INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Coach Andy Pedersen believed his seniors could motivate the rest of Hamilton Southeastern's team in Saturday's IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals.
One of those seniors, Jason Beyerl, took up the challenge in the opening leg of the opening event, the 200-yard medley relay. Juniors Derek Paul and Cameron Owen and freshman Nathan Kinney took it from there, joining forces to win the event in 1:34.72.The Royals went on to win their first boys state swim title, scoring in 10 of the 12 events for a total of 262 points. That ended the two-year run of North Central, which finished second with 235 points.
'I thought we'd have a chance this year with our four seniors,' said Pedersen, who was named coach of the year by his peers. 'We've been dancing around it for four years. The guys said, 'This is our time.'
Chesterton was third with 193, followed by Carmel with 157, Homestead with 154, Munster with 134, Northridge with 125, South Bend Riley with 124, Zionsville with 82 and Lake Central with 71.
Royals Senior Spencer Osborne, who won the Herman F. Keller Mental Attitude award, took second in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:41.13 and second in the 100 freestyle at 46.37 seconds.
Osborne, Paul, Owen and junior Cameron Mudd finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:26.40. Paul placed third in the 100 breaststroke at 57.41, and Mudd, Kinney, Osborne and junior Matthew Kruse were second in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:09.26.
Westfield junior Ben Wachtel took the 200 freestyle in 1:39.84 and the 100 freestyle in 45.76.
Chesterton freshman Kyle Whitaker was fastest in the 200 individual medley at 1:49.43 and in the 100 butterfly at 50.16. He also swam the first leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay for his team, which won the event in 3:08.63.
North Central senior Mike Christy defended his championship in the 100 backstroke by winning in 49.93.
Wawasee earned the top finish for area swimmers in the 200 medley relay. The Warriors' Tyler Wear, Cory Smith, Jake Garner and Chris Szynal swam a time of 1:41.15 to finished 16th in the state.
Syznal, Garner, Smith and Haven Hoffman earned the 18th spot in the 400 freestyle relay.
Smith finished second in the 200 freestyle wiht a time of 1:50.68. Smith kept busy Saturday as he also finished 26th in the 100 freestyle.
Szynal finished 20th in the 100 butterfly with a time of :53.45
Warsaw was represented and while the Tigers failed to earn a top 16 finish, the 200 freestyle team of Alex VanDuyne, Seth Smoker, Daniel Lowrance and Max Revere finished 22nd.
Warsaw's Brian Thallemer finished 27th in the 100 backstroke with a time of :56.73.
