GEORGETOWN
Seymour senior Trevor Layne said he wanted to get off to an early lead and continue a steady pace in the 100-yard breaststroke championship final at the Floyd Central boys swim sectional Saturday afternoon.
He swam exactly the way he wanted to easily repeat as the sectional champion in the event and earn a spot in preliminary heats of the state meet at the Indiana University Natatorium at IUPUI this Friday.
Even though everything went according to plan, Layne was still anxious during the race.
“I was worried about my start at first,” he admitted. “My hands didn’t quite come together, but it ended up being good. At the first turn, I saw that I was a good amount ahead, so I wasn’t too worried about it.”
Layne swam a career-best 58.02 seconds, outpacing Kevin Smith of Floyd Central, who was second at 1:00.99.
“The other kids gave me a lot of competition this year, especially from Madison and Floyd,” Layne said. “I wasn’t trying to get too comfortable. I had a good swim, and they had good swims, as well.”
This is the third time Layne has broken a minute, as he did it at sectional and state last year with his previous best being 58.56.
Owls coach Dave Boggs said he was proud of Layne and the whole team.
“He had a great meet,” Boggs said of Layne. “He swam really well. He did not shave for today; he gambled. He felt good these last couple days and he went ahead and swam through the meet today and now he has something to look forward to next week by shaving.”
Layne won the Hoosier Hills Conference meet at Bedford earlier this season, but this win is much sweeter.
“It’s definitely a better feeling (winning sectional),” Layne said. “For conference, you get the plaque and everything. For sectional, you get to go to state, you get to make the big time. That’s why I really wanted to win today. There is always something you can do better no matter who you are.”
Layne had a strong meet overall, placing fifth in the 50 free with a time of 23.19, and he teamed up with Harrison Cottrill, Blake Stark and Aaron Drake to place fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1:46.28. He was also joined by Drake, Bryce Miller and Clayton Greenawalt to finish fourth in the 200 freestyle relay ion 1:34.79.
Floyd Central won the meet with 549 points, Madison scored 316.5 and the Owls were third with 272.
Miller placed sixth in the 200 free in 1:52.27, Kaleb Brown was fifth in diving with 239.85 points, Greenawalt was fourth in the 500 free at 5:28.37 and Jackson Land was sixth at 5:25.45, Greenawalt was eighth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.93 and Miller, Land, Aiden Jent and Cottrill were third in the 400 free relay in 3:34.25.
Ethan Dippold was ninth in the 500 free, Jent was 12th and Dippold was 13th in the 200 free, Stark was 12th, Paul Montgomery was 14th and Grant Smith was 15th in the 200 IM, Cottrill was 10th and Drake was 16th in the 50, Stark was ninth, Land was 10th and Smith was 12th in the butterfly, Jent was 10th in the 100 free, Isaac Shafer was 10th in the 100 breaststroke and Cottrill was 10th and Montgomery was 15th in the 100 backstroke.
“All performances were lifetime bests, and 21 of the 23 were faster today than Thursday, so we had probably the best boys and girls at sectionals ever,” Boggs said. “All six relays, boys and girls, had lifetime bests. I couldn’t be any happier the way we performed in sectionals.”