Lady Panthers break school record en route to MSC title
By Brandon Miniard, Sports Writer, [email protected]
While the temperatures dropped last Thursday, the cold, quiet night provided a nice contrast to the loud, humid environment within Charlestown Middle School. This was the site of the annual Mid-Southern Conference girls’ swim meet, where both Corydon Central and North Harrison were among the top teams vying for the conference title.
By the time the echoing screams faded and the waters settled, the Lady Panthers ended their rivals’ three-year reign as MSC champions, finishing first in seven of the 11 events en route to capturing their first conference title since 2019.
The Lady Panthers ended a stellar evening in historic fashion as Addison Applegate, Ella Johnson, Megan King and Madison Stilwell took the gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:05.91, setting a new school record in the event for the second time this season. The previous record stood at 4:10.85, which the aforementioned quartet set during a home meet against Tell City and Providence in early December.
Long before the record-setting swim, the Lady Panthers kicked off the evening with Johnson, King, Stilwell and Georgia LaHue claiming the 200-yard medley relay in 2:03.41. The Lady Panthers took home the triple crown in the relays as LaHue, Applegate, Johnson and Ava Gerdon won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:53.89.
Stilwell was one of the Lady Panthers’ top individual performers as she was named all-conference for winning the 200-yard freestyle in 2:06.24 followed by the 500-yard freestyle in 5:45.33. Johnson followed by taking all-conference honors in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:15.50 and was named an honorable mention by finishing second in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:23.22. King also captured the title in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:07.23 while placing third in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:30.30.
Applegate and LaHue rounded out the Lady Panthers’ honorable mentions, as they finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (28.26) and 100-yard backstroke (1:11.21), respectively.
Applegate also finished third in the 100-yard freestyle (1:02.27), while LaHue did the same in the 100-yard butterfly (1:14.75). Sydney Edwards finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:15) and seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (7:07.93), while Gerdon finished fifth in both the 50-yard (29.61) and 100-yard freestyles (1:05.83).
Addison Alford placed sixth in the 200-yard freestyle (2:34.54) and eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:32.55), while Haelley Shearer took eighth place in both the 200-yard individual medley (3:20.89) and 100-yard butterfly (1:44.06). Haley Drury placed eighth in the 500-yard freestyle (7:09.88) and ninth in the 200-yard freestyle (2:40.31). Laurynn Smith was next with a 10th-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:33.66) and had a 13th-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (37.60). Raeleigh Leisure placed 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:50.68) and 15th in the 100-yard freestyle (1:37.85).
North Harrison saw its three-year reign as MSC champions come to an end in the event but had finished first in a pair of events to place second with a combined score of 275. The Lady Cats’ relay teams had a strong start to the evening as E.V. Wright, Emily Kintner, Avery Wiseman and Destiny Kays finished second in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:07.41. Wright, Kays, Wiseman and Alyssa Johnson concluded the evening by finishing third in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:17.88, sandwiched between Johnson, Kintner, Addy Reynolds and Maria Garcia finishing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2:04.08.
Wright was one of the Lady Cats’ top individual performers in the pool as she captured all-conference honors in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:06.75 followed by earning honorable mentions by finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:19.56. With her victory in the backstroke, Wright has earned all-conference in the event all four years of her high school career.
Kays had a similar showing to Wright as she took the gold in the 50-yard freestyle in 27.21 followed by finishing second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:11.18. Johnson was a two-time honorable mention as she finished second in both the 100-yard (1:01.51) and 500-yard freestyles (6:13.73), while Wiseman took fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:16.51) and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:55.77). Reynolds finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:26.92) and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle (30.41).
Ana Wright was next for the Lady Cats as she finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:29.50) and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (7:04.75), while Katie Wise was sixth in the 50-yard freestyle (30.11) and ninth in the 100-yard freestyle (1:12.26). Garcia placed seventh in both the 200-yard individual medley (3:15.48) and 100-yard butterfly (1:33.34), while Callie Higdon took ninth place in both the 200-yard individual medley (3:25.97) and 100-yard backstroke (1:31.30).
Kintner finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:29.02) and 11th in the 500-yard freestyle (7:33.24), and Cali Fink placed seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (1:25.95) and 10th in the 200-yard freestyle (2:47.54). Vicki Moorman finished 11th in the 200-yard freestyle (2:56.07), while Brook Schultz placed 13th in the 100-yard freestyle (1:18.32).
The boys’ edition of the MSC Championship will take place tomorrow (Thursday) at Charlestown Middle School beginning at 6 p.m.
Once the conference slate has concluded, both girls’ and boys’ swimming will turn their sights to Jasper, the host of the sectional swim meet. The girls’ meet will begin Thursday, Feb. 2, with the preliminaries followed by the finals the subsequent Saturday.
