BY DAVID CAMPBELL
For the Daily Journal
Franklin won 11 of the 12 events to post an easy 112-74 win against host Center Grove in a boys-only swim meet Thursday.
Jacob Destrampe and Max Kramer each won three events and Cade Oliver, Ethan Pheifer, Michael Couet, Shane O’Sullivan and Griffin Edwards won two each for the Grizzly Cubs, who also had seven second-place finishes in an overall strong performance.
“Center Grove always swims us tough. One of the hallmarks of Center Grove is that they always swim tired all the time, and I think they’re just as great when they are tired,” Franklin coach Zach DeWitt said. “I was pretty happy. I wouldn’t say I’m overly enthused. We still have some things that we need to work on in terms of the upcoming three weeks.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Destrampe, Franklin’s leader, picked up wins in a pair of individual events, the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. He also teamed with Kramer, Barrett Daily and Morgan Larsh to win the 200 freestyle relay.
Kramer got a win in the 100 freestyle to go along with wins in the two freestyle relays, Oliver won the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, Couet claimed the 50 freestyle, Edwards won the 100 backstroke and Gauge Creech was first in diving.
“I thought Barrett Daily swam really well. He’s just a freshman, and to come into an environment like this when he’s tired and perform that way was remarkable,” DeWitt said. “I thought Ethan Pheifer, another freshman, was very fast in a couple of scenarios. And Shane O’Sullivan had a couple of decent wins that we can take away from.”
Center Grove’s lone win came in the 100-yard butterfly, where Tony Gipson scored an upset win against Edwards by less than four-tenths of a second.
“That was a good swim. He’s a very hard worker and when you get a little bit of success after putting in all of that hard work you get a little excited,” Center Grove coach Jim Todd said of Gipson. “He swam that race really well, but our best swim of the night was probably Ben Mitchell in the 500 finally breaking five minutes. He set that goal and that was really good.”
Mitchell placed third in the 500 at 4:59.52 and drew attention from the opposing coach as well.
“Ben Mitchell lit it up in the 500. That kid absolutely deserves a shoutout,” DeWitt said.
“And Raiden Finchum, their senior, always swims well against us, it seems like. Those two guys were awesome.”
Todd was pleased with his team’s performance overall against a Franklin team that is one of the state’s best. He knows the future is bright for his squad.
“Of our 24 guys, 20 are freshmen or sophomores. We’re young, but we’re talented,” Todd said. “I really think we’re going to have some fun the next few years.”
While Franklin has the next two weeks off to prepare for the sectional, Center Grove will travel to Bloomington South on Tuesday.
The girls sectional kicks off next Thursday at Franklin.
