South 4th, North 6th in both Conference Indiana swimming championships
Jan. 23—Terre Haute South freshman Connor Lauritzen and senior Grace Foltz were individual winners in the Conference Indiana high school swimming and diving championships Saturday inside the Vigo County Aquatic Center.
Terre Haute South finished fourth as a team in the boys and girls meets, while Terre Haute North came in sixth in each meet. Both team champions represented Bloomington North. The Cougars' boys are No. 13 in the latest Indiana High School Swim Coaches Association state rankings.
Probably the most fun part of Saturday's event was that it took place in person instead of virtually — which was the case with the 2021 CI championships because of COVID-19 concerns — and it's worth noting that a large number of athletes, coaches, officials and spectators (including one newspaper reporter) chose to wear masks in 2022 amidst those same concerns.
In the boys part of the competition, Lauritzen touched the wall first twice — in the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 5.89 seconds) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.30).
"Having my teammates cheering me on at every turn helped a lot," the Braves' freshman told the Tribune-Star afterward. "I've been working hard with the coaches and just trusting them at practices."
Terre Haute South boys coach Cristina Elliott is glad that Lauritzen has been trusting her along with Terre Haute South girls coach Emily Marrs, who throws out occasional suggestions to the boys.
"He did not disappoint," Elliott said of his impressive performance Saturday. "He has some big goals to end the season and this is just one point along the trail to meeting his final goals. So we're very proud of him."
Elliott also is pleased that the Braves' boys climbed two spots from last season's sixth-place finish in the CI championships.
"We had more top-eight finishes [than last year] and more of a relay presence," Elliott mentioned. "And Connor came in very confident for a freshman. It's like he's been here before [even though he hasn't]. . . . He's not a jitter guy."
From the Terre Haute South girls perspective, Foltz and diving teammates Ava Rose and Ava Thompson finished first, second and fourth respectively to account for 52 of the Braves' 318 points.
"I was very happy with the results today," Marrs assessed. "I was very proud of all the girls. There were some season bests, personal bests and lots of great competition today. I was really happy that they rose to the occasion and swam their best."
Terre Haute South senior Haley Sakbun, who will be taking her pool talents to Ball State next season, managed a pair of runner-up finishes individually (200 and 100 freestyle), but her efforts were stymied a bit by the presence of Bloomington South senior Kristina Paegle.
Paegle, who will be taking her swimming skills to Indiana University next season, is "only" the defending girls 100 freestyle state champion. Also a qualifier for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, Paegle told the Bloomington South Optimist newspaper last year that she hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2024. On Saturday, Paegle defeated Sakbun by 4.03 seconds in the 200 and 1.35 seconds in the 100.
Meanwhile, Mike Williams — who guides the Terre Haute North boys and girls squads — got about what he expected from Saturday's results.
"We don't have a lot of depth," he pointed out. "But we've got kids who work really hard, especially on the boys' side. They work really hard on their individual events. It's hard to pick up a lot of [team] points when you only have one or two people entered in an event. . . . It's like a tide. It comes and it goes and this is a season for us where we're rebuilding.
"For the girls, I'm super happy for them. I thought they swam well. We had some really good performances in the butterfly and backstroke . . . and all of our relays did well."
Terre Haute South and North will compete in the girls sectional Feb. 3 and 5 at the Vigo County Aquatic Center.
"When we're rested and ready to swim at the sectional," Williams said of his girls, "we'll see how they do."
