Davidson, Parrett Finish Strong; NLC Shows Well [VIDEO]
Spencer Davidson capped his career with a 7th place finish in the 100 breast Saturday. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)
INDIANAPOLIS – The pool is finally closed for the 2015 high school season.
The Warsaw boys swimming team concluded its season Saturday afternoon on the state’s grandest stage. The Tigers raced in three events, producing three top 10 finishes at the finals of the 78th annual IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving state championships.
“I think it was a very successful weekend for us,” said Warsaw head coach Tony DeBrota. “Obviously there are things we wish we could’ve done better, but it was still a very successful meet for us overall.”
There’s always going to be something to improve upon, but Saturday’s meet truly became about capping off the already decorated careers of Warsaw seniors Jayden Parrett and Spencer Davidson.
Jayden Parrett finished 10th in the 100 back.
The duo made it to the state finals in each of their four seasons, collecting a total of five trips to the consoles or finals in individual events.
“Today, since it was my last high school meet, my mentality was just to loosen up and have fun and I think I did that,” Parrett remarked.
Parrett entered the day seeded 12th in his only individual event, the 100 back. Loosening up appeared to be the key for the Tiger senior as he finished second in the consoles race and 10th overall with a time of 51.81, fractions of a second ahead of his seed time of 51.85. Parrett finished 10th last season in the back and 15th his sophomore year.
Matt Wildman checks his time after finishing the 200 medley relay.
Davidson made it to the podium at the state finals for the first time in his career with his performance in the 100 breast. The senior was not quite on par with his prelims time (56.09) but swam a 56.56 to take seventh place. The accomplishment was a bittersweet moment for the ultra-competitive Davidson.
“It feels alright,” Davidson said of his finish. “I was looking for something better. I really wanted to swim a 55, that was my goal coming into this weekend and I was close in prelims.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with how I did this weekend. Getting here is the reward for how hard I’ve worked this year. I’m really excited for the next stage, I’m ready to swim in college and drop a lot of time with my swims.”
Davidson finished 14th in the breast last season. He is currently undecided as to where he will swim in college.
Ethan Cook swims his fly during the 200 medley relay.
“I wish we could have them back next year,” joked DeBrota. “They have been a huge part of this program for so long. I hope they get the chance to come back at times and be around the team next year. They will be missed.
“I really think we will have guys slide into roles left open by all of our seniors. We’re losing some good guys but even the guys that didn’t make it to state this year will see what everyone else did and they’ll want to reinvent that next year. I’m excited for what we have coming up.”
Warsaw also took 10th in the 200 medley relay to start its day. Davidson, Parrett, Ethan Cook and Matt Wildman combined to swim a 1:35.85 in the event.
Spencer Lehman of Northridge took two top-five finishes on Saturday.
Lehman Leads NLC Showings
Northridge was well represented on the podium Saturday thanks to Spencer Lehman. The sensational sophomore took fifth place in the 200 free (1:39.77) then later swam a great race in the 500 free. Lehman held down second place in the race for the majority of the time before slipping to a fourth place finish (4:29.91).
Northridge also placed two relay teams by finishing 14th in the 200 medley (1:38.94) and ninth in the 200 free (1:27.48). The 400 free relay team was disqualified.
Seth Cripe took 12th in both the 200 free (1:42.89) and 500 free (4:40.75) for the Raiders while Logan Elijah finished 15th in the 500 (1:43.95) for Ridge.
Concord’s 200 free relay team placed 16th (1:28.42).
In the diving portion of Saturday’s events Goshen represented the NLC very well as Jacob Isnogle claimed 19th place (258.55) while Hudson Kay made the podium by placing sixth (419.10).
State Finals Recap (Release)
Goshen’s Hudson Kay finished 6th in 1 meter diving.
The opening event of the afternoon was their only victory but depth in other events was the difference as Carmel captured the 2015 IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving state championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Carmel’s 200 medley relay team of Gabriel Whitaker, Charles Vaughan, Nathaniel Bledsoe and Troy Liwon set the pace with a winning time of 1:32.30 in the day’s opening event. From there, Carmel ran away from the pack accumulating 253.5 points for its state-leading 15th state championship and their fourth in seven years having won three straight from 2010-12. Chris Plumb is the Carmel coach who also heads the girls program which tied a national high school record with its 29th straight title two weeks ago.
Zionsville finished as the state runner-up with 176 points followed by third place Avon with 167, Brownsburg in fourth with 129 and Carroll (Fort Wayne) rounded out the top five with 126.5. Zionsville, Brownsburg and Carroll (Fort Wayne) each enjoyed their school’s best finish ever in the state meet.
Concord’s 200 free relay prepares for its race on Saturday.
Seniors Kyle DeCoursey of Zionsville and Bloomington South’s Ian Finnerty were responsible for three record performances over the last two days.
Finnerty set the state record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday night finishing in 53.23 bettering the old record of 54.24 set by Cody Taylor of Columbus North just last year. But he went faster in the championship final finishing in 53.19 to win the crown.
DeCoursey swept the freestyle sprints winning the 50 in 20.30 and the 100 in 44.70. It was his second straight in the 50 after setting the new record with a 20.08. The previous best mark of 20.11 had been held by Brebeuf Jesuit’s Harrison Wagner since 2011.
Avon’s Parks Jones repeated as the 200 freestyle state champion with his time of 1:37.81.
The 78th Annual IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving State Finals
Indiana University Natatorium, IUPUI, Indianapolis
February 27-28, 2015
| Top 10 Teams | ||
| 1. | Carmel | 253.5 |
| 2. | Zionsville | 176 |
| 3. | Avon | 167 |
| 4. | Brownsburg | 129 |
| 5. | Carroll (Fort Wayne) | 126.5 |
| 6. | Penn | 122 |
| 7. | Hamilton Southeastern | 121 |
| 8. | Munster | 112 |
| 9. | Bloomington South | 108 |
| 10. | North Central (Indianapolis) | 85 |
State Champions
200 Medley Relay: Carmel (Gabriel Whitaker 12, Charles Vaughan 10, Nathaniel Bledsoe 12, Troy Li 11) 1:32.30.
200 Freestyle: Parks Jones, 12, Avon, 1:37.81.
200 Individual Medley: Ian Finnerty, 12, Bloomington South, 1:45.71.
50 Freestyle: Kyle DeCoursey, 12, Zionsville, 20.30.
One Meter Diving: Kevin Frebel, 11, Homestead 568.65 points.
100 Butterfly: Gabriel Swardson, 11, Carroll (Fort Wayne), 49.14.
100 Freestyle: Kyle DeCoursey, 12, Zionsville, 44.70.
500 Freestyle: Michael Brinegar, 9, Columbus North, 4:24.92.
200 Freestyle Relay: Brownsburg (Jack Franzman 9, Cameron Howard 12, Kyle Baney 12, Vince Partlow 11)1:24.20.
100 Backstroke: Wilson Beckman, 12, Munster 49.21.
100 Breaststroke: Ian Finnerty, 12, Bloomington South, 53.19. State Record
400 Freestyle Relay: Zionsville (Andrew Schuler 9, Cameron Gelwicks 12, Tyler Harmon 10, Kyle DeCoursey 12) 3:03.55.
State Records Set During Friday’s Preliminaries
50 Freestyle: Kyle DeCoursey, 12, Zionsville, 20.08.
100 Breaststroke: Ian Finnerty, 12, Bloomington South, 53.23.
