By Sam Findley
For the Daily Journal
The improvement of Greenwood’s swim team from year to year has been notable — and it was on display Wednesday in a tri-meet victory over Indian Creek and Whiteland.
Greenwood’s girls took a slim 52-50 victory over Whiteland and defeated Indian Creek, 81-15. In the boys meet, the Woodmen topped the Braves 52-36 and the Warriors 66-25.
The Woodmen girls won the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay and also got individual wins from Reagan Graves (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke), Charli Graves (200 freestyle), Chloe Viatoe (50 free), Hailey Peckinpaugh (100 free) and Ryann Marker (100 breaststroke).
Greenwood also won the medley and 400 free relays on the boys side, while also getting first-place finishes from Joe Sheets (200 IM and 100 breast), Andrew Mears (200 free) and Ethan Rose (100 backstroke).
Girls coach Brooke Gilles said that she and boys coach Ray Onisko have been focused on building the team’s foundation and expectations.
“We really just wanted to kind of lay that good foundation down as far as where we wanted to be,” she said, “so we set our goals — where we see ourselves in the future? Do we see ourselves going to state every year? Is that the new normal? … We kind of really sat down and kind of focused on our future goals and kind of started from there.
“We’ve tried different things here and there. we found some things work and other things don’t there’s been things where we’ve tested out during practice; we’ll have practices written out, and you say, ‘You know what? We’re going to alter it a little bit,’ and we’re going to change it from here and see how it works.”
The development of leadership and chemistry has also been a key aspect of the Woodmen’s recent ascent.
“These kids are finally starting to grasp it and they’re starting to be there for each other more,” Gilles said. “They’re starting to cheer for each other. We have a few individuals who are stepping up, and they’re really taking charge as far as taking initiative to get their team rallied up and really helping during practice and teaching them. Like, ‘Hey, I’ve noticed like you’ve been doing this at practice; we’ll try this instead’ type of thing — kind of like a pure peer coaching, if you will.”
Whiteland’s girls were able to snatch first-place finishes in the 200 individual medlay and 500 freestyle on Wednesday, with Amelia Edens taking both of those events and helping the Warriors claim the 200 freestyle relay.
The Indian Creek girls’ only first-place finish came from Ella Taylor in diving, where she scored 217.95 points. The boys got a win in the 200 freestyle relay and also got victories from Nolan Greene (50 and 100 free), Evan Dennis (100 fly) and Evan Schaub (500 free).
Looking to the future, Gilles hopes the Woodmen learn from their win.
“This type of environment really shows what it means to be there for your team,” she said. “It’s not just about cheering but it’s about supporting each other. We also learned about where our competition is. Right now we were pretty neck and neck with them and … they’re actually getting out there competing. That’s one thing that I think they learn really starting from here is how to compete and kind of see where their competition is, so that when we go to county or conference or sectionals, they know who they’re looking for and what their goals are going to be.”
