Columbus East’s Connelly Furnish swims the breaststroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley against Columbus North Dec. 12, 2023, at Columbus East High School.
The Republic file photo
Area schools will field young girls swim teams this season.
The girls swimming season begins on Saturday when Columbus East visits Bloomington North. Columbus North opens Nov. 20 against Bloomington South.
The boys swimmers will begin competition in a couple of weeks. Here is a look at the area girls teams heading into the 2024-25 season.
Columbus East
The Olympians will have a small team with only six swimmers and six divers.
“We are unfortunately really struggling with our numbers,” East coach Doug Trueblood said. “We had a lot of kids decide to come out and dive, which is awesome. We lost a lot of seniors last year, so it’s just a tough season for numbers for the girls so far. I just need to find some more girls.”
Sophomore Connelly Furnish finished second in the sectional in the 500-yard freestyle last season, narrowly missing a state-qualifying spot.
“She is going to be in a position at the end of the season where she is going to be competing for a spot in the state in a couple of events,” Trueblood said. “Connelly definitely has that capability and potential.”
Junior Cassidy Furnish returns in the distance freestyle events. Senior Maddie Beyer is back in the breaststroke and butterfly, and senior Hannah Dean returns in the backstroke.
Freshmen freestylers Savannah Burton and Bailey Benefield are new to swimming. Freshmen Anislee Shaw and Kinsey Marks are the top divers.
“We’re still figuring out where we’re going to put people,” Trueblood said. “We’ll have to move people around and work for continued improvement and hope we have a good time.”
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs will have a bigger team this year with 29 swimmers and three divers.
Columbus North’s Sanaa Kulkarni competes in the 100-yard butterfly against Franklin Nov. 21, 2023 at Columbus North High School
The Republic file photo
The top returners are sophomore Mridula Muthukumaran in the butterfly and backstroke, sophomore Sanaa Kulkarni in the individual medley and butterfly, junior Brooklyn Pendleton in the sprint freestyle events and junior Cora Tregoning in the breaststroke.
Also returning are seniors Max Andrews and Nicole Brault in the distance events and senior Kara Buntin in the sprint freestyles. Sophomore Abby Proffitt, a transfer from East, will be eligible to compete by sectional time.
“It’s definitely very exciting,” North coach Mike Cunningham said. “We have a pretty strong lineup. It’s pretty awesome.”
Nandini Kondhare, Sanchita Ponnathpour, Caroline Crawford and Sienna Issac lead a big freshman class.
“It’s a pretty young lineup,” Cunningham said. “We have to see what some of these freshmen can do. They’ve been pretty impressive.”
The Bull Dogs will miss their lone state qualifier from last year, junior Ainsley Sherlock, who has opted to focus on cross-country and track. But they hope to send others to state this season.
“We should do pretty well,” Cunningham said. “We’re looking to get at least two relays, plus some individuals to state this year.”
Jennings County
The Panthers lost eight swimmers to graduation, leaving them with about half as big a squad as they had last season.
“It’s different,” Jennings coach Morgan Webster said. “The past three years, we’ve had swim teams that have been around 15 or 16 girls, and this year, we have eight or nine. But what I learned coaching a small boys team last year is that numbers don’t necessarily matter when it comes to fast times, and I look for some fast times from what we have on this team.”
Senior Alexa Mollenhoff, a sprint freestyler, is the top returning swimmer. Senior Alyssa Monnin is back in the in butterfly and individual medley.
Sophomore Ava Biehle will be the Panthers’ top distance swimmer. Junior Kaelyn Pello returns in the butterfly and IM.
