After finishing second in the in the 100-yard freestyle the past three years, Darby Coles was hungry for a conference title.
The Columbus North senior not only broke through with her first individual conference win, she broke the Conference Indiana meet record.
Her 52.52-second clocking helped lead the Bull Frogs to a third-place team finish Saturday at the Chick Newell Natatorium.
“I’ve been waiting three years to do that, three years to be a conference champion,” Coles said. “Since freshman year, I’ve wanted to win that event, and I finally did it this year.”
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Coles wasn’t the only North swimmer to claim her first individual conference title Saturday. Freshman Olivia Morlok won the 500 freestyle in 5:16.14.
Morlok was seeded only third going into her 500 freestyle race.
“I knew there were a bunch of people in that heat who would put up a good race,” Morlok said. “It was just exciting. It’s good to be able to get another race in and get faster.”
Morlok led a 1-2 finish for Bull Frog freshman in the 500 freestyle, with Betsy King taking second in 5:20.64. King and Morlok were second and third in the 200 freestyle in 1:58.16 and 1:59.50.
North coach Logan Schaefer wasn’t surprised at Morlok’s 500 freestyle victory.
“Olivia is a very hard worker, and she earned that result,” Schaefer said. “It was a great effort from the whole girls team.”
Alex Nusawardhana finished second in the 100 backstroke (59.42) and third in the 100 butterfly (58.81), and Coles took third in the 50 freestyle (24.44). Nusawardhana, Coles, King and Morlok teamed to finish second in both the 200 freestyle relay (1:40.03) and 400 freestyle relay (3:39.04).
The only other top-eight finishes for the Bull Frogs came from Karlie Brown, who took sixth in the 200 individual medley (2:22.27) and eighth in the 100 butterfly (1:02.83), and Kaitlyn Niebrugge, who was eighth in the 100 backstroke (1:04.31). Niebrugge, Erica Samuel, Brown and Rachel Gutman finished sixth in the 200 medley relay (2:00.46).
Bloomington South racked up 487 points to defend its conference team championship. Franklin Central edged North 315½-310 for second.
