Five swimmers from county headed to state
By JOSH BURRIS
PORTLAND – The Norwell Knights brought home the hardware on Saturday, winning their first sectional championship in boys’ swimming since 2004 in record-setting fashion.
The Knights scored 451 points and took first place in four of the 12 events. All first-place winners advance to the IHSAA state finals at IUPUI, along with those that met the state standard time in their event.
The Knights kicked the day off with a win in the 200 medley relay. Brody Page, Kellen Zimmer, Mikey Reidenbach, and Jakob Peterson finished the event with a time of 1:37.71, setting a sectional and Norwell record. It’s the second year in a row the Knights have won the event.
Page won two other events on his own and set two more Norwell records. He won the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.48 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.61. It’s the second time Page has made it to state in each event.
Zimmer also won the 100 breaststroke with a Norwell record time of 1:00.61.
The Knights put together an undefeated season in the pool this season, winning all of their dual meets as well as their home invite and the NE8 Conference meet.
Their sectional championship also followed up a championship performance by Norwell’s girls’ team just two weeks prior.
Norwell coach Tanner Lesh, who was named coach of the year, said the pressure was on the boys to perform in this meet, but that they handled it well.
“There was a lot of pressure. They had such a successful season,” Lesh said. “We knew Delta was going to be tough from last year. We’ve been second for multiple years now. So to me it was kind of like alright it is time. They fought every second, and I’m so proud of them. They came through.”
Norwell had several others place in the top eight in their events throughout the meet.
Peterson finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.53 and fourth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.94.
Kale Meredith finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.1 and sixth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:14.86.
Zimmer finished third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:06.87.
Reidenbach finished fourth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.38 and fourth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.85.
Bodie Zimmer finished third in diving with a score of 293.6. Sam Peterson finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.1.
Carson Hiester finished fifth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:27.97 and sixth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:01.15.
Marin Melcher finished fifth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:13 and sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:30.8.
Emerson Graft finished sixth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.38 and eighth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.57.
Reece Lobsiger finished seventh in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.65 and seventh in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.11. Karsen Favory finished eighth in diving with a score of 259.75.
Page, Graft, Reidenbach, and Jakob Peterson finished second in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:22.74.
Kellen Zimmer, Meredith, Landon Anderson, and Sam Peterson finished third in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:37.26.
Delta placed second in the team standings with 426 points, followed by Bluffton with 288, and Adams Central and Muncie Central each with 162. Bluffton’s finish was about where coach Justin Uptgraft was hoping.
“I was thinking we would probably be around there – around a third-place finish. Can’t complain with being on the podium,” he said.
Bluffton was led by Caleb Geimer, who placed first in the 200 individual medley with a sectional and pool record time of 1:57.97.
It’s the third year in a row the Bluffton senior has won the event.
Geimer also advanced to state in the 100 butterfly. He finished second just behind Page with a time of 50.71, but met the state standard time to move on. Uptgraft said Geimer was looking great from his start of the day in the 200 medley relay.
“When he got in the water during the medley relay, I thought he looked good. I thought he looked fresh,” Uptgraft said. “Then when he came out for the IM, it clicked. Everything aligned. That’s his best time, he’s never gone that time before.
“Then in fly, that was just a fun race,” Uptgraft continued. “Those two guys (Geimer and Page) are like best friends. They’ve been swimming with each other ever since they were younger. To have both of them go down and get that state cut, that was fun.”
Bluffton had seven other top-eight finishes.
Geimer, along with Dalton Rodgers, Colin Magdich, and Dylan King finished second in the medley relay with a time of 1:42.38.
Magdich, Bryson Mayer, King, and Geimer finished second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:30.97.
Rodgers, Gavin Yergler, Trey Craighead, and Mayer finished third in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.34.
Mayer finished fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:00.5 and eighth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:41.55. Rodgers finished sixth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.03. Austin Davis finished seventh in diving with a score of 262.3.
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