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Rochester’s Hisey advances to final in 200 free; Valley’s Craig, Culver’s Lute reach final in 500 free
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Pioneer junior Chloe Chan was the top qualifier for the final in the 100 breaststroke at the Warsaw girls swimming sectional preliminaries Thursday.
Chan swam a 1:11.65. Columbia City junior Emma Johnson was the second-fastest qualifier in 1:11.95. She was the only swimmer within two seconds of Chan in the prelims.
Chan was also a finalist at the 2021 and 2022 sectional finals in the breaststroke.
Chan also qualified for the finals in the 200 individual medley, where she was eighth in 2:34.62.
Finals are set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Warsaw. Tickets are $7.
The entire diving competition will occur Saturday with preliminaries at 9 a.m. before the finals.
Sectional champions and those meeting a difficult time standard will advance to the state finals in all events except for diving. In diving, the top four finishers will advance to the diving regional at Mishawaka at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Rochester
Rochester’s lone swimmer to reach an individual sectional final was senior Melody Hisey, who qualified sixth in the 200 freestyle in 2:11.01.
Hisey also joined Bella Riffle, Molly Vance-Gruss and Kendyll Bradley on the 200 freestyle relay team that qualified fifth in 1:55.06. That was the only Rochester relay team to qualify for a final.
Other Rochester swimmers to advance to the consolation finals in their event by qualifying between ninth and 16th in their event included Vance-Gruss in both the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke and Riffle in both the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. Hisey also moved on to the consolation round in the 100 freestyle.
Lola Brady qualified as an alternate in both the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.
The 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay both made the consolation final. The 200 medley relay also consisted of Vance-Gruss, Hisey, Riffle and Bradley while the 400 freestyle relay consisted of Araceli Ochoa, Skyla Mitchell, Ava Thomas and Bradley.
Tippecanoe Valley
As for Tippecanoe Valley, junior Kendall Craig was the lone Lady Viking to reach a final when she qualified fifth in the 500 freestyle in 6:01.36.
Craig also reached a final as part of the 200 freestyle relay team that swam a 2:02.87 and qualified eighth. Her relay mates included Olivia Wilson, Makena Smith and Cassie Rich.
Craig also advanced to the consolation finals after qualifying 10th in the 200 freestyle. Makena Smith advanced to the consolation race in both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Cassie Rich also made the consolation race in the 200 individual medley, and Wilson reached the consolation race in the 100 backstroke.
The 200 medley relay, which also consisted of Wilson, Smith, Rich and Craig, reached the consolation race, as did the 400 freestyle relay team of McKenna Lowe, Katelyn Stump, Lelin Gallego and Alejandra Jimenez.
Jimenez will also be an alternate in the 100 breaststroke.
Pioneer
Chan was the only Pioneer swimmer to qualify for the finals in an individual event, but all three Pioneer relay teams moved on to the finals, In fact, all three relays qualified seventh, two of which included Chan.
The 200 medley relay team of Cailyn Colford, Chan, Adeline Cripe and Kaia Murray qualified in 2:09.84. Aspen Moolenaar and Elizabeth Rance joined Chan and Murray on the 200 freestyle relay team that swam a 1:57.10. Rance swam the anchor leg on the 400 freestyle relay, which also included Adeline Cripe, Lane Hood and Ayla DePoy and swam a 4:47.61.
Rance also advanced to the consolation race in the 500 freestyle and made it as an alternate in the 100 freestyle. Colford, a freshman, qualified for the consolation race in the 100 backstroke. Murray, a junior, reached the consolation race in the 100 breaststroke.
Culver
Culver, coached by Lori Simpson, had an individual qualify for a sectional final when freshman Hayden Lute qualified sixth in 6:01.38 in the 500 freestyle. Lute also reached the consolation round in the 200 freestyle, qualifying ninth in 2:12.89 and missing the finals by just 0.23 seconds.
Culver fielded two relays, both of which will race in the consolation finals. The 200 freestyle relay qualified 12th, and the 400 freestyle relay qualified 11th. Both teams consisted of Mickenzie Beach, Madison Beach, Arwen Kornblith and Lute.
