Welcome to the Carmel Invitational — or, as it’s formally known, the IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving State Finals.
For three decades, the Greyhounds have sucked most of the suspense out of the team competition. Last year’s championship marked their 30th in a row, the longest such streak by any American high school in any sport, and Carmel is again the heavy favorite heading into tonight’s preliminary round.
The battles for second place and down, however, should be filled with drama — and Franklin expects to be right in the thick of it. Tied for ninth in the final IHSSCA rankings of the regular season, the Grizzly Cubs could end up in the state’s top five if everything breaks right.
The top eight in each swimming event at tonight’s prelims will earn spots in Saturday’s finals, while those placing ninth through 16th will still have a chance to pick up team points in consolation finals.
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Here’s where the local participants stack up against the competition (all times are from last weekend’s sectionals):
200 medley relay
Team to beat: Penn, 1:43.21
No. 8 seed: South Bend St. Joseph, 1:45.55
No. 16 seed: Avon, 1:48.01
Franklin is seeded 13th with a sectional time of 1:46.68.
200 freestyle
Swimmer to beat: Lauryn Parrish (Fishers), 1:48.98
No. 8 seed: Megan Johnson (Homestead), 1:52.15
No. 16 seed: Rachel Sabotin (Trinity Lutheran), 1:53.83
Franklin’s Carla Gildersleeve is seeded 17th at 1:53.93; Center Grove’s Jillian Castor is 28th at 1:56.40.
200 IM
Swimmer to beat: Hannah Kukurugya (Crown Point), 1:58.80
No. 8 seed: Katie Dougherty (Carmel), 2:03.56
No. 16 seed: Ali Terrell (Franklin), 2:06.22
50 freestyle
Swimmer to beat: Grace Haskett (Bloomington South), 23.27 seconds
No. 8 seed: Andrea Hanas (Chesterton), 23.76
No. 16 seed: Mary Kaitlyn McPherson (North Central), 23.94
Franklin’s Ella Pheifer is seeded 20th with a time of 24.05 seconds.
1-meter diving
Diver to beat: Ivy Houser (Hamilton Heights), 505.15
Local qualifiers: Center Grove’s Sarah Kempf (376.15), Whiteland’s Maria Campbell (366.00) and Franklin’s Maddie Powell (360.90) were second, fourth and sixth, respectively, at the Bloomington Regional on Tuesday. Kempf’s regional score is the 23rd-highest among the 32 state qualifiers.
100 butterfly
Swimmer to beat: Hannah Kukurugya (Crown Point), 53.06
No. 8 seed: Sydney Dygert (Elkhart Central), 55.82
No. 16 seed: Morgan Hicks (Yorktown), 56.72
Franklin’s Carla Gildersleeve is seeded ninth at 56.02; Franklin’s Anna McCahill is 20th at 57.07.
100 freestyle
Swimmer to beat: Kelly Pash (Carmel) 50.22
No. 8 seed: Jordyn Polderman (Fort Wayne Snider), 51.77
No. 16 seed: Brenna Morgan (Warsaw), 52.08
Franklin’s Ella Pheifer is seeded 14th at 51.95.
500 freestyle
Swimmer to beat: Paige Miller (Wawasee), 4:55.47
No. 8 seed: Mackenzie Looze (Bloomington South), 4:59.69
No. 16 seed: Mya VanderHagen (Fort Wayne Carroll), 5:05.04
Franklin’s Jessie Fraley is seeded 17th at 5:05.63; Franklin’s Sarah Hoffman is 19th at 5:06.24.
200 freestyle relay
Team to beat: Fishers, 1:34.85
No. 8 seed: Evansville Reitz, 1:36.92
No. 16 seed: Franklin, 1:37.86
100 backstroke
Swimmer to beat: Sammie Burchill (Carmel), 54.84
No. 8 seed: Abigail Harter (Hamilton Southeastern), 56.47
No. 16 seed: Maddisen Lantz (Concord), 57.06
Franklin’s Scarlett Friend and Jessie Fraley are seeded 18th and 19th at 57.11 and 57.65, respectively; Indian Creek’s Lexi Wilhoit is 22nd at 58.06.
100 breaststroke
Swimmer to beat: Emily Weiss (Yorktown), 1:00.60
No. 8 seed: Olivia Trout (Concord), 1:04.84
No. 16 seed: Ali Terrell (Franklin) and Laura Wright (Fort Wayne Dwenger), 1:05.53
400 freestyle relay
Team to beat: Fort Wayne Carroll, 3:28.00
No. 8 seed: Hamilton Southeastern, 3:31.13
No. 16 seed: Concord, 3:35.06
Franklin is seeded 11th at 3:33.12; Center Grove and Indian Creek are 24th (3:41.88) and 25th (3:42.40).
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IHSAA State Finals
At IUPUI Natatorium
Preliminaries, 6 p.m.
Diving prelims and semis, 9 a.m. Saturday
Event finals and consolations: 1 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $8 per session or $12 both days
Webcast: IHSAAtv.org
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