North’s Nusawardhana 14th at state meet

INDIANAPOLIS — Columbus North junior Alexandra Nusawardhana surpassed her own expectations with her finish in Saturday’s 100-yard backstroke in the state high school swimming finals at the IU Natatorium at IUPUI.

“Last year I didn’t make it back (to consolation finals),” said Nusawardhana, who placed 21st in the 100 backstroke during prelims in 2015. “So my goal was top 16. Once I got there, I said to myself I wanted to go out there and give it all that I got, and I was able to move up two more places.”

Nusawardhana was sixth in the consolation finals, finishing 14th overall in 57.91 seconds.

Nusawardhana said there was a benefit to her second trip to the finals.

“I definitely have a lot more experience now than I did my sophomore year,” she said.

North assistant coach Leah Retrum said Nusawardhana swam a better race than she did in Friday’s prelims.

“She went out there and really got after it,” Retrum said. “It’s always exciting and great to see swimmers improve each time they swim. It’s a high-pressure meet. To keep her head and be able improve from day to day was exciting. She did a really good job. She’ll be ready go for top eight next year.”