Indian Creek swimming coach Brad Smith wasn’t happy with how his team fared in its last dual meet at Mooresville on Tuesday.
Back at his home pool, Smith was in much better spirits Thursday evening.
The Braves’ boys team swept all three relays and performed well throughout in defeating both Greenwood and Whiteland at the Chase M. Smith Natatorium.
“We just didn’t perform like I wanted to (Tuesday), so to come out and swim like we did gives me a little bit more confidence in the rest of the season,” Smith said. “I’m much happier now knowing that we’re on the right foot.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Indian Creek boys defeated Greenwood 59-41 and beat Whiteland by a 66-31 score. The Woodmen salvaged a split by topping the Warriors, 56-41.
On the girls side, Greenwood beat Whiteland 58-44 and Indian Creek 85-5. The Warrior girls defeated the Braves, 78-9.
The Woodmen girls started the day with a comfortable win in the 200-yard medley relay behind the quartet of Naomi Weaver, Madison Peckinpaugh, Alayna Kenworthy and Hailey Peckinpaugh. Grace Nuhfer and Kenworthy followed up with two more Greenwood victories in the 200 freestyle and the 200 individual medley.
Madison Peckinpaugh took first in the 50 free, and then Nuhfer and Kenworthy picked up their second individual wins of the night in the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle, respectively. The Woodmen then all but clinched the meet when the team of Nuhfer, Charli Graves, Hailey Peckinpaugh and Kenworthy held on to beat Whiteland by two tenths of a second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Weaver was victorious in the 100 backstroke, and she then teamed with Nuhfer, Graves and Madison Peckinpaugh to cap off Greenwood’s overall win with a first-place finish in the 400 free relay.
Greenwood girls coach Brooke Thompson said that her team has been focused on long-term goals, and she was pleased to see some of what had been stressed during practices being put to use in competition on Thursday.
“It’s nice to see them actually focus in,” she said. “That makes us feel that they’re being serious about this and they want to win.”
In the boys meet, Indian Creek’s medley relay team of Nolan Greene, Trent Volz, Evan Dennis and Joey Smith opened with a victory, and Smith came right back moments later to earn a narrow victory in the 200 free. Evan Dennis (50 free) and Sam Smith (100 fly) added first-place finishes for the Braves, and Joey Smith then got his second individual win of the meet in the 100 free.
After the Braves got a 200 free relay victory from Eli Botts, Dennis, Evan Schaub and Sam Smith, Greene added a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke. The 400 free relay foursome of Sam Smith, Greene, Schaub and Joey Smith finished off a triumphant night for the home team.
The Greenwood boys got a first-place showing on the diving board from Noah Chaplin, and two more from Conner Peckinpaugh in the 500 freestyle and Joe Sheets in the 100 breast.
Whiteland’s girls got wins from Olivia Holmes in diving, Addison Daily in the 500 free and Avery Herring in the 100 breaststroke. The Warrior boys, swimming a bit shorthanded, got their lone win from Sam Udrasols in the 200 IM.
Though this meet certainly wasn’t as big as the county, conference and postseason competitions to come, it provided the teams a chance to gauge strengths and weaknesses as championship season draws closer.
“Like everyone, we have places to grow,” Nuhfer said. “We have a better idea of where we stand right now, so we’re going to take the energy, take the time and effort that we put into this meet, take it back to practice and work on what we need to tweak and just get ready for our next competition.”
