Delaney Wihebrink swims the breast for Warsaw during the 200 medley relay at Friday’s state prelims. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a sense of accomplishment in simply making it to “The Nat” for the IHSAA’s Girls Swimming and Diving Championship. Merely being a part of the state’s greats is an honor. But, sometimes, just being there is not enough.

That was the feeling the Warsaw girls swim team had after Friday’s prelims, the desire for more. Warsaw competed in seven events and managed to just get Brenna Morgan through to tomorrow’s finals.

The experience for Warsaw simply wasn’t what the Tigers wanted. The times were not where they should have been and now the Orange and Black are left with plenty to build on going into the offseason.

“Welcome to the big leagues,” head coach Tony DeBrota exclaimed. “This is no joke down here, I tried to warn our young girls. You can talk about being ready for this stage but you have to actually be here to understand what it’s like.

“With that being said, I was hoping for better races. I think the nerves got the best of them at times. But, that’s why you get four years.

Warsaw’s times in Friday night’s prelims were slower than its seeded times in every event except the 100 back.

Delaney Wihebrink swam that event for the Tigers. The freshman entered with a seed time of 59.95 and improved to a 59.69, placing her third in her heat. Wihebrink struggled earlier in the day with the 200 IM, swimming a 2:15.19, slower than her seeded time of 2:13.99.

Sophomore Laurel Moeller swam a 2:06.84 in her only solo event of the day, the 200 free. Moeller had a seed time of 2:05.08.

The relays suffered a similar fate with slower-than-expected times. The 200 medley relay team of Lauren Kuhl, Wihebrink, Morgan and Olivia Herman, took second in its heat (1:52.12) but was slower than its seed time of 1:51.35, leaving the girls with a bad taste in their mouths.

Brenna Morgan swims the 100 free.

The 200 free relay team, which consisted of Herman, Moeller, Kuhl and Morgan, swam a 1:42.88, fractions of a second off of its seed time of 1:42.12.

Fractions of a second are what kept Morgan from earning a berth into the finals of the 100 free.

Morgan swam a 51.45, placing fourth in her heat, but the time left her ninth overall and on the outside looking in for the finals. Kendall Smith of Carmel grabbed the last spot with a time of 51.38. Morgan will be the top swimmer in the event’s console heat.

The Warsaw junior did punch a ticket to the finals for the 50 free after swimming a 23.62. The time was not what she wanted, but for that event just getting to the top eight is the biggest challenge.

“She could’ve done better today,” said DeBrota. “Sixth in the 50 is better than nothing, that event is a crap shoot, you just need to get yourself in there.

“Her suit ripped when we got here today and that’s a swimmer’s worst nightmare. It kind of set the tone for the day and added unneeded stress. You know how that can be when you have a competitive mindset, it really challenges you.

“The 100 just wasn’t what we were looking for. It’s a good time. It’s her second best time ever, but we wanted to get into the finals there. She’s definitely not happy about the 100 but she’s really looking forward to that 50 tomorrow.”

Diving prelims start at 9 a.m. Saturday with swimming and diving finals starting at 1 p.m.