Swimming

BNL GIRLS FOURTH AT Conference; Boys suffer setback.

BNL girls get fourth at HHC meet

From The Bedford-Times Mail

MADISON — The Bedford North Lawrence girls swim team has battled the numbers game all season long, but the Stars pulled together and came through in the clutch Saturday, coming home from the Hoosier Hills Conference meet with a fourth-place finish.

The Floyd Central Highlanders edged Jeffersonville for the top spot, while Seymour finished just ahead of the Stars for third.

“Fourth place was absolutely unexpected,” said BNL coach Marc McCay, whose club finished just one point behind Seymour. “I thought, with the way things had gone throughout the season, we’d end up sixth and maybe fifth, so I’m absolutely thrilled we were able to finish fourth.

“I knew Floyd and Jeff were going to be the top dogs, and New Albany, Madison and Seymour each beat us during the regular season, so there were really four teams battling for the third spot, and we fell into the mix. It could have been anyone’s game, and I’m happy to have finished where we did, with a chance to place even higher.”

Justine Jones was the top finisher for the Stars, earning runner-up honors in the 50 and 100 freestyle events while teaming up with Anah Hewetson, Jennifer Lee and Kayla Allen to place second in the 400 freestyle relay as well.

Hewetson earned all-conference honors for her efforts in the 200 IM and also finished in the top 10 in the 100 free, while Kayla Allen turned in a third-place effort in the 100 breaststroke and wound up fourth in the 500 freestyle.

“Everyone really put forth some solid efforts today,” McCay said. “Whitney Drake, Kayla McDonald and Chelsea Klumpp each had PR’s, and we got some good swims from Jennifer Lee. She swam good splits in the relays and swam well individually as well, which is good to see at this point of the season.

“Overall the effort was more than I could have asked for. Everyone really swam hard and did their best and the fourth-place finish proves that. We were third last year, and for us to get close to that being down some swimmers this year is really quite a feat.”

The Stars will travel to Columbus North Thursday before wrapping up their regular season at home against Terre Haute North on Saturday.

“This performance should give us some momentum as we head into the final week of the regular season and into our taper and the sectional,” McCay said. “It was a great meet, and there were some really good races. There really weren’t too many negatives. We had some people off their times a little bit, but they were putting out the effort, and that was evident.”

No.18 BNL falls to South

From The Times-Mail

BLOOMINGTON — The Bedford North Lawrence Stars climbed back into the top 20 of the boys swim team rankings this week, but they didn’t have enough firepower to knock off Bloomington South Tuesday night as the Panthers recorded a 113-73 victory in their home pool.

Juston Lee and Taylor Sanders each claimed a pair of individual victories for the Stars, while Hank Dusard (207.65), Adam Chastain (198.10) and Cory Blackwell (168.95) went 1-2-3 in the diving competition to help rack up the points for the visitors.

“As a whole, the guys are swimming solid,” BNL coach Marc McCay said. “They’re all trying to pull from within themselves and produce as much as they can for the team.

“I told them before we left, to go up there with a positive attitude, and for the most part, that’s what we did tonight. Even though we didn’t come out on top with a victory, we swam very strong.”

Lee turned in season-best times in the 200 freestyle (1:48.72) and the 500 freestyle (4:59.69), where he went under five minutes for the first time this year.

“Juston had a great 200 free,” McCay said. “I was not expecting that 1:48, but he looked strong all the way through and he out-touched the guy next to him by just a bit, so it was just a great race to watch and I was really glad to see him go in the 40’s this early in the season.

“And he broke 5:00 in the 500 for the first time this season and we’ve got three more meets before the sectional, so hopefully he can keep that time down there until we taper, then really go low.”

Sanders won the 200 individual medley (2:03.11) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.83), bouncing back from a disappointing effort at Columbus East last week.

“Taylor Sanders had a really good race in the 200 IM and that was great to see,” McCay said. “He had a little bit of a rough go at Columbus, but he’s regrouped and is swimming where he needs to be right now, so that was good to see him turn it around like that. He looked stronger and more powerful and was just more comfortable in the water.”

Jon Nordhoff finished second in the 50 free (23.74) and third in the 100 free (52.85) with PR’s in each race, while Ben Hall was fourth in the 50 free (53.88) and also turned in a solid effort in the 100 backstroke.

“Both those guys swam nice races,” McCay said. “We’re swimming tired right now and the rest that’s coming as we go into taper after conference is going to make a huge difference for all the guys.

“The sectional is going to be exciting, because it’s going to be a very even field and that’s going to make it a lot of fun to see how it plays out.”

Dallas Dutton finished fourth in the 500 free (5:20.20) and fifth in the 200 free (2:00.25), while Patrick Mullis added a fourth-place finish in the 50 free (24.71) and Tyler Nordhoff wound up fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:15.04.

“Dallas had a couple good swims tonight,” McCay said. “That’s probably his best time ever in the 200 and the 500 and there’s more in that boy. He’s got some technique issues to tighten up, but once we do that, I think he’s going to swim some really good swims. But he had a good meet tonight to be sure.”

The Stars travel back to Columbus to take on the North Bull Frogs on Jan. 18 before returning home for their final home meet of the season on Jan. 20.

“The guys are happy with the way things are going,” McCay said. “And they’re looking forward to conference and if we stay focused and dig in we can have a successful go at it and build that momentum heading into sectional.”

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