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NORTH WEBSTER -ÊThe athlete was telling the coach what to do, and the coach was more than willing to listen.
John Sincroft, the vocal leader of Warsaw's swim team, carried the sectional trophy up to his coach. "Kiss the tropy," he told her. Warsaw swim coach Chris LaLonde, her wet straw-colored hair sticking every which way after she jumped in the pool to celebrate the title, kissed the team trophy.
Warsaw, which won the Wawasee Sectional two years ago, won it again Saturday. The Tigers finished with 281 points, outdistancing Bremen (241), Wawasee (196), Huntington North (142), Culver Military Academy (140), Manchester (128), Plymouth (92), Tippecanoe Valley (66), Rochester (58) and Triton (15).
The Warsaw swimmers, who resemble walking lightbulbs with their shaved heads, peaked at the right time. Tiger swimmers were seeded at 24 different places; they finished worse than their seeds only three times.
"Our guys said (Friday) they had to swim out their wazoos," LaLonde said. "They swam out their wazoos."
Bremen, which won the sectional last year, entered as No. 16 Warsaw's main threat this year. In 12 events, Bremen was seeded No. 1 in six of them. Problem was, Bremen had but 11 swimmers on its team.
And this, fourth-year Bremen coach Craig Fox said, did his team in.
"We weren't able to overcome Warsaw's depth," Fox said, chuckling as he watched the fun Warsaw's swimmers had splashing around in the pool afterward.
"We knew it would be an uphill battle. They took some key positions in the first half of the meet, and that was something we couldn't overcome."
The top 12 places in each event earned teams points. Warsaw, which lost one meet all season, had two or more swimmers in the top 12 in eight events; Bremen had two or more swimmers in four events.
Just how much Warsaw's depth outweighed Bremen's quality was proven in the 50 freestyle, the fourth event where the Tigers pulled away.
Bremen junior Michael Stoller won the race to give the Lions 16 points. But he was the only Bremen swimmer in the 50 freestyle. Warsaw had two in the 50 freestyle: seniors Justin Lowrance and Jason Sibray. Lowrance finished second, earning Warsaw 13 points, and Sibray fifth, earning 10 points. Bremen may have finished first, but the Tigers won the points in the 50 freestyle 23-16.
After the 50 freestyle, Warsaw led 97-83 over Bremen. No team got within single digits of Warsaw again.
"When we scored the meet out, we had it 88-88 after the 50 freestyle," LaLonde said. "Today it was 97-83, so I knew if we held our positions the rest of the way, we'd be OK."
Warsaw, which entered seeded No. 1 in two events, finished with three first places. The team of sophomore Brandon Moore, senior Adam Helfrich, senior Justin Lowrance and Sincroft won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:40.53, and Helfrich won the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.45 seconds.
The event Warsaw was not seeded No. 1 in but won anyway was the last event, the 400 freestyle relay, arguably the most exciting race of the day.
The Tigers shaved seven seconds off their seed time as they squeezed by No. 1 seed Bremen 3:18.21-3:18.26. Helfrich helped Warsaw pull away with his strong swim on the third leg; Lowrance, Warsaw's anchor, made sure the Tigers stayed in the lead. Despite placing second, Bremen's time beat the state qualifying time, so the Lions move on to Friday's state prelims.
"I knew our guys could swim a 3:20," LaLonde said. "I did not know they could do a 3:18."
While Wawasee finished third, the Warriors finished with as many first places (three) as Warsaw and Bremen had.
Senior Adam Brown delivered two of them, winning the 200 individual medley in 2:02.28 and setting the school record in the 100 breaststroke with a first-place time of 1:00.53.
Freshman Guy Simmons delivered the other first place in the 100 backstroke (54.12 seconds).
Wawasee coach Roger Karns shared the sectional Coach of the Year award with Bremen's Fox.
Manchester senior diver Reed Christiansen, who's broken records at his own school, took his record-breaking ways to the sectional. He won the diving competition with a pool record score of 433.30.
One pool and sectional record fell. Stoller won the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.05 seconds, bettering Wawasee's Andy Kryder (47.31 seconds, 1994).
The top four divers, who each came from local teams, compete in Tuesday's Oak Hill Regional at 6 p.m. They are Christiansen, Wawasee's Dusten Lytle and Regg Beer, and Warsaw's David Wildman.
Two swimmers who did not finish first will advance to state as their time beat the state qualifying time.
Lowrance, who placed second in the 50 freestyle (21.84 seconds), will advance to the state competition, as will Manchester's Rod Smith, who took second in the 100 backstroke (54.77 seconds).
Lowrance's 50 freestyle time set a Warsaw record, breaking Kyle Hoskins' time of 21.10 seconds in 1986.
All Wawasee Sectional results appear on page 2B.
