Bull Frog boys slip past Owls, girls fall

Jude Abdallah

After falling to two powerhouse teams in their first two meets of the season, the Columbus North boys swimmers had a chance to go against a similarly-skilled Seymour team on Thursday.

Despite competing without top swimmer Daniel Utterback — the lone Bull Frog boys swimmer to win an individual event in those first two meets — North came through with a 94-89 victory.

“It was a good meet, great energy today, lots of excitement,” North coach Mike Cunningham said. “It was a fun meet, lots of great races. They brought the energy today, brought the excitement.”

The Bull Frog boys had a pair of double-winners. Pratt Badve took the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 14.8 seconds, and the 100 backstroke (56.99), and Jude Abdallah captured the 500 freestyle (5:10.07) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.92).

Pratt Badve

“I was really surprised,” Badve said. “We’ve been working hard, so getting those time drops was nice.”

“I’ve been a little slow in the 500, so it was good to finally get back down to my best time,” Abdallah added. “Then, my 100 breast was OK, but I won, and that’s all that really matters.”

North’s Cole Ehara won the 200 freestyle (1:56.30), and Brock Smith took the 100 butterfly (58.71). Badve, Abdallah, Smith and Isaac Proffitt teamed to capture the 200 medley relay (1:47.46).

Arush Mahato finished second in both the 200 IM (2:19.01) and 100 butterfly (59.98), and Proffitt took second in the 50 freestyle (23.94) and 100 backstroke (1:04.63). Also finishing second for the Bull Frogs were Robert Cantu in the diving competition (143.30) and Maclain Clock in the 100 freestyle (54.62), along with a 200 medley relay (1:57.27) and 200 freestyle relay (1:39.42) team.

“I’m super proud of everyone, especially the guys that were second and third in events because that’s what you need,” Abdallah said. “We all swam well, and that’s what we wanted.”

Ainsley Sherlock

Meanwhile, the North girls fell to Seymour 114-71. Ainsley Sherlock led the Bull Frogs with wins in the 200 IM (2:26.52) and 100 breaststroke (1:15.93) and teamed with Katie Frazier, Georgia Abdallah and Karissa Bevis to capture the 200 medley relay (2:05.75). Ella Gray Partin took the diving (195.95).

Frazier finished second in both the 200 freestyle (2:15.83) and 500 freestyle (6:11.18), and Bevis took second in the 50 freestyle (26.43) and 100 freestyle (58.19). Also taking second were Lydia Putney in diving (188.50), Nicole Brault in the 100 backstroke (1:15.59) and the 400 freestyle relay team (4:25.46).

“The girls, that was a numbers game,” Cunningham said. “They had more than we did. The girls were swimming fast. They were having good races, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They’re seeing the process is paying off.”