Wawasee’s 400 relay team gets set during Friday’s prelims at IUPUI. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

INDIANAPOLIS – Preliminaries are out of the way and it’s all business from here on out for the girls competing at the 41st annual IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Championships. The stakes only get higher Saturday, and after putting it all on the line Friday, several local swimmers earned the opportunity to compete in the top-16.

After starting the weekend with representation in six events, Wawasee managed to get through in three events for the finals.

Bre Robinson punched a ticket to the finals in both of her individual events with solid swims. Robinson will return to the top-eight in both the 100 fly and 100 back after taking second in both at last year’s finals.

The Wawasee senior swam a 54.65 in the prelims, seeding herself seventh. Crown Point’s Aly Tetzloff won the event at last year’s finals, edging Robinson’s time of 53.77 with a 52.70. Tetzloff’s time broke Brittany Robinson’s (Wawasee) state record of 53.41. This year, Tetzloff is seeded third (53.49) while Carmel’s Veronica Burchill will have the top seed in the event as she set a new state record with a 52.59.

Robinson will see another familiar face in the 100 back in Carmel’s top-seeded Claire Adams. Adams set a state record in last year’s finals with a 52.97 and broke that record Friday night with a 51.99. Robinson clinched the fifth seed in the event with a time of 55.86.

The seeding is not the concern, just getting a crack at the top-eight is the real goal during the prelims.

“We weren’t too worried about the seed,” said Wawasee head coach Julie Robinson. “It’s really about getting yourself into the finals and then seeing what you can do once you’re there.”

The only other Warrior competing on Saturday will be Paige Miller. The sophomore finished 20th in the 200 individual medley (2:08.93) but punched a ticket into the consoles for the 500 free.

Miller topped her sectional time (5:03.76) with a prelims mark of 5:02.36. Miller placed 15th (5:03.09) in the event at last year’s finals and will be seeded 14th for tomorrow’s console.

The biggest focus for Wawasee will be mastering the mental challenges that finals weekend presents.

“We’re going to have to come out tomorrow and kind of erase everything from tonight,” Julie Robinson stated. “We swam a little bit tight tonight. They’ll have to go out after their races and work their walls, work the under-waters, work their breaks and be stronger in each part of their race. They’re going to have to race harder and not think as much.

“You come down here and it’s all mental. You’re ready to race but you see this atmosphere, you see these kids swimming these crazy fast times. Sometimes it gets to you. They just have to come out tomorrow and just race and not think about everything around them.”

Wawasee’s two relay teams barely missed their ticket for Saturday. The 200 medley relay team of Robinson, Shelby Adams, Mikala Mawhorter and Miller finished 17th (1:49.68), narrowly missing 16th seed and Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge (1:49.03) for the final spot.

The 400 free relay suffered a similar fate. The team made up of Kendra Miller, Kayla Hershberger, Paige Miller and Robinson also finished 17th (3:35.96). Lake Central took the 16th spot with a time of 3:35.82.

Warsaw’s Brenna Morgan managed to break through to the top-16 in one of her two events. Morgan tied her own school record at last week’s sectional in the 50 free with a 24.07. The sophomore came to Indy with the goal of cracking that 24-second mark and came painfully close.

Morgan once again broke her own record by swimming a 24.01 in the event, good enough for 10th in the consoles. In the 100 free, Morgan swam a 52.34, placing her 17th while the 16th seed swam a 52.27. Following the meet Morgan admitted to not being as mentally prepared as she wanted.

“It’s tough being down here,” Morgan stated. “I just don’t think I was in that right mindset for that 100.”

As for handling the 50 on Saturday Morgan is keeping it simple, “My goal is just go out hard and see where it takes me.”

Morgan placed 15th in last year’s finals in the 50 free (24.29).

In addition to the aforementioned records that were broken, five other new records were set during the prelims.

Adams set a new state record in the 200 free (1:45.09) while Carmel set a new standard in the 200 medley (1:40.33). Amy Bilquist (Carmel) broke the 100 free record with a time of 48.67. Emma Nordin’s (Carmel) time of 4:45.15 broke a 13-year old record in the 500 free. The final new record of the day came from Lillia King (Evansville Reitz) in the 100 breast as she swam a 59.83.

Other NLC notables competing on Saturday will be Northridge’s Katie Hughes in the 500 free. Hughes secured the fifth seed with a time of 4:57.80. Hughes will also compete in the 200 free as the 12th seed (1:52.13) and with teammates Sydney Boyer, August Hartzell and Lauren Miller in the 400 free relay. Miller will compete as the 11th seed (57.12) in the 100 back consoles.

Ashley Schrock will be the only other NLC representative competing on Saturday as she earned the 12th seed in the 100 breast (1:06.07).

Carmel is well on its way to a 29th consecutive state title. If Carmel does win Saturday’s finals, the Greyhounds will tie a national record for most consecutive state championships. The record currently belongs to Punahou High School (Hawaii) which won 29 consecutive boys swimming and diving titles from 1958-86.

The Greyhounds have the top seed in nine events (all three relays), 16 spots in individual events in the finals and seven in consoles.

Diving prelims and semis begin at 9 a.m. while all finals and consoles begin a 1 p.m. at the IUPUI Natatorium.