Corydon swim relay earns sixth at sectional

Weeks after winning the program’s fourth consecutive Mid-Southern Conference title, Corydon Central took a shot at sectional competition.
Competing at the Floyd Central Sectional, hosted at Highland Hills Middle School, swimmers were delayed a day before diving into the blue waters. Severe thunderstorms pushed Thursday’s preliminary round of events back a day to Feb. 21. The finals took place on Feb. 22 as originally scheduled.
As a team, Corydon Central put a pair of relay teams ‘ 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle ‘ in the finals on Saturday along with senior Cole McKiever in the 50 freestyle.
Scoring 100 points, the Panthers placed sixth among 16 teams that recorded points. The top overall team went to Jeffersonville for the fourth consecutive year, tallying 487 points. The Red Devils were shown the way by Timothy Martin and Evan Shive, each taking part in three sectional titles. Floyd Central (394) was second, followed by Jennings County (328). North Harrison finished 13th with 24 points, while Lanesville was tied for 14th with 10.
Putting in Corydon Central’s best performance, McKiever was sixth in the sprint. Swimming a prelim time of 23.40 seconds, the senior was put in position to compete with the top eight for podium position. In the final, McKiever placed sixth in the 50 with a time of 23.47. Martin was the fastest overall at 21.36 seconds.
Former Corydon Central swimmer Colin Lyell, competing for Floyd Central, tied for second (21.79 seconds). His time was fast enough to qualify for state by meeting the state standard. Lyell also qualified for state as a member of the sectional champion 200-medley and 200-free relay teams for the Highlanders.
Corydon Central’s Ethan Haverty earned 16th place in the 50, swimming in 26.35 seconds.
McKiever also earned a return trip on Saturday individually in the 100 backstroke. After swimming the prelims in 1:01.18, McKiever improved his time on Saturday to 1:00.52 to earn 10th place.
To kick off the meet, McKiever joined teammates Kyle McPhillips, Nick Smythe and Haverty to log a low time in the 200-medley relay. In the event, the quartet combined to swim in 1:54.03 to place sixth. Floyd Central was top overall with an impressive time of 1:38.81.
The result wouldn’t be the lone sixth-place finish for the Panthers relay teams. Smythe, Haverty and McKiever were joined by Brian Woods to swim in 1:42.80 in the 200-free relay. The time was nearly half a second faster than their prelim effort.
In Corydon Central’s final relay, the 400, the team of Max Glordan, Joseph Brann, Woods and McPhillips swam ninth (4:17.03). The time was much better than the 4:34.41 posted by the team on Friday.
Smythe would take an 11th-place spot in the 100 fly with a time of 1:05.55, while he was 14th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.81.
North Harrison’s Andrew Robertson was the lone Cougar to reach Saturday as an individual, participating in the 100 butterfly. The sophomore swam the prelims in 1:12.64 on Friday but was disqualified on Saturday in the consolation final.
Team-wise, the Cougars were 10th in the 200-medley relay with a time of 2:05.47. The grouping of Jacob Jenks, Gary Young, Cody Bennett and Robertson shaved six seconds off their prelim time set on Friday.
The same team took to the 200-free relay, placing 12th with a time of 1:52.64 on Saturday. Similar to the medley, they cut seven seconds from their posted time in the prelims.
Representing the Eagles, Lanesville senior Blake West swam to a 12th-place finish in two events. Taking to the 50 free, West recorded a time of 24.99 seconds. Later in the day, West placed the same in the 100 free, touching the final wall in 56.20.
The state final will take place Friday and Saturday at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.
State Meet
Seniors Blake Pieroni and Aaron Whitaker each won a pair of individual events and also swam on a pair of winning relays helping top-ranked Chesterton to successfully defend its IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving state championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
It was the fourth state championship in seven years for Chesterton and coach Kevin Kinel.
The Trojans outscored the field with 240 points followed by runner-up Avon with 198 points. Penn finished third with 187 followed by Columbus North with 133 and Carmel with 124.
Floyd Central’s Lyell placed 12th overall in the 50 freestyle. He swam a time of 21.62 seconds to finish fourth in the consolation final. During the prelims, Lyell posted a time of 21.57 seconds.
Swimming with the 200 freestyle relay team, Lyell swam a leg of Floyd Central’s 10th place finish with a time of 1:27.03.
Lyell was also part of Floyd Central’s 400 freestyle relay team that placed 24th (3:15.07) and 200 medley relay team that placed 27th (1:40.01).
Team scores: 1. Jeffersonville 487, 2. Floyd Central 394, 3. Jennings County 328, 4. Seymour 284, 5. Madison 128, 6. Corydon Central 100, 7. New Albany 99, 8. Scottsburg 94, 9. Switzerland County 56, 10. Silver Creek 52, 11. Southwestern (Hanover) 49, 12. Salem 27, 13. North Harrison 24, 14t. Charlestown 10, 14t. Lanesville 10, 14t. Providence 10.
Individual results: 200 medley relay ‘ 1. Floyd Central (B. Smith, C. Lyell, N. Guyon, Manias) 1:38.81, 2. Jeffersonville, 3. Jennings County; 200 free ‘ 1. E. Anderson (FC) 1:44.71, 2. Z. Graffis (Jeff), 3. T. Wilson (Jenn); 200 IM ‘ 1. D. Vanosdol (Jenn) 2:02.07, 2. E. Lopez (Jeff), 3. M. Weidekamp (Jeff); 50 free ‘ 1. T. Martin (Jeff) 21.36, 2. C. Lyell (FC), 3. T. Sariscsany (Jeff); 1 mtr. diving ‘ 1. C. Robinson (Sey) 439.95, 2. L. Sawyer (Jenn), 3. H. Brodfehrer (FC); 100 fly ‘ 1. E. Shive (Jeff) 51.71, 2. E. Blacklidge (Sey), 3. S. Moore (Jenn); 100 free ‘ 1. T. Martin (Jeff) 46.44, 2. T. Sariscsany (Jeff), 3. J. Montgomery (Sey); 500 free ‘ 1. M. McCormick (FC) 4:49.74, 2. M. Cain (Jeff), 3. Z. Daily (Jeff); 200 free relay ‘ 1. Floyd Central (C. Lyell, N. Guyon, E. Anderson, N. Manias) 1:28.69, 2. Jennings County, 3. Jeffersonville; 100 back ‘ 1. E. Shive (Jeff) 52.34, 2. E. Anderson (FC), 3. B. Smith (FC); 100 breast ‘ 1. T. Wilson (Jenn) 1:02.35, 2. N. Bullard (Sey), 3. M. Weidekamp (Jeff); 400 free relay ‘ 1. Jeffersonville (T. Martin, Z. Griffis, T. Sariscsany, E. Shive) 3:12.39, 2. Floyd Central, 3. Seymour.