Jay County’s pool was once again host to the sectional prelims Thursday as teams from around the area worked towards Saturday’s finals. Swimmers must win their sectional to advance to next week’s State Finals.
Notes & Times:
-Norwell’s medley relay team of Jillian Melcher, Marlee & Emerson Meredith, and Ella Krug was seeded first but finished third in the prelims. They will need to make up over a second to catch Delta.
-Bellmont’s medley relay team of Shaylin McCray, Madison Witte, Brooklyn Brownlow and Morgan Brames swam a season-best time for the team to finish sixth and make the A Final.
-Ava Kinsey swam her career best to take third in the 200 for South Adams.
-Ella Hockemeyer (Bellmont) bettered her time in the 200 from the conference meet for a season-best clocking, good enough to reach the B Final Saturday.
-Nia Litwiller (SA) was just short of making the B Final, but she did swim her best time of the season in the 200.
-Bellmont’s Emma Howell had a similar outing to Litwiller’s, turning in a season best but missing the B Final for the Braves.
-Ella Krug (Norwell) swam a season-best time in the IM to take third. Much like the medley relay, Krug will be chasing Huntington North’s Annika Carpenter and Delta’s Annie Jackson for the top spot Saturday.
-Julia Arnold of South Adams turned in an outstanding time in her IM heat, finishing in 2:30.90 for fourth place. That time was four seconds better than her previous best this year at the ACAC meet and also represents a career best for the Starfire junior.
-Bellmont’s Shaylin McCray reached the B Final with a career-best time of 2:37.52 in the IM.
-Calah Hill (SA) swam a season best in the IM.
-Bellmont’s Madison Witte was the last girl to make the A Final in the 50. She did it by shaving a tenth off her time from the NE8 meet and was just .01 seconds from her time in last year’s final.
-GenaMarie Summersett was the lead swimmer in the 50 for the Starfires with Ava Kinsey competing in the 100 and 200 instead. Summersett trimmed .31 seconds from her previous season best and finished the ninth.
-Baylee Smith swam a season best and made the B Final in the 50 for the Jetskis.
-Bellmont freshman Bella Ashley swam her best 50 this season.
-Norwell’s Ella Krug finished in a dead heat for second in the butterfly with a season-best time of 1:05.50. She and Kaydince Kalhoefer (HN) will need to cut more than four seconds to get down to Annie Jackson of Delta.
-Emerson Meredith of Norwell cut a full second off her best time in the 100 Free this year to take second behind defending champion Eleanor Groves.
-Ava Kinsey (SA) swam her best time this season in the 100 Free to make the A Final.
-GenaMarie Summersett (SA) also swam a career best in the 100 Free to reach the B Final.
-Julia Arnold swam her career best to pass Cassandra Coyne of Norwell and finish second in the 500.
-Norwell’s Karrigan Melcher broke six minutes for the first time this year to reach the A Final in the 500. Teammate Olivia Daniel also made the A, cutting a second from her season best.
-Calah Hill (SA) made a big improvement in her 500 time, cutting 11 seconds from her season best to reach the B Final. Hill was nearly a minute faster Thursday than her season best last year.
-Adams Central’s Ella Bluhm cut five seconds from her season best in the 500.
-The Norwell Knights will have a real shot at reaching the State Finals in the 200 Free Relay after finishing second by just .45 seconds in Thursday’s Prelims. Delta won the event, but they will face plenty of pressure from Norwell and Huntington North on Saturday. The Norwell team consisted of Renee Fraze, Marlee Meredith, Emerson Meredith and Jillian Melcher.
-Melcher then made the A Final in the backstroke with a third-place finish, swimming her best time of the season in that event. Teammate Rilynn Ervin will join her after cutting several seconds from her season best as well.
-Shaylin McCray swam a career best to reach the A Final in the Back.
-Baylee Smith (AC) reached the B Final with a major improvement on her season-best time in the backstroke.
-Norwell’s Haleigh Reinhard passed several girls on the seed list by swimming a career best in the breaststroke. She finished second to Bluffton freshman Gabrielle Coyne.
-Reagan Bollenbacher (SA) cut five seconds from her season-best time this year to make the B Final.
-Ella Bluhm also swam a season best in the breaststroke for the Jetskis.
-The Starfish 400 Relay team nearly caught Norwell to steal second place thanks to an outstanding anchor leg by Ava Kinsey. The team’s third-place time was a season best.
-Bellmont’s final relay team also swam a season best and will participate in the A Final.
Note: Those entries listed at 1-8 will compete in the A Final, while those in 9th to 16th will swim in Saturday’s B Final.
