By Lauren Rigg
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, February 16. COACH Chris Plumb led the Carmel girls to their 28th victory yesterday at the IU Natatorium at the IHSAA girls’ swimming and diving state meet. Carmel won by a staggering 190 points and dominated all three of the relay events, setting national public school records in all three. Crown Point took second in the team race with 209 points, while Fishers placed third with 203.
One more championship title and Carmel will have tied the national high school all-sports record set by a Hawaii boys high school team back in 1986. Plumb’s tweet of “28 girls scored for the 28th consecutive state championship. 8 State Records and 3 National Relay Records. 1 awesome team. #blessed” sums up Carmel’s meet to a T.
After Carmel’s Hanna House, Alex Clarke, Veronica Burchill and Amy Bilquist set a national public school and state record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:40.83, sophomore Claire Adams established a state record of her own with a 1:46.95 in the 200 freestyle. Crown Point’s Hannah Kukurugya and Western’s Summer Brown placed second and third after posting times of 1:47.69 and 1:48.85 respectively. Adams’ 100 backstroke time of 52.97 later in the meet earned her another state record and first place finish a few events later as she edged out Wawasee’s Breanna Robinson (53.96) and Carmel’s Hanna House (54.77).
Bethany Galat, a senior from Penn, saw her third state victory in the 200 individual medley when she edged out Aly Tetzloff of Crown Point (2:00.04) and Lillia King of Evansville FJ Reitz (2:01.42) in the breaststroke leg of the race and pulled away to win in 1:57.52. Galat triumphed over King again in the 100 breaststroke when she posted a 59.66 in the event to continue the record breaking trend at the meet. In second place, a mere three tenths behind at 59.99, King also broke the old state record while Homestead’s Caroline Weigand swam a 1:02.99 to grab third.
Amy Bilquist, another Carmel swimmer, found success in the 50 freestyle, having set the state record with a 22.15 in prelims. She finished just off that in finals with a 22.17, outracing second place finisher Alex Cleveland of Zionsville, and her third place Carmel teammate Veronica Burchill, who put up times of 22.68 and 22.91. Bilquist was crowned champ in the 100 Freestyle as well when she set yet another state record of 48.93, breaking a record that had stood since 2001. Cleveland finished runner-up again with a 49.76, and North Central’s Rachel Hayden rounded out the top three with a 50.39.
Crown Point’s Aly Tetzloff had an impressive 100 butterfly, winning in record-breaking style with a 52.70. Robinson scored an additional second place finish with a 53.77 and Vanessa Krause of Chesterton snatched third in the event with a 53.84.
Freshman Kukurugya made another appearance when she finished her individual state debut with a winning time of 4:47.83 in the 500 Freestyle. Emily Moser of Fishers was not far behind, swimming a 4:48.40 for second, and her teammate Abbegayle Schneider managed third with a 4:51.47.
Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter’s Sarah Bacon topped the diving competition with another state record of 546.45, erasing Mary Beth Dunnichay’s 544.05 from 2011 from the record books. Meme Sharp of Noblesville took second with 492.35 points, ahead of Fishers’ Courtnee Williams (480.10).
Carmel set two other national public school relay records, in the 200 and 400 free relays. In the 200, Amy Bilquist (22.52), Claire Adams (22.66), Hanna House (23.31) and Veronica Burchill (22.88) posted a 1:31.37 to take down their own record of 1:32.75 from 2009. In the 400, Burchill (50.46), Katie Lemen (51.74), Kendall Smith (50.30) and Adams (48.70) touched in 3:21.20 to take down Hershey’s 3:22.85 from 2011.
Overall, the meet saw three double winners, various records fall, and relay domination by Carmel that enabled their continuing team champion status.
Results For: Indiana High School State Championships