Big Contingent / North taking swimmers to state in seven events

With qualifiers in seven events, Columbus North will have its biggest representation in the Boys Swimming State Finals since 2014.

Now, the key for the Bull Frogs on Friday night is to get those swimmers into Saturday’s championship and consolation finals at IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium.

"It’s great," North coach Logan Schaefer said. "We’re excited to put a full lineup together and make a great run at a (high) team finish. Our team has done a lot of great work. We’re really proud of our relays, and really excited to go after those and find a way to get faster and beat people and make it into the ‘A’ (championship) final."

The Bull Frogs’ highest seed is in the first event, the 200-yard freestyle relay. Senior Jared Carroll, sophomore Christopher Lee and seniors Sam Russell and Rafael Spear are seeded ninth.

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North, which won its sectional in 1 minute, 35.53 seconds, will go after the school record of 1:34.51 that was set in 2012.

"We were really fast on Saturday," said Carroll, who will swim on a relay team at state for the fourth consecutive year. "We really kicked it into gear, and each one of us had our best times for our splits. We’re also trying to break the record, and we’re a second off the medley relay record, so that’s our main goal right now — to get to that A-final and break the record."

The top eight prelim swims in each event qualify for the championship heat. The ninth-through-16th swims make the consolation heat.

Russell, who will make his third state appearance, is seeded 12th in the 200 individual medley.

"At this point, everyone is really fast, and everyone has put in a lot of work, so it just comes down to who really wants it more," Russell said. "Like Chris said the other day, you just have to put your head down and just swim for you and swim for the team. Definitely with the relays, it’s really exciting because now that we’ve put in a bunch of practice and training, it’s all about the small little details that we just need to fix up, and those are definitely fixable."

Russell also is seeded 15th in the 100 breaststroke.

"On Saturday in the breaststroke, I didn’t feel amazing, but I definitely felt like I had a good swim," Russell said. "Another thing to take it is that you can fix those little things and hopefully get your shot at coming back Saturday."

Lee, Spear, Carroll and Russell are seeded 12th in the 200 freestyle relay.

Spear will be making his first state finals appearance in his first year on the North team. He started swimming after moving from Columbus to Texas, then joined the team after moving back last summer.

"I’ll be definitely experiencing a different type of crowd, and we’ll see what other kind of other relays are going to be there and how fast people are going to be," Spear said. "This will probably be my last time, too. I don’t know if I’m going to swim after high school."

Junior Nick Green will make his second consecutive state appearance in the 500 freestyle. He is seeded 26th.

Green will look for a personal best after going 4:44 in last year’s sectional and state and 4:47 in this year’s sectional.

"This year, I’m hoping to get down below the 4:44 and all in all, just drop time and move up some places," Green said. "I’m sure if I go 4:40 that I’ll be up there with all the other people."

Lee will be making his first state appearance. He is seeded 26th in the 100 backstroke and 29th in the 50 freestyle.

"It going to be really exciting to see what the atmosphere is like," Lee said. "I’m not really trying to go for any goal times. I’m just trying to see what it’s like and try to swim my best for the team. I’m seeded fairly low in both of those events, but I feel like there’s a maybe a chance (to qualify for Saturday) if I swim my absolute best."

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Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals

When: 6 p.m. Friday (swimming prelims), 9 a.m. Saturday (diving prelims and semifinals), 1 p.m. Saturday (swimming and diving finals)

Where: IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium, 901 W. New York St., Indianapolis

Admission: $8 per session or $15 for both days

Local competitors: Columbus North’s Sam Russell (200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke); Christopher Lee (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke); Nick Green (500 freestyle); Russell, Lee, Jared Carroll and Rafael Spear (200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay)

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