With every bit of the training regimen is geared toward peaking for the upcoming state meet, Franklin’s girls swim team wasn’t expecting to put its best foot forward at Saturday’s sectional meet.
Fortunately for the Grizzly Cubs, they were in a position to safely leave a good bit of gas in the tank.
With two of its top swimmers sitting out the relays and several girls saving their sleeker tech swimsuits for state, Franklin still won every swimming event and comfortably retained its sectional championship.
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The Grizzly Cubs finished with 513 points, well ahead of runner-up Center Grove (349).
Franklin coach Zach DeWitt said that he approached the sectional meet a bit differently this year with the aim of giving his team an extra lift at the upcoming state meet, where the Grizzly Cubs are looking to improve on last season’s fourth-place finish.
So while the sectional times might not have been as good as last year’s — only senior Carla Gildersleeve heads into the state meet with single-digit seeds — the hope is that there will be some delayed gratification this coming weekend at the IU Natatorium.
“There were some races that we wish we had back a year ago,” DeWitt said, “so these were kind of necessary changes … in order to see these girls through and make sure that our best races and our best experiences are on the state stage.”
Franklin was led by a trio of double individual champions. Gildersleeve was first in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly, junior Sarah Hoffman won the 200 and 500 freestyles and sophomore Gracey Payne claimed the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Sophomore Kabria Chapman hit the wall first in the 100 breaststroke.
Franklin also took all three relays despite resting both Gildersleeve and Payne. In the 200 medley relay, freshman Ava Ray joined Friend, Chapman and Ali Terrell on the winning quartet. The 200 free relay was won by Lucy Ho, Terrell, Alea Hensley and Hoffman, while Hensley, Ho, Ray and Hoffman were first in the 400 free relay.
“Depth is a luxury, and it’s a luxury we have right now, so it’s a luxury we want to use,” DeWitt said. “It’s also a really underrated way to give girls big-time championship experience when maybe they wouldn’t get it otherwise at a different program.”
The Grizzly Cub monopoly was broken up only by Mooresville diver Sadie Mills; Franklin did not have a diver competing.
On top of her first-place finish, Friend also earned an at-large state meet berth in the 50 freestyle.
Several other locals also punched tickets to state. Indian Creek’s Lexi Wilhoit was edged by Friend in the backstroke but still beat the state cut time to advance for the fourth straight year. Greenwood advanced its medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, and sophomore Grace Nuhfer earned the final at-large spot in the butterfly. Center Grove’s 400 freestyle relay also moved on.
For the Woodmen, who finished third as a team with 274 points, getting some swimmers through to the state meet marks the culmination of a breakthrough season.
“This year has been such a massive step forward,” Nuhfer said. “All the girls have improved tremendously this year, so it’s been such a happy thing to see the team grow.”
Divers Faith Jackson of Greenwood and Kenzie Mills of Center Grove placed third and fourth, respectively, to advance to Tuesday’s regional competition at Bloomington North.
While Franklin clearly has its sights set on peaking for the state meet, it still very much enjoyed celebrating another sectional championship in its home pool.
“The atmosphere here is unbelievable, so it’s kind of hard not to be super jacked up,” Gildersleeve said. “You’ve got to save some emotions (for state), but it’s definitely a lot of fun.”
