Going into the final quarter of the 200-yard freestyle final on Saturday, Franklin junior Paige Lawrence found herself about a third of a second off the lead.
Looking to build momentum for her Grizzly Cub teammates early in the meet, Lawrence dug deep and powered her way past Center Grove freshman Lara Phipps to win by just over half a second in a time of 1:53.55.
“At that first 100 wall I saw (Phipps) next to me, and I really felt like I could come out and win it,” Lawrence said. “So I just wanted to bring that racing attitude, and with it being the first individual event, I wanted to set the tone for the meet.”
Franklin wound up winning all but one swimming event and finished with a team score of 485, comfortably outdistancing runner-up Center Grove by 74 to win its sixth consecutive championship.
“She’s a girl that has grown and transformed over the last year,” Grizzly Cubs coach Zach DeWitt said of Lawrence, who was also first in the 500 freestyle. “She’s matured so much in terms of the way she approaches difficult situations … and it was very fitting and anecdotal that as she’s going into the 175 wall, that that’s where she was able to put the hammer down. That’s not something she had last year, and I don’t know if that’s a physical attribute as much as it was a mental. I’m just really proud of her.”
Franklin got its day started with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, with the quartet of Allie Lacy, Kabria Chapman, Grace Fisher and Gracey Payne putting up a time of 1:44.91. After Lawrence scored her comeback victory in the 200 free, Lacy took the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:04.76.
Payne hit the wall first in the 50 freestyle (23.83 seconds), and came back shortly thereafter to win the 100 free in a sectional-record time of 51.19 seconds. Lawrence then completed her own double with a more comfortable win in the 500 free at 5:04.62.
After Alea Hensley, Chapman, Lawrence and Payne won the 200 free relay for Franklin in 1:37.91, Lacy earned her second individual victory — and a sectional record — by repeating in the 100 backstroke (56.45) and Chapman rolled to a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.99). The Grizzly Cubs then capped off a triumphant day with a win in the 400 freestyle relay, getting a time of 3:33.09 from the foursome of Lacy, Lawrence, Hensley and Fisher.
Chapman, the state runner-up in the breaststroke last year, feels good about her chances to take that final step up to the top of the podium.
“I’ve just been doing a lot of visualizations, making sure I’m ready for that moment, and I can’t wait,” the senior said. “I’ve been training a lot differently than I had last year, really focusing on my stroke counts, my tempo, and just getting ready for what I know is going to be a really good race.”
Phipps earned an at-large bid to state in the 200 freestyle for Center Grove, while teammate Grace DeLuna posted an automatic cut time of 56.74 in the backstroke. Those two, along with Kiersten Smith and Kylie Treat, got the Trojans’ 200 free relay to state, and the 400 freestyle relay quartet of Smith, Devin Trammell, Jessica Holland and Phipps also advanced.
Longtime Center Grove coach Jim Todd was pleased with his team’s efforts.
“They came out Thursday night and swam really well, which makes it really hard to come back on Saturday and do this,” Todd said. “But all the way from the very beginning to the very end, every girl did a great job and stepped up. It’s like nothing we’ve seen in a long time. … Even after 40 years in this stuff, I still had a little fun today.”
Greenwood senior Grace Nuhfer repeated — barely — as the sectional champ in the 100 butterfly (57.63), edging Phipps and Fisher in perhaps the most hotly contested final of the day.
The Woodmen will also be represented at state by the medley relay team of Naomi Weaver, Madison Peckinpaugh, Nuhfer and Alayna Kenworthy, who posted a 1:47.87 to get under the automatic cut time. Kenworthy also got a state cut time in the 200 IM, coming home in 2:06.54.
Whiteland’s Addison Daily, the last swimmer left out of the state meet in the 100 free last year, picked up an at-large spot in that event this year as well as in the 200 free. Daily was also on both of the Warriors’ two qualifying freestyle relays along with Avery Herring and Amelia Edens. Gwennyth Prellis joined those three on the 200 free relay, while Haley Achs was the fourth member of the 400 squad.
Greenwood finished third in the team standings with 271 points, while Whiteland was fifth with 228. Greenwood Christian (31) and Indian Creek (25) were 10th and 11th, respectively.
For Franklin, the focus shifts to the IU Natatorium, where the hope is to secure yet another top-five state finish. DeWitt believes that the Grizzly Cubs still have their best meet ahead of them.
“We had some swims that we think are going to be a lot better next week from some of our more surefire athletes,” he said. “Those three girls — Allie, Kabria and Gracey — are more or less prepping for the long run, and I think that they’ll bring the fireworks next week.”
