The Long Wait Is Finally Coming To End
WARSAW – It’s been three weeks of training and grinding for boys swimmers from around the area. Specifically for individuals in the Warsaw and Northridge sectionals, the girls sectional and state tournaments have been at the forefront of the programs, and this week ushers in the boy’s turns to take over the spotlight. Warsaw will host its own sectional, while Wawasee will take its cuts at the always-tough Northridge sectional.
Prelims for both sectionals begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Diving qualifying will take place Saturday morning, with swim and diving finals starting up at 1 p.m. at both locations.
At Warsaw
Warsaw comes in as a favorite in eight of the 11 swim events, and will likely push the top seed in two others.
The Tigers are the top seed in all three relays, the medley at 1:40.94, the 200 at 1:32.83 and the 400 at 3:25.23. Ethan Cook sits at the top seed in the 50 free at 22.19 with teammate Matt Wildman second, and Cook is tops in the 100 at 48.59, with fellow Tiger Adam Doyle second. Wildman is the top seed in the breaststroke at 1:03.54.
Warsaw owns the top two seeds in the backstroke with Zach Taylor leading the group at 57.57 and Zogbi the two-seed. Evan Borchers (55.80) of Warsaw and Forrest Baumgartner of Culver Academy (55.87) could have quite the showdown in the butterfly. Taylor and Zogbi are both within half a second of Columbia City’s Aaron Fix in the individual medley, Fix coming in at 2:05.07.
Rochester’s Eli Pugh is the top seed in the 500 at 4:56.90, and should get a chase from Warsaw’s Hudson Snyder, but is the clear top seed in the 200 at 1:48.22, a full three seconds faster than Snyder’s two seed.
Diving is just an eight-man field per the heat sheets. Warsaw’s duo of Nick Bell and Tyler Paseka should contend for two of the four regional qualifying spots. Tippecanoe Valley’s Travis Shull is among the eight divers that will work Saturday morning at qualifying.
“I think they started getting excited last week,” said Warsaw head coach Tony DeBrota of his squad. “We were working hard last week and I’m sure now that the heat sheet is printed and they can see the layout, finding motivation shouldn’t be an issue.”
Valley’s Tyler Ross and Chase Brower could make a run in the 50 and 100 freestyles, both within striking distance of potential finals times.
At Northridge
It’s not a carbon copy of the Northern Lakes Conference preview written in late January, but the meet is Northridge’s to take.
The Raiders are the prohibitive favorites after smashing the field at Jan. 30’s NLC championships, and will be the team to beat again. Northridge will be the team to chase in all three relays and has a slew of contenders in each event. Spencer Lehman (200 and 500 freestyles) and Camden Koch (individual medley and backstroke) serve as top individuals to watch.
Wawasee’s Brady Robinson will look to punch his first ticket to the state finals after a solid NLC, where he won the IM in school-record time of 1:56.12. Robinson was also a close second to Koch in the backstroke.
Logan Brugh is the lone Warrior on the roster with state experience, having swam the 200 and 500 frees in Indianapolis. Lehman stands in the way in both events as the favorite, but Brugh’s ticket to Indy could come in the state cut, which is 1:43.51 in the 200 and 4:41.49 in the 500, both well within the senior’s reach.
“Our sectional focus is chasing times,” said Wawasee head coach Julie Robinson. “If we get caught up in trying to chase other swimmers that we can’t keep up with, that’s where we’ll get into trouble. We have set goals for times, and we’re going to try to get them.”
Watch for the Concord duo of Stephen Krecksmar and Nathan Rose as well as Minuteman diver Dae’Quan Quinn and Goshen diver Hudson Kay, all of which had huge NLC showings.