<p>On a Franklin girls swim team with a star-studded senior class featuring a pair of Division I recruits in Kabria Chapman and Gracey Payne, it could have been easy for Allie Lacy to get lost in the shuffle — especially since she isn’t particularly outspoken to begin with.</p><p>But Lacy’s performances in the water spoke too forcefully to ignore.</p><p>The sophomore earned four state medals, including a fifth-place showing in the 200-yard individual medley, in leading the Grizzly Cubs to a fourth consecutive top-five team finish. Her efforts have also made her the Daily Journal’s Swimmer of the Year.</p><p>Franklin coach Zach DeWitt wasn’t at all surprised by what Lacy — who made it into two individual consolation finals at state as a freshman — accomplished this season.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>"I felt like this was there the entire time," he said. "Allie is somebody that, when she’s motivated, she’s capable of incredible things — and when she’s not motivated, like the rest of us, she can be painfully average. She needs pressure and she needs some sort of moment to plan for, and some scaffolding, and after that she can take care of the rest."</p><p>Finding that motivation was difficult during an uncertain spring and summer, but Lacy found it in plenty of time for the postseason. She repeated as sectional champion in both the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke, and then found yet another gear during the state preliminaries.</p><p>Swimming next to eventual champion Devon Kitchel of Zionsville, Lacy swam a lifetime-best IM time of 2:01.98, the third-best of anyone in the prelims. She also locked up a championship final spot in the backstroke, hitting the wall in 55.88 seconds.</p><p>She placed fifth and seventh in those respective events during the finals the following day, with a slight time jump in both. Being able to come back and turn in repeat performances on Saturday, DeWitt says, will be the next step in her development.</p><p>"She’s got another gear," the coach said. "She can be somebody that people want to write about or talk about at a big swim meet. She was that on a Friday night; she’s going to have to figure out how to turn the page and be successful on Saturday."</p><p>Lacy is already looking ahead at doing just that. She hit all of her goals this winter — cracking 2:02 in the IM, getting into the 55s in the backstroke and making the top eight in both. She wants to pick up a junior nationals cut in the backstroke (she’s less than two-tenths of a second away) in the coming months, and she’s hoping to break 2 minutes in the IM next season; only Kitchel and Carmel senior Madelyn Christman did so this year.</p><p>Perhaps just as importantly, Lacy wants to come out of her shell a bit more — she knows that with Chapman, Payne and some other seniors graduating, she’ll be counted on to fill a bigger leadership role and help the Grizzly Cubs uphold that standard of excellence to which they’ve grown accustomed.</p><p>"I’m definitely going to have to do things differently," Lacy said. "I’ve never been a vocal leader, but now that I’m an upperclassman I need to step up and start speaking more at practice, and just being a leader by example for the incoming freshmen."</p><p>Now that she’s set her mind to it, odds are that Lacy will find a way to get it done.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="All-County team" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>The 2020 All-County team for girls swimming and diving:</p><p><strong>Kabria Chapman, Franklin junior:</strong> Placed fifth in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke and contributed to the Grizzly Cubs’ medley relay (third in the state) and 200 free relay (10th) … Will swim at Indiana University next year.</p><p><strong>Addison Daily, Whiteland senior:</strong> Became the first female swimmer in Warriors history to score points at state, finishing 11th in the 200 freestyle and 12th in the 100 free … Signed to swim at Olivet Nazarene University.</p><p><strong>Alayna Kenworthy, Greenwood senior:</strong> Placed 11th at the state meet in the 200 individual medley (2:05.55) and also helped the Woodmen finish 15th in the medley relay … Will compete for Franklin College next winter.</p><p><strong>Allie Lacy, Franklin sophomore:</strong> A double podium finisher at the state meet, taking fifth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 backstroke … Also earned two more state medals in the medley relay (third) and 400 freestyle relay (eighth).</p><p><strong>Paige Lawrence, Franklin junior:</strong> Scored state points in both the 500 freestyle (12th) and 200 freestyle (14th) … Also swam on the Grizzly Cubs’ 400 and 200 free relays, which placed eighth and 10th, respectively.</p><p><strong>Gracey Payne, Franklin senior:</strong> Reached two state championship finals, placing seventh in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 … Anchored the third-place medley relay and led off the 10th-place 200 free relay … Signed with Ball State.</p><p><strong>Lara Phipps, Center Grove freshman:</strong> Won a county championship in the 200 freestyle and qualified for state in that event, finishing 13th … Anchored the Trojans’ two freestyle relays, both of which placed 15th at the state meet.</p><p><strong>Mia Prusiecki, Center Grove freshman:</strong> Debuted as the state runner-up on the 1-meter diving board with a finals score of 510.90 … Earned county, sectional and regional championships.</p><p><span><strong>Honorable mention</strong></span></p><p>Grace DeLuna, Center Grove; Amelia Edens, Whiteland; Grace Fisher, Franklin; Alea Hensley, Franklin; Avery Herring, Whiteland; Jessica Holland, Center Grove; Grace Nuhfer, Greenwood; Madison Peckinpaugh, Greenwood; Camy Quiggins, Franklin; Kiersten Smith, Center Grove; Ella Taylor, Indian Creek; Devin Trammell, Center Grove; Kylie Treat, Center Grove; Naomi Weaver, Greenwood</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
