Center Grove’s Vincent Howe celebrates his win in the 500 freestyle during Saturday’s county meet.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Center Grove’s swimmers made sure that the first Johnson County meet held in the school’s palatial new natatorium didn’t end with any visitors spoiling the party.
The Trojans swept both ends of the competition for the first time in several years, with the girls outpointing defending champion Franklin, 502-467, and the boys defeating the Grizzly Cubs by a 517-434 score.
“Our whole team wanted to win county,” said Center Grove senior Ben Clarkston, who posted fairly comfortable victories in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. “I’m really proud of all our guys. Everyone’s been working really hard in practice, giving 110% every day. Coming into the meet, both me and Garrett both wanted our guys to be in the racing mentality. We came out here to race, and that’s what we did.”
Clarkston had plenty of help on the boys side, with classmate Garrett Crist dominating the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke on the way to Swimmer of the Meet honors. Freshman Vincent Howe took the 500 free, and the Trojans pulled off a sweep of all three relays — although not without some drama. Center Grove and Franklin appeared to tie in the last event of the day, the 400 freestyle relay, after junior Evan Hernandez finished off a late Trojan charge, but the excitement was dampened when Grizzly Cubs wound up being disqualified after the race.
That inflated the final margin of victory a bit — but regardless of the score, the Trojans were happy with their performance.
“Definitely not perfect,” Crist said. “We’ve got a lot of things that we can improve on, I think, but I was pretty proud of everyone today.”
The Trojan girls pulled off the other half of the sweep despite a relative scarcity of individual wins. Grace Clarkston edged Franklin’s Jenna Miller in the 50 free and Lara Phipps rolled in the 100 butterfly; the only other event Center Grove took on Saturday was the 200 freestyle relay. Still, the team’s superior depth was enough to carry the day.
“I thought we did a very nice job,” Center Grove coach Jim Todd said. “I don’t think we swam lights out or anything like that, but we swam with a lot of enthusiasm. They’re a really good group of kids, so it was fun to see them smile.”
Franklin’s girls won the other two relays and had a pair of double individual victors in Swimmer of the Meet Allie Lacy (200 IM, 100 backstroke) and freshman Lili Ratzlaff (100 and 200 freestyle). Junior Olivia Stone was first in a closely contested 100 breaststroke, which saw the top four finish just .87 seconds apart.
The Grizzly Cub boys got Saturday wins from senior Anthony Ries in the 200 free and 100 fly.
Even in defeat, Franklin coach Zach DeWitt was pleased with how some of his inexperienced swimmers, particularly Callum Buchanan (second to Clarkston in the 50 and 100 free) and Gabe Holtz, performed in their first real pressure situations.
“There’s just some things we can’t really duplicate without experience, so we need to be in battles like this for our boys to figure out how to win,” DeWitt said. “We’ve got some really upset people … but ultimately, in years past, that’s always brought the best out in us.
“Kudos to Center Grove. They beat our drum all day long. But my boys team won’t lay down.”
Both Greenwood teams finished a solid third, with the girls totaling 385.5 points and the boys 313. The Woodmen tasted some individual success as well, with freshman Reagan Graves out-touching Franklin’s Paige Lawrence in the 500 free and senior Joe Sheets nipping Grizzly Cub Franco Chirinos in the breaststroke.
“Pretty much all week I was looking forward to that race, knowing I had a shot at it,” Sheets said. “I had a long break before it, and the energy of my teammates kept pushing me through that. I could hear the energy of the whole building.”
Whiteland’s girls were fourth with 292 points, followed by Greenwood Christian (43.5) and Indian Creek (41). The Braves took fourth on the boys side with 208, while the Warriors were fifth with 141.
Center Grove’s victories should add to the intensity of the environment come sectional time, when the Trojans will try to bring an end to Franklin’s recent run of dominance. The Grizzly Cub boys have won nine consecutive sectional championships, and the girls have taken six in a row. Most of those have come by fairly comfortable margins in recent years, with the exception of a 2020 boys meet that was decided by the final relay.
Saturday’s effort should allow the Trojans to go into the postseason with some confidence that they can take those crowns back.
“We’ve still got our sights on sectionals and state,” Clarkston said, “but right now I think it’s a good sign.”