2000 WAWASEE SECTIONAL
SWIM TOURNAMENT
Saturday at Wawasee Middle School
Scoring in individual events: 16-13-12-11-10-9 for places one through six in the championship round; 7-5-4-3-2-1 for places seven through 12 in the consolation round
Scoring in relays: 32-26-24-22-20-18 for teams one through six in the championship round; 14-10-8 for teams seven through nine in the consolation round
*time qualifies for Friday's state prelims
#pool record
+sectional record
The first-place swimmer advances to Friday's state prelims, as well as those swimmers who meet the state cut time; the top four divers advance to the Oak Hill Regional, held at 6 p.m. Tuesday
Team scores -Ê1. Warsaw 281, 2. Bremen 241, 3. Wawasee 196, 4. Huntington North 142, 5. Culver Military Academy 128, 6. Manchester 128, 7. Plymouth 92, 8. Tippecanoe Valley 66, 9. Rochester 58, 9. Triton 15
Event 1 - 200 medley relay
State cut - 1:41.19
Sectional record -Ê1:38.44 (Wawasee, 1994)
1. Warsaw (Brandon Moore, John Sincroft, Adam Helfrich, Justin Lowrance) 1:40.53*, 2. Wawasee 1:42.01, 3. Manchester 1:43.91, 4. Bremen 1:45.56, 5. CMA 1:47.18, 6. Plymouth 1:48.59, 7. Huntington North 1:56.38, 8. Rochester 2:00.31, 9. Tippecanoe Valley 2:02.27
Event 2 -Ê200 freestyle
State cut -Ê1:45.79
Sectional record -Ê1:44.18 (Marcelo Azenha, Wawasee, 1997)
1. Jesse Cleaver (HN) 1:47.78, 2. Adam Helfrich (WAR) 1:49.13, 3. Brian Beall (BRE) 1:49.86, 4. Rod Smith (MAN) 1:50.33, 5. Rodrigo Sanchez (CMA) 1:54.56, 6. Michael Burcham (BRE) 1:55.79, 7. Brett Kollin (TV) 1:55.12, 8. Brett Moore (WAR) 1:56.12, 9. Kristopher Cossairt (HN) 1:56.34, 10. Jared Ganshorn (WAW) 1:57.52, 11. Tom Bridegroom (CMA) 1:57.57, 12. Michael Jenks (WAR) 2:03.71
Event 3 - 200 individual medley
State cut - 1:59.07
Sectional record -Ê1:55.52 (Bart Wickard, FW Snider, 1994)
1. Adam Brown (WAW) 2:02.28, 2. David Hochstetler (BRE) 2:02.76, 3. Kiel Beehler (WAR) 2:05.92, 4. Adam Brinkoff (BRE) 2:07.54, 5. Clint Grossnickle (ROC) 2:13.91, 6. Rob Trame (WAW) 2:14.57, 7. John Sincroft (WAR) 2:10.36, 8. Joe Marshall (CMA) 2:14.85, 9. Mark Howard (WAR) 2:17.68, 10. Andy Atkins (PLY) 2:19.94, 11. Nic Vermuelen (MAN) 2:20.16, 12. Albert Lau (CMA) 2:24.36
Event 4 -Ê50 freestyle
State cut - :21.96
Sectional record - :21.05 (Ben Christoffel, Wawasee, 1994)
1. Michael Stoller (BRE) :21.35*, 2. Justin Lowrance (WAR) :21.84*@, 3. Guy Simmons (WAW) :22.14, 4. Travis Schmidt (PLY) :22.38, 5. Jason Sibray (WAR) :22.80, 6. Aaron Cassel (MAN) :23.30, 7. Geoff Melicharek (CMA) :23.64, 8. Derek Eby (TV) :24.12, 9. Adam Hirschfield (CMA) :24.22, 10. Benjamin Moritz (HN) :24.24, 11. Ethan Huff (PLY) :24.50, 12. Nik Conley (WAW) :24.66
Event 5 - diving
Sectional record - 452.30 (Dave Keener, Wawasee, 1989)
1. Reed Christiansen (MAN) 433.30#, 2. Dusten Lytle (WAW) 390.70, 3. David Wildman (WAR) 340.40, 4. Regg Beer (WAW) 336.40, 5. Eddie Lawson (ROC) 315.45, 6. Francisco Jimenez (BRE) 304.00, 7. Dexter Anglin (WAR) 286.70, 8. Duane Strasser (MAN) 286.40, 9. Ron Thompson (TV) 251.00, 10. Ryan Gard (HN) 245.95, 11. Tyler Carpenter (PLY) 228.85, 12. Tyler Dunlop (HN) 228.30
