All three Montgomery County girls’ swimming and diving teams will be well represented at the IHSAA State Finals after winning five of the 11 swimming events at the Crawfordsville Sectional on Saturday.
North Montgomery placed second as a team with 341 points, 61 points behind champion Western Boone. Southmont was third with 315 and Crawfordsville ninth with 136 points.
The Chargers won both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The foursome of Maggie Michael, Maddie Mershon, Kelsey Anderson and Sidney Campbell swam to a win in the 200 freestyle relay with a school record time of 1:43.21, while Michael, Annabel and Kelsey Anderson and Campbell won the 400 freestyle in 3:51.74.
“These girls swam out of their minds and I can’t say how proud I am of how they were able to come together to accomplish our purpose,” North Montgomery coach Erin Yeager said. “Sidney was able to get that monkey off of her back from not making it last year. It’s also nice knowing that she won’t be alone because that’s something that we really wanted to have happen is to get more of our girls that state experience.”
Individually, Crawfordsville’s Alyx Bannon will make a return trip to state after edging North Montgomery’s Campbell in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.54 seconds. Campbell was second at 24.61 seconds — and later returned the favor by narrowly defeating Bannon in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.56 seconds. Bannon was second in 53.7 seconds.
“Alyx was able to able to swim a lifetime best today in both events today and that’s all you can hope for,” Crawfordsville coach Kevin Hedrick said. “We’re happy to go back over to the state meet and be represented again.”
Along with Bannon’s sectional title, Trinity Deck took home the sectional crown in diving with a score of 404.05. Ella Hudson was fourth with a score of 291.9, while Southmont’s Jordan Stanley was second with a score of 367.4. The diving trio advanced to Tuesday’s regional.
“Our divers have stood out all season this year and kudos to them, they’ve earned it. Along with Alyx this year, Both Trinity and Ella have stood out all season and I’m happy that they get to extend their season one more week,” Hedrick said.
Campbell’s swim in the 100 freestyle was also a new North Montgomery school record, and the win gives the senior a trip to the state finals for the first time since her sophomore season. It was Bannon who kept Campbell from advancing in the 100 freestyle last season.
“She’s an excellent competitor,” Campbell said of Bannon. “Obviously the 50 didn’t go the way I wanted it to go but if there’s anyone I’d want to split an event with, it’d be Alyx. I knew that I hadn’t had personal best in both my 50 and 100 since my sophomore year so just getting to set those meant more to me than setting the school record. That’s just an added bonus for me. Being able to come back from last season, not having it end the way I wanted, and getting back to state, I proved it to myself knowing that I’m able to overcome some challenges.”
Kelsey Anderson placed fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:13.47 for the Chargers, while Michael was third in the 200 individual medley in 2:26.46 and Rachel Fedor eighth with a time of 2:44.65. Maddie Mershon placed seventh in the 50 freestyle in 27.37 seconds and sixth in the 100 freestyle in 1:01.87, while Sydnee Turner was fifth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:14.51. Michael was also second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.87 and Annabel Anderson fourth in 1:09.26. Annabel Anderson was also second in the 100 butterfly in a time of 1:12.49. Kelsey Anderson placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:20.46.
Southmont senior Megan Scheidler advanced to the state finals for the first time as an individual with a win in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:34.62. It’s Scheidler’s first trip to the state finals as an individual after advancing in a pair of relays as a junior last season.
“It’s exciting to make a name for myself in as an individual,” Scheidler said. “It’s going to be nice to show off what I can do. The seniors from last year really helped me and motivated me to get to where I am today and I try to take what they did and help lead this team.”
Scheidler was also second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:03.5, while Bailey Barker was fourth in 2:13.81. Adriana Smith placed sixth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:41.83 and third in the 100 butterfly in 1:12.72. Marley Jones was eighth in the 100 freestyle in 1:02.93. Faith Allen placed fifth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:09.29, and Barker was fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:20.29 and Emily Smith eighth in 1:21.43. The Mountie foursome of Emma Phillips, Jones, Barker and Scheidler placed fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.48 and third in the 400 freestyle in 4:11.15.
“We as a team today had so many best times,” coach Jane Coudret said. “I’m super pleased with how well we swam. We knew that if Megan wanted to get out, it would most likely have to be in an individual event, and it was nice to see her put in the work to be able to accomplish that.”
Fountain Central’s Tyler Bowling placed third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:05.95 and third in the 500 freestyle in 5:46.69. Haley Webb was sixth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:14.64 and Mary Rice third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.2.
