GEORGETOWN
The best swimmers elevate their level of competition when it matters most.
On Saturday, at the Floyd Central Sectional, the Seymour girls swimming and diving team sent 24 swimmers into the postseason. Of those 24, 23 finished with season bests and 21 raced lifetime bests.
With a point total of 326, the Owls placed third as a team behind Jeffersonville (473) and Floyd Central (450).
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“We swam awesome this whole meet,” Owls coach Dave Boggs said. “They stepped up and came prepared. It was just a fantastic job, and I’m very proud of them.”
The 200 freestyle relay team of Allison Hayes, Sarah Montgomery, Katie Turner and Kenzie Persinger finished in second place at 1:41.66, a school record and will compete at the state meet Friday at IUPUI.
This will be the first state trip for all of the relay members.
“You need four swimmers to get to state (in relays),” Boggs said. “You can’t have a couple decent swimmers. You have to have four solid legs. They gave me that on Saturday — all four of them. They all had great splits.”
In the 400 freestyle relay, the squad of Hayes, Nastya Yakovlyeva, Turner and Persinger also set a school record, clocking 3:45.50 for third place.
The 100 backstroke saw a second place ribbon go to Turner, who narrowly beat the school record by hundredths of a second, with a time of 1:00.98. Montgomery finished close behind, in third place, at 1:02.19. Lillie Hartman got 13th in the event in 1:10.44.
For the 50 freestyle, Hayes garnered a fourth-place finish for the Owls, timing 25.37; and Turner finished sixth at 25.83.
The 100 freestyle saw the Owls’ Persinger place third in 54.47 and Hayes gain sixth at 56.24.
Persinger got another third place, this one in the 100 breaststroke, clocking 1:09.57. Mary Kate Pritchett garnered fifth at 1:13.03, and Alexis Anders had a 15th place finish (1:13.70).
In the consolation round of the 200 freestyle, Libby Rohr placed ninth (first in the heat) at 2:10.43. Ellen Stuckwisch had a 12th place time of 2:16.67, and Alexa McKinney got 16th in 2:26.00.
Montgomery swam to a fourth place finish in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 1:02.11. The Owls’ Pritchett also got 10th (1:07.33), and Anders placed 15th (1:12.52).
For the 500 freestyle, Yakovlyeva notched sixth timing 5:35.75. Rohr again finished first in the consolation clocking 5:50.44, and Molly Hayes garnered 13th in 6:09.43.
In the 200 Individual Medley, Yakovlyeva got seventh (2:21.54), Molly Hayes clocked in at 13th (2:34.64) and Hartman timed 14th (2:36.78).
“We worked all year long,” Boggs said. “We don’t really rest for anything all geared for this weekend. They do what we prescribe for workouts and rest. “
For the remainder of the girls’ season, the 200 relay team will wind down going into state.
“We just kind of look over what we did,” Boggs said. “Basically rest and fine-tuning and take offs this week and squeeze in a little more time.”