Warsaw girls sectional preliminary results
Top advance to sectional finals; 9th-16th fastest qualifiers advance to consolation race; 17th-18th fastest are alternates
Fastest qualifiers plus all Rochester, Valley, Pioneer and Culver swimmers
200 medley relay
1. Lewis Cass – 1:59.82, 7. Pioneer (Cailyn Colford, Chloe Chan, Adeline Cripe, Kaia Murray) – 2:09.84 (finals), 9. Valley (Olivia Wilson, Makena Smith, Cassie Rich, Kendall Craig) – 2:17.17 (consolation), 10. Rochester (Molly Vance-Gruss, Melody Hisey, Bella Riffle, Kendyll Bradley) – 2:20.05 (consolation)
200 freestyle
1. Baber (Lewis Cass) – 1:59.17, 6. Melody Hisey (RHS) – 2:11.01 (finals), 9. Hayden Lute (CUL) – 2:12.89 (consolation), 10. Kendall Craig (TV) – 2:13.10 (consolation), 19. Adeline Cripe (PIO) – 2:31.24 (did not advance), 20. Kaia Murray (PIO) – 2:33.65 (did not advance), 25. Ava Thomas (RHS) – 2:47.78 (did not advance), 26. McKenna Lowe (TV) – 2:49.17 (did not advance), 29. Makenna Gleitz (PIO) – 2:52.43 (did not advance), 32. Katelyn Stump (TV) – 2:56.22 (did not advance), 33. Araceli Ochoa (RHS) – 3:05.80 (did not advance)
200 individual medley
1. Briner (Manchester) – 2:16.60, 8. Chloe Chan (PIO) – 2:34.62 (finals), 10. Makena Smith (TV) – 2:39.27 (consolation), 13. Bella Riffle (RHS) – 2:48.51 (consolation), 14. Molly Vance-Gruss (RHS) – 2:49.79 (consolation), 16. Cassie Rich (TV) – 2:52.44 (consolation), 17. Lola Brady (RHS) – 2:56.57 (alternate)
50 freestyle
1. Howett (Warsaw) – 25.60 seconds, 20. Aspen Moolenaar (PIO) – 29.83 (did not advance), 23. Olivia Wilson (TV) – 31.12 (did not advance), 24. Arwen Kornblith (CUL) – 31.65 (did not advance), 27. Skyla Mitchell (RHS) – 32.77 (did not advance), 28. Kiera Smythe (TV) – 33.00 (did not advance), 29. Ava Beasy (PIO) – 33.21 (did not advance), 31. Maris Overbey (TV) – 34.90 (did not advance), 33. Payton Moore (RHS) – 36.47 (did not advance), 36. Isabel Stamper (RHS) – 38.99 (did not advance), 37. Madison Beach (CUL) – 40.10 (did not advance), 38. Mickenzie Beach (CUL) – 41.24 (did not advance), 39. Kaylyn Zeigler (PIO) – 42.58 (did not advance)
100 butterfly
1. Briner (Manchester) – 58.76 seconds, 11. Bella Riffle (RHS) – 1:13.12 (consolation), 16. Cassie Rich (TV) – 1:25.77 (consolation), 18. Lola Brady (RHS) – 1:32.87 (alternate)
100 freestyle
1. Garcia (Manchester) – 56.38 seconds, 12 Melody Hisey (RHS) – 1:00.15 (consolation), 18. Elizabeth Rance (PIO) – 1:05.46 (alternate), 23. Alejandra Jimenez (TV) – 1:14.70 (did not advance), 24. Lane Hood (PIO) – 1:15.82 (did not advance), 28. Katelyn Stump (TV) – 1:19.54 (did not advance), 29. Araceli Ochoa (RHS) – 1:20.15 (did not advance), 30. Maris Overbey (TV) – 1:20.25 (did not advance), 31. Una Stojanovic (RHS) – 1:20.71 (did not advance), 32. Chloe Rogers (PIO) – 1:23.74 (did not advance), 37. Mickenzie Beach (CUL) – 1:37.43 (did not advance)
500 freestyle
1. Baber (Lewis Cass) – 5:26.39, 5. Kendall Craig (TV) – 6:01.36 (finals), 6. Hayden Lute (CUL) – 6:01.38 (finals), 14. Elizabeth Rance (PIO) – 6:39.16 (consolation), 20. Adeline Cripe (PIO) – 6:52.87 (did not advance), 22. Ava Thomas (RHS) – 7:23.78 (did not advance), 23. Emma Elliott (PIO) – 7:39.96 (did not advance), 24. Kadence Bradley (RHS) – 7:47.89 (did not advance), 25. Kaedra Shook (RHS) – 8:05.71 (did not advance)
200 freestyle relay
1. Culver Academy – 1:45.31, 5. Rochester (Bella Riffle, Molly Vance-Gruss, Melody Hisey, Kendyll Bradley) – 1:55.06 (finals), 7. Pioneer (Chloe Chan, Aspen Moolenaar, Elizabeth Rance, Kaia Murray) – 1:57.10 (finals), 8. Valley (Olivia Wilson, Makena Smith, Cassie Rich, Kendall Craig) – 2:02.87 (finals), 12. Culver (Mickenzie Beach, Madison Beach, Arwen Kornblith, Hayden Lute) – 2:20.24 (did not advance)
100 backstroke
1. Teglia (Culver Academy) – 1:03.50, 13. Molly Vance-Gruss (RHS) – 1:16.86 (consolation), 14. Cailyn Colford (PIO) – 1:17.86 (consolation), 15. Olivia Wilson (TV) – 1:18.50 (consolation), 19. Ayla DePoy (PIO) – 1:26.07 (did not advance), 21. Skyla Mitchell (RHS) – 1:29.92 (did not advance), 22. McKenna Lowe (TV) – 1:30.38 (did not advance), 26. Olivia Fisher (PIO) – 1:42.61 (did not advance), 27. Payton Moore (RHS) – 1:43.34 (did not advance), 28. Eunyeong Kim (TV) – 1:43.75 (did not advance), 29. Madison Beach (CUL) – 1:46.73 (did not advance)
100 breaststroke
1. Chloe Chan (PIO) – 1:11.65, 9. Makena Smith (TV) – 1:19.17 (consolation), 15. Kaia Murray (PIO) – 1:27.99 (consolation), 18. Alejandra Jimenez (TV) – 1:34.30 (alternate), 21. Arwen Kornblith (CUL) – 1:35.77 (did not advance), 22. Gracie Clem (PIO) – 1:36.08 (did not advance), 25. Kadence Bradley (RHS) – 1:40.51 (did not advance), 27. Lelin Gallego (TV) – 1:42.58 (did not advance), 30. Kaedra Shook (RHS) – 1:57.21 (did not advance), DQ. Una Stojanovic (RHS)
400 freestyle relay
1. Culver Academy – 3:50.95, 7. Pioneer (Adeline Cripe, Lane Hood, Ayla DePoy, Elizabeth Rance) – 4:47.61 (finals), 9. Rochester (Araceli Ochoa, Skyla Mitchell, Ava Thomas, Lola Brady) – 5:13.64 (consolation), 10. Valley (McKenna Lowe, Katelyn Stump, Lelin Gallego, Alejandra Jimenez) – 5:18.28 (consolation), 11. Culver (Mickenzie Beach, Madison Beach, Arwen Kornblith, Hayden Lute) – 5:41.35 (consolation)
