New school record holders and state qualifiers in the 200 medley relay: Bre Robinson Kendra Miller and Mikala Mawhorter. Shelby Adams is not pictured. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

MIDDLEBURY – In order to leave the Northridge Natatorium without any regrets, the Wawasee girls swim team knew exactly what it needed to do Saturday afternoon. After all was said and done, Wawasee swimmers punched tickets to the IHSAA State Finals in six events at the Northridge Sectional Finals. The Warriors team total of 376 points placed them third behind Concord (408) and champion Northridge (472).

“We did exactly what we wanted to today,” said Wawasee head coach Julie Robinson.

Getting what you want at this point in the season can sometimes mean making tough calls in nerve-racking situations. That was the story of the day for Wawasee as it started its day out with a bold move.

Minutes before the sectional began, Robinson switched out her entire 200 medley relay team for the opening event. For the first time all season, in practice or competition, Mikala Mawhorter Shelby Adams, Paige Miller and Bre Robinson swam the medley together. A move that had been discussed for the past two weeks had to be made quickly, and while Robinson made it official on paper, she let her swimmers make the final call.

Two weeks became five minutes and, following the meet, the decision to go all-in was summed up by Miller in five words, “Why not go for it?”

The big risk paid-out a big reward for Wawasee. The 11th-hour team that took the block for the Warriors finished second in the event and qualified for state with a new school record of 1:48.35.

Bre Robinson swam to a sectional title with her 54.56 performance in the 100 fly.

“It was really nerve racking,” stated (Bre) Robinson.”We were so excited and so scared. We were excited to see what we could do and, obviously, it turned out great. I just wanted to do whatever my team wanted. Either way I was going to do my part. The best thing is, we’re to going to state.”

Just add the medley relay to the list of state events that Robinson will be competing in this year. The senior will return to “The Nat” at IUPUI next weekend with a chance to make an impact in four different events.

Robinson made her final meet at Northridge a memorable won in addition to her work on the 200 medley. She won both the 100 fly (54.56) and the 100 back (55.42). Both times set new pool records at Northridge, securing Robinson a spot in Raider fan’s memories for at least another year. Robinson was a state runner-up in both events last season.

Concord’s Ashley Schrock (right) congratulates Wawasee’s Paige Miller after Miller edged Schrock out for the 200 IM title.

Robinson will also compete on the 400 free relay team next weekend. Miller, her older sister Kendra and Kayla Hershberger all joined Robinson to earn second place in the event (3:34.46). That finish may have been the only real disappointment for Wawasee on the day as the relay team entered ranked fourth in the state. The team cited a slow start as the primary reason for the second place finish.

The younger Miller will get her second shot at state glory next weekend in addition to her roles on the relay teams. The sophomore won the 200 IM (2:07.47) and qualified with a time of 5:03.76 (second place) in the 500 free. Miller swam in the consoles for both events at last year’s finals.

Wawasee seniors went out in style with their individual efforts as Anna Park claimed eighth place in both the 200 IM (2:26.59) and 500 free (5:36.54). (Kendra) Miller took fourth in the 50 free (25.19) and sixth in the 100 free (55.63). Hannah Winters claimed eighth in the 100 breast (1:16.44). Clevenger put her work in on the 200 free relay team which finished third (1:41.98) missing out on the state cut of 1:39.76.

Wawasee claimed a slew of fifth place finishes as well with Shelby Adams (200 free and 100 breast), Mikala Mawhorter (50 free and 100 fly) and Kayla Hershberger (100 back).

Kayla Hershberger took seventh place in the 100 free.

The focus now shifts to Indianapolis. Robinson knows her swimmers that qualified will take next weekend’s challenges seriously, but she also knows that having fun is such an important part of making it on the big stage.

“I just want to see us go down there and have fun,” Robinson said. “It’s so hard to relax and make it fun when so many people have so many expectations. The media, the people at school. The expectations from all the different angles make it hard for kids, especially high school kids.

“I really just hope the girls can go down and race for themselves and have fun with it.”

The 41st Annual IHSAA Girls Swimming State Finals will begin Friday night with preliminaries at 5:30 p.m. on the campus of IUPUI.

Rounding Out The Field

Katie Hughes shows her joy after winning the 500 free Saturday afternoon.

Northridge took back the sectional title, making it their 12th team title in the past 14 years. Getting the sectional back was something that the team had its sights set on since the preseason and head coach Joe Keller had no doubts about what his team could do in its home pool.

“Like I told them the other day, I’m only interested in fast swimming,” Keller stated. “They were ready to go today. I was more confident coming into today than I have been with probably any girls team that I’ve coached. They worked hard and hard work will always prevail.”

Northridge took first in the 200 medley relay (1:48.07) and 400 free relay (3:32.55). Katie Hughes brought home individual titles in the 200 free (1:52.93) and 500 free (5:12.83). Freshman Lauren Miller took first in the 100 free (52.68) as well for the Raiders.

Concord made quite an impact after a strong showing in the prelims. Head coach Tom Johnson was named the Sectional Coach of the Year by his peers following the meet. The honor was well earned as Johnson’s team claimed a total of four sectional titles.

Ashley Schrock took first in the 100 breast (1:06.72) for Concord while Mariah DeFreese won the 50 free (24.51). Both girls joined together in helping Concord win the 200 free relay. Lauren Boone gave Concord its other individual title of the day by winning the diving portion of the day with a score of 474.05.