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SYRACUSE - After Thursday's swim prelims, you could sense a feeling of worry in Wawasee swim coach Roger Karns' voice, as if placing 20 of 24 swimmers in the finals was not enough.
He seemed to put it best saying, "When one of two things out of a 100 go wrong, you tend to focus on those one or two problem areas."
Well at Saturday's finals, things seemed to go in Karn's favor, as his Warriors swam away with the sectional title, scoring 287 points.
Warsaw was in third place, trailing Bremen by 17 points before Kevin Cowan won the diving event, and the Tigers had strong finishes in the last few events to finish in second place as a team.
"We've had a lot of ups and downs this season," Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde said. "They just pulled together and came through. We started off a little weak, but we just kept building."
From the beginning of the meet, you could tell Wawasee was going to be close to unbeatable, winning the first four events.
The Warriors' first win came in the medley relay. The team of Marcelo Azenha, Ryan Harper, Ryan Moore, and Adam Brown not only won, but they also eclipsed the state standard time with a 1:39.67.
Azenha set the standard even higher in the 200 freestyle, rebreaking his record with a 1:44.18. Warsaw's Alex Wood and Valley's Scott Whetstone qualified for the state in that event as well. Wood also qualified for state in the 500 freestyle.
Harper won two individual events for the Warriors with a strong showing in the 100 backstroke and the 200 IM. Moore won the 50 freestyle with a :22.21 and advanced in the 100 freestyle, along with Whetstone. Azenha won that event.
Harper became a four-way sectional champion with a win in the 400 freestyle relay with Moore, Azenha, and Brown.
"We're really thrilled," Karns said. "They swam great. We got eight swims in (to state finals). We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish."
Even after a strong showing, Karns feels his top swimmers still have more to accomplish.
"We had season best times, and of all of them, I think they've got more, and I think they can improve."
Manchester finished fifth in the team competition. Diver Ben Weller finished third and will advance to the diving regional.
"This is the best sectional in my five years here," Manchester coach Dave Owens said. "A new team high of 53 PR's (personal records) were set over the two days. The guys really got fired up and finished the season strong. There is already talk of next year as we lose only one senior."
State finals begin on Friday. The diving regional at Oak Hill is on Wednesday.
