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And then there were 96.
After Thursday's preliminaries at the Warsaw girls swimming sectional, the number of individual participants in Saturday's sectional finals was whittled to 96. Twelve individuals from each event will compete to determine the state qualifiers in Saturday's finals.
Ten teams from northern Indiana, including Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley and Manchester, met Thursday night to decide the final lineup for Saturday.
In the end, Warsaw had the most advancing swimmers. All totaled, 19 Tiger swimmers were good enough to move on to compete in Saturday's final, consolation or alternate competitions.
"Overall our performance was good," said Warsaw coach Eric Moehler. "We have three or four girls sick, but they went in and really swam their hearts out.
"The illness definitely inhibited how they swam today, but the girls gave everything."
For Warsaw, Jaci Thallemer, Katie Beehler, Hillary Barlow and Meaghan Neill each placed in the top six in the preliminaries and will be competing for a spot in the state championships. Beehler, who advanced in two events, placed first in the 100 backstroke. Thallemer advanced to the finals in two events as well.
Wawasee will have competitors in 13 swims in Saturday's competition. Amber Lyon, Laura Karns and Jenna Rantz were in the top six for the Warriors. Karns, the only first-place finisher for the Warriors, placed first in the 50 freestyle.
Amber Drudge finished first in the 100 freestyle to lead the Tippecanoe Valley squad. In all, the Vikings will compete in 10 swims Saturday.
"I thought the girls were a bit tight to start with," said Tippecanoe Valley coach Steve Doerscher. "Once we got going and got a few swims in, we swam much better in our events."
"Alyssa Anglin had a good time in the 100 freestyle," said Doerscher. "Kyleigh (Gast) swam well in the freestyle, and Hilary Vanlaningham had her best time in the 500 freestyle this season."
Two Manchester swimmers will come back to Warsaw for Saturday's competition. Nikki McKenzie is swimming in the consolation round of the 500 freestyle competition, while Allison Ingold is an alternate for the same event.
"The girls did wonderful," said Manchester coach Abby Zerkel. "They all dropped their times. I'm very happy with our performance tonight."
Overall, area coaches were pleased with their teams' performances at the sectional preliminaries. Now the advancing swimmers will look to Saturday's finals to finish their seasons.
"We have more people swimming Saturday than we had in the original seedings," said Moehler. "That is very positive and I am very happy with the effort the girls put in tonight.
"Now we have two more days to get well. We won't swim Friday, and hopefully the girls will feel much better Saturday."
WARSAW SECTIONAL
Girls Preliminary Results
Final-Round Qualifiers
200 Medley Relay -Ê1. Bremen, 2:00.16; 2. CGA; 3. Plymouth; 4. Wawasee; 5. Rochester, 6. Warsaw; 7. Huntington; 8. Manchester
200 Freestyle -Ê1. Schramm (B), 2:01.35; 2. Sturtevant (P); 3. Robbins (HN); 4. Thallemer (War); 5. Vanlandingham (TV); 6. Ryan (B)
200 Individual Medley -Ê1. Martha (CGA), 2:19.08; 2. Kolbe (B); 3. Beehler (War); 4. Hollenbaugh (P); 5. Grossnickle (R); 6. Lyon (Waw)
