GIRLS SWIMMING: Simmons takes 2 spots at state

Feb. 6—Kokomo sophomore Aubrey Simmons qualified for state in two events and did it in style, setting school records in both, at the Carmel Girls Swimming and Diving Sectional on Saturday.

Simmons took her first spot at state with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Sectional champions and anyone who reaches a state cut time take spots in next week's state finals. Her time of :56.82 set a new Kokomo standard.

As an encore, she snagged third in the 100 backstroke in :55.59, posting another state-cut time to grab a spot at state. Her time set another new Katfish standard, and by taking third she broke up Carmel's chance at a sweep. The Greyhounds went 1-2-3 in all other swimming events, won each relay and had a diver take the top spot in that event.

"Aubrey Simmons swam out of her mind, setting new school records and secured her spot in the state meet by meeting the qualifying times in both of her events," Kokomo coach Zach Whiteman said.

Also for the Katfish, Milla Hawkins was fifth in the 50 free (:25.12) and sixth in the 100 free (:54.72).

Kokomo's Paige Wilson, Morgan Rakestraw, Simmons and Hawkins were fourth in the 200 medley relay (2:00.24). Simmons, Rakestraw, Wilson and Hawkins took fifth in the 200 free relay (1:45.98).

"I'm incredibly proud of how our girls went out there and performed," Whiteman said. "It's great to see all their hard work paying off in the sectional year. It's what we train for all year, so to see them execute on race day, in the toughest sectional in the state, is fantastic."

Northwestern's Taylor Schmitt was third in the diving program with an 11-dive score of 330.0 to take a spot in Tuesday's Hamilton Southeastern Regional. Diving is the only event that has a regional between the sectional and state meet.

Catherine Bath was fifth in the 200 free (1:57.32) and fifth in the 500 free (5:13.7). If sectional champions and those who reach state-cut times don't fill out the full field in a given event, callbacks for the next-best times will fill out the field of 32 per swim event. As Northwestern's coaches sifted through sectional times, Bath stood one spot out of the last callback place for state in the 500, making her the first alternate should another swimmer drop out.

"Going in, we were sitting in a really good position going into Thursday and she had great swims," NW coach Donita Walters said. "That was her best 500 swim of the season and her second-best [200]. Across the state, the girls were just dropping tons of times.

"She's an incredible human being, an incredible athlete. We're just waiting now. We're at the mercy of the other girls."

In relays, Northwestern's team of Morgan Binnion, Aubrie Sparling, Kelsie Heintz and Burgandi Purvis was fifth in the 200 medley relay (2:07.08). Ashley Ream, Lauren Martin, Purvis and Bath were sixth in the 200 free relay (1:48.13). And Martin, Bath, Aubrie Sparling and Ream were fourth in the 400 free relay (3:57.05).

"We're backing Taylor, whose next dive is Tuesday," Walters said. "Excited to be in the water training [today].

"On Saturday we started the meet with that medley relay with all four of those girls having lifetime-best times, and we had a great day. You can't be upset with a fifth-place [team] finish down there at Carmel. They worked so hard and need to be proud of everything they accomplished."

Western's Anna Moore was eighth in the 200 free (2:00.48).

In relays, Western's Emily Scott, Autumn Harsh, Cami Maddox and Kacey Bogue were seventh in the 200 medley relay (2:08.4). Emily Scott, Chase Hayes, Sophia Moreno and Moore were eighth in the 200 free relay (1:48.96). And Hayes, Moreno, Maddox and Moore were sixth in the 400 free relay (4:03.93).

Maconaquah's Lucy Loshnowsky, Abby Heath, Kyndal Collins and Laci Winegardner were sixth in the 200 medley relay (2:08.17). And Zoie Laber, Navea Sebastian, Heath and Chloe Jordan were seventh in the 400 free relay (4:07.63).

For Tipton, Sophia Walker had a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM (school-record 2:12.33) and was fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.14), Ella Hare was fourth in the 50 free (school-record :24.35) and seventh in the 100 butterfly (:58.61), Abigail Hoover was eighth in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.52), and Samantha Morris was seventh in diving (289.9).

The Blue Devil team of Alyssa Hoover, Abigail Hoover, Walker and Hare was third in the 200 medley relay (school-record 1:50.94). Walker, Lylli Tragesser, Abigail Hoover and Hare were fourth in the 200 free relay (school-record 1:43.17). And Julianna Hoover, Morris, Lorelai Tragesser and Lylli Tragesser were eighth in the 400 free relay (4:11.93).

Carmel won the meet with a score of 589. Tipton was fourth (199.5), Northwestern fifth (165), Kokomo seventh (116), Western eighth (106), Maconaquah ninth (102), and Eastern 10th (44).

For further results, including swimmers in the consolation finals, see the scoreboard on B4.