200 Medley Relay
1. Delta 1:56.15
3. Norwell 1:57.28
Melcher-MMeredith-Krug-EMeredith
4. Jay County 2:01.80
5. Adams Central 2:05.27
Smith-Hendricks-Moser-Thomas
6. Bellmont 2:08.31
McCray-Witte-Brownlow-Brames
10. South Adams 2:20.66
Scott-Bollenbacher-Grush-Watson
200 Free
1. Alivia Jackson-Delta 2:01.90
3. Ava Kinsey-SA 2:10.41
5. Karrigan Melcher-N 2:12.22
7. Sophia Hoevel-JC 2:12.41
8. Olivia Daniel-N 2:12.77
11. Brooke Thomas-AC 2:15.12
13. Ella Hockemeyer-B 2:16.31
15. Ryleigh Huffman-N 2:17.71
200 IM
1. Annika Carpenter-HN 2:21.42
2. Annie Jackson-Delta 2:23.11
3. Ella Krug-Norwell 2:27.08z
4. Julia Arnold-SA 2:30.90
5. Haleigh Reinhard-Norwell 2:31.18
9. Marlee Meredith-Norwell 2:33.70
13. Shaylin McCray-B 2:37.52
50 Free
1. Eleanor Groves-Delta 24.16
2. Jillian Melcher-N 25.75
7. Renee Fraze-N 26.76
8. Madison Witte-B 26.78
9. GenaMarie Summersett-SA 27.01
10. Sawyer Peterson-N 27.04
12. Addison Gilbert-AC 27.63
13. Baylee Smith-AC 27.74
15. Jenna Cook-AC 28.57
100 Fly
1. Annie Jackson-D 1:01.36
2. (DEAD HEAT) Kaydince Kalhoefer-HN & Ella Krug-N 1:05.50
5. Kate Moser-AC 1:07.89
7. Lauren Fisher-JC 1:08.24
8. Rilynn Ervin-N 1:08.83
9. Ryleigh Huffman-N 1:09.01
16. Brooklyn Brownlow-B 1:15.50
100 Free
1. Eleanor Groves-D 54.40
2. Emerson Meredith-N 56.25
5. Ava Kinsey-SA 58.93
6. Gabriella Coyne-Blf 59.54
7. Sophia Hoevel-JC 59.60
9. Sawyer Peterson-N 1:00.17
10. Brooke Thomas-AC 1:00.24
11. Addison Gilbert-AC 1:01.39
12. GenaMarie Summersett-SA 1:01.61
14. Addyson Heyerly-N 1:01.93
15. Jenna Cook-AC 1:04.68
500 Free
1. Alivia Jackson-D 5:36.18
2. Julia Arnold-SA 5:53.46
3. Cassandra Coyne-N 5:55.30
4. Karrigan Melcher-N 5:58.08
5. Olivia Daniel-N 5:58.45
7. Aubrey Millspaugh-JC 6:04.42
13. Ella Hockemeyer-B 6:16.55
15. Calah Hill-SA 6:19.83
200 Free Relay
1. Delta 1:44.68
2. Norwell 1:45.13
Fraze-MMeredith-EMeredith-Melcher
4. Jay County 1:49.73
6. Adams Central 1:51.05
Gilbert-Moser-Smith-Thomas
7. South Adams 1:52.79
Summersett-Litwiller-Arnold-Kinsey
8. Bluffton 1:56.88
9. Bellmont 1:57.99
Brownlow-Brames-Ashley-Hockemeyer
100 Back
1. Annika Carpenter-HN 1:01.40
3. Jillian Melcher-N 1:05.23
4. Rilynn Ervin-N 1:06.70
6. Shaylin McCray-B 1:08.26
7. Kate Moser-AC 1:09.61
8. Avery Wentz-JC 1:09.78
10. Baylee Smith-AC 1:10.35
12. Alaina Barnhart-N 1:11.67
15. Brooklyn Brownlow-B 1:16.77
100 Breast
1. Gabriella Coyne-Blf 1:12.47
2. Haleigh Reinhard-N 1:15.24
4. Morgan DeHoff-JC 1:15.94
5. Zion Beiswanger-JC 1:16.01
6. Marlee Meredith-N 1:16.47
10. Madison Witte-B 1:18.89
15. Reagan Bollenbacher-SA 1:23.07
16. Savannah Hendricks-AC 1:23.24
400 Free Relay
1. Delta 3:49.47
2. Norwell 4:03.90
Heyerly-Fraze-Daniel-Krug
3. South Adams 4:06.44
Summersett-Litwiller-Arnold-Kinsey
6. Jay County 4:12.16
7. Bellmont 4:16.55
Ashley-Hockemeyer-McCray-Witte
8. Adams Central 4:35.39
Cook-Bluhm-Michaels-Gilbert