Last season Crawfordsville dominated its way to a pair of boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving Montgomery County Championships.
On paper, the Athenian boys look to repeat, while Southmont seems to be the favorite on the girls side, but titles aren’t won based on the psych sheet.
“Our guys are very eager for Saturday, we are very lucky to have a very deep team and this will give the guys a lot of confidence this Saturday,” Crawfordsville coach Kevin Hedrick said. “We are very engaged in long term development so that we are at our best at the end of the season.”
The Athenians own six of the eight top times in the boys individual races. Led by Thristan Callejas — who is seeded first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.65, and 100 butterfly with a seed time of 54.97 seconds. Jack Pendleton is seeded first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.63 seconds, and the 100 freestyle in 50.88 seconds. Hunter Conrad is seeded first in the 100 breaststroke, and Evan Chaney in the 200 individual medley.
Southmont coach Jane Coudret knows her boys’ team lacks depth, but can see a lot of individual success on the horizon.
“It is going to be difficult to compete for a team title with only 10 guys,” she said. “We lose points in almost every event because we can’t fill our line-up. Individually the guys have an opportunity for some great racing. These guys just need to step up and compete.”
Gavin Waddell is seed first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:41.6, while John Zimmerman owns the top time in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.33 seconds.
Depth always plays the biggest part in the outcome of the county championships, and North Montgomery coach Erin Yeager believes her No. 2 and No. 3 swimmers on the girls side can help them compete for a title.
“I think I feel strongest for my girls in the number 2 and 3 swimmers,” she said. “I think this county meet is going to be determined by those girls. I don’t think there is any one event where we dominate, but I hope to see my number 2 and 3 girls move up the line and help us out.”
The Chargers own just one top seed in Sidney Campbell with a seed time of 1:06.73 in the 100 butterfly. On the boys’ side Stevie Gunderman brings in the best diving score with a mark of 195.95.
Southmont still appears as the favorites on the girls side though with six top seed times in indivdual races.
Megan Scheidler is seeded first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:06.10, while Jane Scheidler owns the top time in the 50 freestyle in 24.82 seconds, and the 100 freestyle in 54.94 seconds. Emma Tyler is seeded first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:18.02, and the 500 freestyle in 5:34.82. Aubrey Jones bring in the best time in the 100 backstroke with an effort of 1:08.54.
However, with sickness and a snow day, the Mounties haven’t had a normal week.
“Honestly it has been a bit of a crazy week,” Coudret said. “We didn’t have school on Monday and we have some people out sick this week. Our entire team needs to be ready to go. They are used to racing with some tired legs because we do our dry land training on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (meet days). I’m looking forward to seeing how they do with a Saturday meet.”
Jordan Stanley owns the top mark in the girls’ diving portion with an score of 239.55.
Abby Bannon owns the top time in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.5, and coach Hedrick knows the importance of detail as the Athenians carry the role of both the underdog and hopeful spoiler.
“Both our guys and girls have made good progress so far this season,” he said. “We are doing a very good job of paying attention to technique in practice and we hope this will translate into some great swims this Saturday. “Our goal is to beat everyone off the walls and get our hands on the wall on our finishes.”
Swimming starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Crawfordsville.
