In 2019 South Vermillion edged Crawfordsville 413-412 for the IHSAA Boys’ Swimming Sectional title.
The Athenians have used this season to build toward redemption against the Wildcats.
“Our guys are pretty fired up and ready for Thursday,” Crawfordsville coach Kevin Hedrick said. “We had a great conference meet which we will use to build confidence for this week. We also have seen great improvement from our divers and look forward to them diving well and scoring a lot of points.”
Last season freshman Thristan Callejas was the only sectional champion for the Athenians, but they are expected to compete for titles in nearly every race this weekend.
Now a sophomore, Callejas entered Thursday’s prelims as the No. 1 seed in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.55, and the 100 butterfly in 54.57 seconds. Marshall Horton and Joseph Sanchez are also seeded in the top-8 in the 200 freestyle, while Nicolas Rincon owns the eighth best time in the 100 butterfly.
Hunter Conrad and Evan Chaney are both in the top-3 in the 200 individual medley, while Jack Pendleton owns the top time in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.63, while Ben Brown is fifth. Pendleton is seeded first in the 100 freestyle and Brown third, while Cole Hudson is eighth.
Joseph Sanchez, Aidan Mason, and Airton Schu are all in the top-8 of the 500 freestyle, while Chaney and Mason are in the top-8 of the 100 backstroke. Conrad and Horton are seeded 2-3 in the 100 breaststroke, while Cameron Nordenbrock is seeded fifth.
Relays though are key, and the Athenians are seeded near the top in all three.
“Relays are always very exciting and we start and end the meet with them so we always try very hard to put our best efforts towards them,” Hedrick said. “We are blessed to have a couple individuals who have a chance to win and or qualify for regionals for the divers, as well and this will only add to the excitement for our guys.”
Southmont’s John Zimmerman leads the Mounties with the top time in both the 100 backstroke (57.87 seconds) and the 500 freestyle (5:30.39).
“We would love to get some guys to qualify for state, but it will be very competitive,” Mounties coach Jane Coudret said.
Gavin Waddell is seeded No. 7 in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:04.06 and fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:33.46.
Sophomore Trent Jones owns the sixth best time in the 50 freestyle and the third best in the 100 butterfly.
“They have continued to improve throughout the season,” Coudret said of her team. “They are very focused and ready to go out and do their best.”
With a young team, North Montgomery coach Erin Yeager has seen the Chargers improve throughout the season.
“I have seen great improvement in stroke technique, starts, turns and overall times drops, we were a young team and learned a lot together this year,” she said.
Jameson Burget is seeded fourth in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 200 individual medley for the Chargers. Kade Ervin also owns a pair of top-16 times in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.
Fountain Central’s Aidan Shumaker is seeded No. 3 in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.23, while Riley Nelson is seeded ninth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle. Chase Witsman is seeded seventh in the 100 freestyle, while Noah Fruits owns top-10 times in the 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
