for a fourth-place finish in the event. Oberlie also scored points with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.

“(Preston) thought it’d be more important to place higher in the relay than me getting fifth again in the 100-yard backstroke,” said Oberlie, referencing where he finished in prelims. “We’d only lose three points instead of being able to gain 10 … My first club coach said to me that swimming might be an individual sport, but it’s also a team one as well.”

Elliott Dye tied for the best individual finish on the team, taking fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.

“Everything was perfect,” Dye said. “I’m just so glad to be here. For me, it’s only like my third year of swimming, so to be able to pull this off is just crazy for me. I’m just grateful for the team and the coaches. It’s just amazing.”

Although Alex Fleming only took 16th place in the 100-yard breaststroke, his one point earned helped the Kingsmen build the lead going into the final race.

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Penn fans celebrate after the boys swimming team finished second at the IHSAA state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Penn fans celebrate after the boys swimming team finished second at the IHSAA state championship meet Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

The trophy almost had to be surgically removed from his hands afterwards, holding onto it for at least five minutes.

“I can’t believe it,” Fleming said. “We all knew we had a chance (at second place) coming into this meet, but to pull it off is insane. I have no words.”

Along with those finishes, Penn took third in the 200-yard medley relay (Oberlie, Ni, Ohlson and Cole Stevenson), ninth in the 200-yard freestyle (Temeles), sixth in the 200-yard individual medley (Stevenson), 15th in the 100-yard butterfly (Ni), 13th and 16th in the 500-yard freestyle (Carter Schultz and Weeks, respectively) and fourth in 100-yard breaststroke (Stevenson).

It’s the second time Penn has finished runner-up as a boys program, with the other coming in 2005.

“This whole team is immortal,” Preston said. “To be able to send out those seniors as state runner-up – last year, we finished eighth, and we were happy with a top-10 finish. To jump from eighth all the way to second is incredible.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn boys swimming finishes runner-up at IHSAA state finals