Event 6 - 100 butterfly
State cut - :53.60
Sectional record -Ê:51.87 (Daniel Kleber, FW Snider, 1995)
1. Adam Helfrich (WAR) :54.45, 2. Josh Rohde (BRE) :57.13, 3. Rodridgo Sanchez (CMA) :57.32, 4. Aaron Cassel (MAN) :59.64, 5. Clint Grossnickle (ROC) 1:00.32, 6. Paul Gilliam (WAW) 1:01.28, 7. Benjamin Moritz (HN) 1:01.21, 8. Brandon Moore (WAR) 1:01.40, 9. Ethan Huff (PLY) 1:01.76, 10. Albert Lau (CMA) 1:02.52, 11. Pat Miller (PLY) 1:02.98, 12. Ryan Wolfe (WAW) 1:06.11
Event 7 - 100 freestyle
State cut - :48.37
Sectional record -Ê:47.31 (Andy Kryder, Wawasee, 1994)
1. Michael Stoller (BRE) :47.05*#+, 2. Justin Lowrance (WAR) :48.99, 3. Travis Schmidt (PLY) :50.06, 4. Brian Beall (BRE) :50.20, 5. Jason Sibray (WAR) :50.89, 6. Jacob Scheer (HN) :51.72, 7. Michael Burcham (BRE) :51.61, 8. Adam Hirschfield (CMA) :52.45, 9. Scott Shirey (TRI) :52.57, 10. Brett Moore (WAR) :52.60, 11. Geoff Melicharek (CMA) :52.67, 12. Nik Conley (WAW) 1:08.68
Event 8 - 500 freestyle
State cut - 4:48.60
Sectional record - 4:42.68 (Bart Wickard, FW Snider, 1995)
1. Jesse Cleaver (HN) 4:53.47, 2. Tom Bridegroom (CMA) 5:04.25, 3. David Hochstetler (BRE) 5:09.34, 4. Kristopher Cossairt (HN) 5:11.51, 5. Brett Kollin (TV) 5:18.54, 6. Kiel Beehler (WAR) 5:22.07, 7. Michael Jenks (WAR) 5:21.82, 8. Josh Stork (WAR) 5:24.83, 9. Kyle Rupert (BRE) 5:26.17, 10. Paul Rossi (BRE) 5:32.31, 11. Rob Chalfant (WAW) 5:34.52, 12. Brad Wear (WAW) 5:36.27
Event 9 -Ê200 freestyle relay
State cut - 1:30.19
Sectional record -Ê1:28.38 (Wawasee, 1994)
1. Bremen (Brian Beall, Adam Brinkoff, Michael Stoller, David Hochstetler) 1:30.39, 2. Warsaw 1:34.60, 3. Huntington North 1:35.85, 4. Plymouth 1:36.29, 5. Wawasee 1:38.42, 6. Tippecanoe Valley 1:39.54, 7. CMA 1:38.41, 8. Rochester 1:43.27, 9. Manchester 1:51.61
Event 10 -Ê100 backstroke
State cut - :54.88
Sectional record -Ê:53.64 (Bart Wickard, FW Snider, 1993)
1. Guy Simmons (WAW) :54.12*, 2. Rod Smith (MAN) :54.77*, 3. Josh Rohde (BRE) :58.56, 4. Scott Shirey (TRI) :58.68, 5. Jacob Scheer (HN) 1:00.98, 6. Mike Thallemer (WAR) 1:01.33, 7. Brandon Moore (WAR) :59.99, 8. Bryan White (WAW) 1:00.98, 9. Josh Stork (WAR) 1:02.19, 10. Rob Lappin (PLY) 1:02.89, 11. Evan Perkins (MAN) 1:05.33, 12. Cody Clark (HN) 1:05.56
Event 11 - 100 breaststroke
State cut - 1:01.01
Sectional record - :57.64 (Rob Rausch, Homestead, 1993)
1. Adam Brown (WAW) 1:00.53*@, 2. Adam Brinkoff (BRE) 1:02.25, 3. John Sincroft (wAR) 1:04.35, 4. Joe Marshall (CMA) 1:05.04, 5. Rob Trame (WAW) 1:06.07, 6. David Shoaf (CMA) 1:09.64, 7. Cory Gackenheimer (WAR) 1:08.15, 8. Nic Vermuelen (MAN) 1:08.46, 9. Jeff Fuller (MAN) 1:08.61, 10. Andy Atkins (PLY) 1:10.62, 11. Chad Beaver (HN) 1:12.19, 12. Phillip Reed (HN) 1:13.77
Event 12 - 400 freestyle relay
State cut - 3:18.94
Sectional record - 3:15.45 (FW Snider, 1992)
1. Warsaw (Kiel Beehler, Justin Lowrance, Adam Helfrich, Jason Sibray) 3:18.21*, 2. Bremen 3:18.26*, 3. Wawasee 3:27.20, 4. CMA 3:29.57, 5. Huntington North 3:30.34, 6. Manchester 3:35.86, 7. Tippecanoe Valley 3:42.17, 8. Plymouth 3:46.98, 9. Rochester 4:08.96
