Warsaw’s Grant Knight finished sixth in the breaststroke at the IHSAA Boys Swimming State Finals. (File photo by Mike Deak)

INDIANAPOLIS – Warsaw junior Grant Knight continues to move up the board. His sixth-place finish in the breaststroke at the IHSAA Boys Swimming State Finals is his highest to date, and with one more year, Knight has another shot at that coveted state title.

Knight came into Saturday’s finals at the IUPUI Natatorium sitting fifth after posting a 56.84 in the preliminaries of the breaststroke. In a field that also had Northern Lakes Conference rival Matt Bond of Concord working, Knight hung a 57.00 to finish sixth in the state. Bond posted a 56.42 to end up fourth, all chasing Munster’s Kyle Adams and his champion 54.27.

Knight was tenth as a sophomore (57.29) and 19th as a freshman (58.71) in the breaststroke at previous state finals.

Northridge had a host of swimmers active in Saturday’s finals. The Raider medley relay was 15th (1:37.36) to start the day, to which Nick Dibley then tied Avon’s Charlie King for ninth in the consolation final of the 200 free relay at 1:41.74. Dibley later took sixth in the 500 free at 4:33.86, his brother Luke taking 15th at 4:41.04.

Michael Van Coppenolle had two swims, taking 14th in the IM (1:53.01) and 11th in the breaststroke (57.66). Joey Garberick won the breaststroke consolations at 57.16 to get ninth.

Concord’s Kallaghan Findley ended his Minuteman career with a sixth-place time of 1:50.82 in the IM, then was 13th in the backstroke at 51.13. Bond’s other swim was a 16th place in the 100 freestyle at 47.78. The Minuteman 200 free relay took eighth at 1:26.06. Concord diver Aaron Leas made the second round of the diving grid, placing 19th overall.

NorthWood diver Caden Jenkins concluded his junior season with a 26th place series, scoring 162.20.

Elkhart Central’s two divers, Noah Sears and Henry Gatzemeyer, place 28th and 32nd.

Three state records were recorded Saturday, and all by team champion Carmel. Jacob Mitchell and Wyatt Davis were part of them, Mitchell lowering the 500 standard to 4:16.72, dropping an insane seven seconds off his preliminary work. Davis lowered the record in the backstroke by four-tenths to 46.66, then the two teamed with Augustus Rothrock and Griffin Hadley to post a mind-boggling 2:58.75, a half-second better than Chesterton’s 2014 mark.

Carmel won its fifth straight team title with 353.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Franklin Community (178), Fort Wayne Carroll (173), Chesterton (165.5) and Munster (160). Concord finished 11th in the team standings with 59 points and Northridge was 16th with 45 points.

State Champions
200 Medley Relay: Carmel (Wyatt Davis 11, Ryan Malicki 9, Griffin Hadley 10, Alex DeLong 12) 1:29.21
200 Freestyle: Jacob Mitchell (11), Carmel, 1:34.24
200 Individual Medley: Wyatt Davis (11), Carmel, 1:45.63
50 Freestyle: Jacob Destrampe (12), Franklin Community, 20.54
One Meter Diving: Caiden Lake (12), Oak Hill, 525.85
100 Butterfly: Tristan DeWitt (11), Carroll (Fort Wayne), 47.53
100 Freestyle: Jacob Destrampe (12), Franklin Community, 44.78
500 Freestyle: Jacob Mitchell (11), Carmel, 4:16.72 State Record
200 Freestyle Relay: Carmel (William Kok 9, Alec DeLong 12, Augustus Rothrock 10, Jacob Mitchell 11) 1:22.71
100 Backstroke: Wyatt Davis (11), Carmel, 46.66 State Record
100 Breaststroke: Kyle Adams (11), Munster, 54.08
400 Freestyle Relay: Carmel (Jacob Mitchell 11, Augustus Rothrock 10, Griffin Hadley 10, Wyatt Davis 11) 2:58.75 State Record