Grizzly Cubs sweep county swim meet

<p><strong>F</strong>or a good chunk of Saturday morning’s Johnson County championships, Center Grove’s boys swimming and diving team gave Franklin, the state’s No. 2-ranked team, all it could handle.</p><p>In the end, the Grizzly Cubs got enough clutch performances from their less heralded underclassmen — along a bit of luck when the Trojans’ 200-yard freestyle relay got disqualified — and pulled away late to defeat the Trojans, 503 to 444.</p><p>“Center Grove, I think, is a top-five, top-seven team in this state,” Franklin coach Zach DeWitt said. “They’ve got a really good group of boys right now, and I was just hoping that we would rise up to the challenge.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Franklin’s girls had a much easier time, racking up 525 points to easily outdistance runner-up Center Grove (393).</p><p>The Trojan boys were within six points, 298-292, after Brady Ferguson picked up a narrow victory in the 500-yard freestyle. But the Grizzly Cubs got a county-record swim (1:28.55) from the 200 freestyle relay team of Shane O’Sullivan, Max Kramer, Ethan Pheifer and Barrett Daily — and when Center Grove lost the 34 points it would have earned for third, Franklin suddenly had a safe lead.</p><p>DeWitt, who says he didn’t tell any of his swimmers that the Trojan relay had been disqualified until after the meet because he wanted them to maintain their competitive edge, was particularly happy with the efforts he got from sophomores Daily (a winner in the 100 breaststroke) and Pheifer.</p><p>“Barrett Daily was excellent throughout the whole day,” DeWitt said. “That (breaststroke) was anecdotal of the kind of day he had. He knew that he had to come in here and do enough to win, and he did that in every single race he was in. … For (Pheifer) to pop off a couple of (22-second legs) on relays was huge for us.”</p><p>The Trojan boys provided an early indication that they came to fight by nearly running the Grizzly Cubs down in the 200 medley relay. Pheifer barely held off a late charge from Center Grove’s Ethan Martin to win the event by .04 seconds.</p><p>Martin took first in the 50 freestyle shortly thereafter.</p><p>Jacob Destrampe was his usual dominating self for the Franklin boys, breaking his own meet record in the 200 freestyle (1:42.26) and setting a new mark in the 100 free (45.64).</p><p>Teammate Cade Oliver lowered his own county standard in the 200 individual medley (1:54.34) and also shattered the 100 backstroke mark (52.36).</p><p>“I was pretty happy with my times,” Oliver said. “I was pretty happy with how the meet went for everyone, and my practice included. We did some really hard sets this week, and everyone did good, I did good, so I was pretty happy with it.”</p><p>Gauge Creech was first in diving for the Grizzly Cubs. Whiteland’s Brenden Gough picked up an individual victory in the 100 butterfly.</p><p>On the girls side, the Grizzly Cubs were in command from start to finish.</p><p>Carla Gildersleeve established a new county mark in the 200 IM (2:06.17) and also took first in the 100 butterfly. Sarah Hoffman picked up individual wins in the 200 and 500 freestyles, while Gracey Payne won both the 50 and 100 freestyles.</p><p>Kabria Chapman added a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke for Franklin, which ended its day by getting a record swim in the 400 freestyle relay (3:39.40) from Hoffman, Payne, Lucy Ho and Gildersleeve.</p><p>“I think we’re about where we should be,” Gildersleeve said of her team’s showing. “We figured out what we need to work on moving forward, but I think we had a bunch of good races.”</p><p>Breaking Franklin’s stranglehold on the top of the podium were Greenwood diver Faith Jackson and Indian Creek’s Lexi Wilhoit, who set a county record in the 100 backstroke (57.04).</p><p>“I’m really excited about it,” Wilhoit said of her effort. “It’s been a little hard for me, but I think I’m finally getting back in my groove.”</p><p>Despite his young boys team falling short of the upset, Center Grove coach Jim Todd was generally pleased with how the day went.</p><p>“From where these kids were a year ago to where they are today, I would say I’m pretty happy with both the boys and the girls on that,” Todd said. “That’s pretty much where we stand.”</p>