INDIANAPOLIS — Heading into Saturday’s state consolation finals of the 200-yard freestyle relay, Columbus North had nowhere to go but up.
The Bull Frogs’ foursome of Evan Patterson, Jared Carroll, Thomas Goble and Sam Russell, the 16th and final team to advance out of Friday night’s preliminary heats, managed to climb one spot up the ladder, taking seventh in their heat and 15th overall with a time of 1 minute, 27.92 seconds.
North finished the meet with four team points, which tied for 39th with Floyd Central and Wawasee.
“Picking up some points, moving up from where we were seeded, going faster than what we were coming in yesterday,” North coach Logan Schaefer said. “All great things for the one event we had today, so I’m really happy with the team effort.”
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Patterson’s leadoff leg got the Bull Frogs out ahead of Avon, and Carroll further solidified that position with a 50-yard split of 21.53 seconds, the fastest on the team.
With three of the four members of the relay returning — Goble is the lone senior — Schaefer is hopeful that scoring on Saturday after being shut out last winter will help springboard the team forward to bigger things in 2019.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “To come back, continue to grow and learn from where we’re at, and move our way up through this meet.”
Carmel easily won the team championship with 417 points, well ahead of runner-up Franklin (203).
