Cougars capture 4th straight MSC title
By Brandon Miniard, Sports Writer, [email protected]
While temperatures dropped into the low 20s Thursday night, it didn’t stop a number of schools from trekking to Charlestown Middle School for the annual Mid-Southern Conference boys’ swim meet.
Coming in having won the last three MSC titles, North Harrison faced tough challengers in second-place Salem (195) and third-place Scottsburg (152). In the end, the Cougars held firm in their title defense, winning the MSC crown for the fourth consecutive season with a combined score of 285.
The Cougars had a less than ideal start when the team of Kody Fulk, Ryusei Hasegawa, Thomas Knight and Chase Radcliff finished fourth in the 200-yard medley with a time of 2:11.64. In terms of the relays, the Cougars bounced back as Brady Sieg, Lucas Miller, Ryan Colin and Lance Marinc captured the gold in both the 200-yard (1:45.55) and 400-yard freestyle relays (4:09.06).
Marinc was one of the Cougars top individual performers, as he was named all-conference by winning both the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.25) and 500-yard freestyle (6:02.53). Hasegawa earned honorable mentions by finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:14.68 while also finishing sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:00.92. Sieg followed by finishing third in both the 100-yard butterfly (1:17.23) and 100-yard backstroke (1:12.70).
Fulk was next for the Cougars by finishing third in the 500-yard freestyle (6:53.84) and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle (2:35.17). Colin added to the Cougars’ top-five finishes with a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (25.34) and fifth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (1:00.13). Miller placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (1:00.09) and fifth in the 50-yard freestyle (26.47).
Carson Caffee finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:24.50) and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle (2:59.26), while Knight placed sixth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:42.50). Keaton Caffee followed by placing seventh in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:31.67) and 200-yard individual medley (2:59.51). Radcliff rounded the Cougars’ night by finishing sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:29.61) and ninth in the 200-yard individual medley (3:04.38).
Despite only fielding four swimmers, Corydon Central had a solid night in the pool, as it finished fourth with a combined score of 135. The quartet of Alex Marnell, Logan Edwards, Booker LaHue and Evan Casabella had a strong showing together as they finished second in both the 200-yard medley relay (2:04.69) and 200-yard freestyle relay (1:46.89).
Individually, LaHue and Edwards both earned honorable mentions by finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle (58.18) and 50-yard freestyle (24.54), respectively. LaHue also finished third in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:29.43, while Edwards took the bronze in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:15.57.
Marnell was next for the Panthers as he finished sixth in both the 50-yard freestyle (28.78) and 100-yard backstroke (1:31.18), while Casabella finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:26.13) and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle (1:07.22).
Both Corydon Central and North Harrison will have a couple of weeks off from competition before traveling to Jasper for the Indiana High School Athletic Association Sectional 19, beginning with preliminaries on Feb. 16 followed by the finals two days later on Feb. 18.