50 Freestyle -Ê1. Karns (Waw), 26.01; 2. Drudge (TV); 3. Jennings (B); 4. Dietz (P); 5. Mertes (P); 6. Gast (TV).
100 Butterfly -Ê1. Coughlin (CGA), 1:03.09; 2. Robbins (HN); 3. Molitor (HN); 4. Blubaugh (P); 5. Barlow (War); 6. Lyon (Waw)
100 Freestyle -Ê1. Drudge (TV), 57.51; 2. Karns (Waw); 3. Dietz (P); 4. Mertes (P); 5. Anglin (TV); 6. Jennings (B)
500 Freestyle -Ê1. Schramm (B), 5:26.07; 2. Sturtevant (P); 3. Brubaker (W); 4. Vanlandingham (TV); 5. Thallemer (War); 6. Ryan (B)
200 Freestyle Relay -Ê1. Tippecanoe Valley, 1:47.50; 2. Plymouth; 3.(tie) Warsaw, Bremen; 5. Wawasee; 6. Huntington North; 7. Rochester; 8. CGA
100 Backstroke -Ê1. Beehler (War), 1:04.14; 2. Coughlin (CGA); 3. Blubaugh (P); 4. Brubaker (Wab); 5. Neill (War); 6. Hollenbaugh (P)
100 Breaststroke -Ê1. Molitor (HN) 1:11.01; 2. Grossnickle (R); 3. Martha (CGA); 4. Kolbe (B); 5. Rantz (Waw); 6. J. Hueni (B)
400 Freestyle Relay -Ê1. Plymouth, 3:54.03; 2. Tippecanoe Valley; 3. Bremen; 4. Warsaw; 5. CGA; 6. Manchester; 7. Wawasee; 8. Huntington North
Consolation-Round Qualifiers
200 Freestyle -Ê7. Pulliam (P); 8. Beall (B); 9. Noggle (War); 10. Youse (War); 11. Brissette (Waw); 12. Evens (CMA) ALT -ÊMcKenzie (Man); Kollin (TV)
200 Individual Medley -Ê7. K. Hueni (B); 8. J. Hueni (B); 9. Laudick (CGA); 10. Cook (War); 11. Muehlhausen (P); 12. Scheer (HN); ALT -ÊMcCammon (War); Easterday (P)
50 Freestyle -Ê7. Bandy (CGA); 8. Beckett (War); 9. Ummel (War); 10. Butt (Waw); 11. Wade (R); 12. Barlow (War); ALT - Weller (TV); Allison (HN)
100 Butterfly -Ê7. Cook (War); 8. Neill (War); 9. Blackburn (R); 10. Laudick (CGA); 11. Wilson (R); 12. Harper (Waw); ALT -ÊWeaver (TV), Dietrich (B)
100 Freestyle -Ê7. Bandy (CGA); 8. Pulliam (P); 9. Beall (B); 10. Gast (TV); 11. Ummel (War); 12. Beckett (War); ALT -ÊWade (R), Butt (Waw)
500 Freestyle -Ê7. Evens (CGA); 8. McKenzie (Man); 9. Kornexl (HN); 10. Noggle (War); 11. Brissette (Waw); 12. Cook (War); ALT -ÊIngold (Man), Wickens (P)
100 Backstroke -Ê7. Drake (Waw); 8. Blackburn (R); 9. Dietrich (B); 10. Judy (Waw); 11. Cook (War); 12. Anglin (TV); ALT -ÊScheer (HN), Wickens (P)
100 Breaststroke -Ê7. Weller (TV); 8. A. Hueni (B); 9. Muelhausen (P); 10. Stealy (CGA); 11. McCammon (War); 12. Blackburn (R); ALT -ÊEasterday (P), Mock (Waw)
Wawasee finishers -Ê(200 freestyle) Wells, Drake; (200 IM) Harper, Rantz; (50 freestyle) Mock; (100 butterfly) Harper; (100 freestyle) Jackson; (500 freestyle) Wells, Mock; (100 backstroke) Jackson; (100 breaststroke) Wears
Warsaw finishers -Ê(100 freestyle) Youse; (100 breaststroke) Albertson, Dick
Tippecanoe Valley finishers -Ê(200 freestyle) Weaver; (200 IM) Newsome; (500 freestyle) Kollin, Pletcher; (100 backstroke) Sanders, Pletcher; (100 breaststroke) Sanders, Weller
Manchester finishers -Ê(200 freestyle) Minnix, Wood; (200 IM) Ingold, Fradette; (50 freestyle) Falk, Kohn, Jakimiak; (100 butterfly) Hunter, Fradette, Wieland; (100 freestyle) Falk, Briner, Bucher; (500 freestyle) Minnix; (100 backstroke) Hix, McKenzie, Pyrah; (100 breaststroke) Bucher, Kambs, Wood
