When the Columbus North boys swimming sectional commences on Saturday afternoon, the host Bull Frogs and Columbus East are expected to be major players.
North is seeded first in six of the 11 swimming events, and East has a pair of No. 1 seeds. Bloomington North is the top seed in the other three.
Those three schools, along with Bloomington South, figure to make the most noise in the sectional, which begins with preliminaries at 5:30 p.m. today.
“I think it will be very competitive,” North coach Logan Schaefer said. “We’re set up well. That’s what we’d like to see, and now we have to take advantage of these opportunities to race (today) and Saturday. (Today) is really important for us to set us up for the opportunity to win on Saturday, so we’re very excited for (today’s) swims.”
The eight fastest swimmers in each event in the prelims qualify for the championship heats on Saturday. Swimmers with the ninth-through-16th-fastest times make the consolation heats.
Diving will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and will finish in the morning. Swimming consolations and finals start at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Only the winners in each event and those making the state standard earn automatic berths to next weekend’s state finals. If those numbers from the state’s 20 sectional sites are less than 32 in an event, the next-fastest times are added to get to 32.
The Bull Frogs will be competing for the first time since finishing second to Bloomington North in the Conference Indiana meet, which was held virtually on Jan. 9.
“Training has been really consistent,” Schaefer said. “It’s been very strong. We haven’t had a dual meet since our conference meet, but we’ve really put together a lot of opportunities in practice to prepare mentally and physically for the state tournament.”
Columbus North is led by senior Christopher Lee, the defending sectional champion and a top-10 state finisher in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke. He is the top seed in those events.
Sophomore Daniel Utterback is the top seed in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle, and the Bull Frogs are top seeds in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. Senior Aidan McAlister is seeded third in the 500 freestyle, and North is third in the 200 medley relay.
After watching his girls swimmers make significant time drops despite a three-week layoff between the conference meet and their sectional, Schaefer is hoping his boys can do the same on a five-week layoff.
“The boys have been waiting a little bit longer to compete, so they’re a little bit hungrier for this meet,” Schaefer said. “They’re really excited about competing and taking advantage of their opportunities to race this week.”
Meanwhile, the Olympians are primed to end a 12-year drought of not sending a swimmer to the state meet. Sophomore Brady Beyer is seeded first in the 500 freestyle and second in the 100 breaststroke, and senior Mason Curry is the top seed in the 100 butterfly.
Those two are vying to become East’s first swimmers to qualify for state since Kenny Crapse in 2008. Diver Cordell Glass made it in 2016.
“Those are two of our best opportunities,” first-year East coach Doug Trueblood said. “Brady in the 500 and then depending on what kind of race he has in the breaststroke, he had a really good chance there. Then, Mason has had a really good year, and he has been swimming really well. I think he has a high probability. I know that Bloomington South and Bloomington North have some guys right behind them, and Logan is always going to have his guys ready. They’re going to drop some time, and I’m just hoping our guys can, as well.”
Olympians senior Chad Kelly is seeded third in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, and junior Dathan Wolf is third in the 100 backstroke. East is seeded second in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
“I like our opportunity there (in the medley relay),” Trueblood said. “Our guys are going to have to come in and perform. It’s the same with the 400 free relay. North is kind of like the American (Olympic) team, being the favorite. I’d just like to see East and North go 1-2 and really represent. I’d like to see all of the kids in Columbus perform and be happy about their swims.”
While the Olympians, who finished second in the Hoosier Hills Conference, may not have enough depth to challenge for the sectional team title, they will be looking to improve on a fifth-place finish from last year.
“I don’t think we are quite there, but we are trending on the right path,” Trueblood said. “In our conference, we were close, but we didn’t have the depth to take Floyd Central. It’s pretty much the same way here in the sectional. If they have some great swims, we could be challenging for that fourth spot, maybe even the third spot. My goal is just to go out and have fun and swim best times.”
