With only one swimmer, the Columbus East girls weren’t a factor in the team race when they hosted the Hoosier Hills Conference meet Saturday afternoon.
Seymour racked up 391 points in defending its conference title. Floyd Central finished second with 283 points, followed by Jeffersonville (195), Bedford North Lawrence (150), New Albany (129) and Jennings County (84).
Harmony Ernstes led the Panthers with a fifth-place finish in the diving competition with 250.80 points. Jennings’ Hadley St. Clair, Caylee Whitesell, Kaitelynn Luedeman and Ava Biehle placed fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4 minutes, 29.90 seconds.
“We had 10 individuals finish in the top 12. Last year, we had four,” Jennings coach Bill Dillon said. “Relays were faster across the board. It was a good meet.”
East’s lone competitor, Baylee Benefield, finished 14th in the 100 freestyle (1:08.84) and 15th in the 200 freestyle (2:32.36).
“She swam great today,” East coach Doug Trueblood said. “She dropped time in both events. She’s been working hard, she had a great attitude and she had really good swims today, so I was real happy with how she swam. It’s a good thing when you see a kid work hard, and you see the fruit of that.”
