Both Franklin and Center Grove have big plans for next weekend’s boys state swimming and diving championships.
But this week, the two are primed to renew a sectional rivalry that figures to be much more heated than it has been the last couple of years.
The Grizzly Cubs, who have won the last six sectional titles — the last handful in dominating fashion — positioned themselves well to win a seventh by placing 18 individuals and all three relays into Saturday’s championship finals.
The Trojans, meanwhile, also have three relays along with 17 individual spots in those final heats. They figure to present a serious challenge to the host Grizzly Cubs.
Most of the county’s top swimmers did just enough to safely make the top eight and advance, saving an extra gear for Saturday and beyond. But Franklin coach Zach DeWitt was impressed with what some of his lesser-known pups did in the prelims; a few moved up several spots from their seed to make it into consolation finals, which could secure some much-needed points in a close meet.
"Tonight was about the kids that were maybe on the fringe of top eight, or maybe they weren’t even in the top 16 at all," DeWitt said. "People like David Taylor, who went from a 54 to a 52.0 (in the 100-yard freestyle) and went from 21st to 11th, that’s a big, big deal. Because that’s five or six points that maybe we weren’t expecting to get. And Nicholas Coy dropped three and a half seconds in the 100 breast."
Franklin senior Jacob Destrampe rolls into Saturday as the clear top seed in both of his individual events, the 50 and 100 freestyles. Sophomore Cade Oliver had a similarly easy time locking up No. 1 seeds in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.
The Grizzly Cubs also head into the finals with top seeds in the 200 freestyle (freshman Anthony Ries) and in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
For Center Grove, junior Tony Gipson led the charge in the prelims by earning the top seed in the 100 butterfly, which figures to be the most compelling of the individual events Saturday with at least four potential state qualifiers.
Freshman Justin Xia led the field in the 100 breaststroke, and the Trojans also had Thursday’s fastest time in the 200 medley relay.
Southport’s Drew Shellenberger is seeded first in the 500 freestyle.
Whiteland filled eight individual slots in championship heats, followed closely by Indian Creek with six. Both schools also advanced in all three relays. Greenwood moved three individuals and one relay into top-eight spots.
Saturday figures to come down to Franklin and Center Grove, however, and DeWitt is ready for a nip-and-tuck battle.
"We really respect what Center Grove’s done," DeWitt said. "They’ve got a heck of a deep team; they don’t have a bad swimmer in that program, and they’re swimming fast. So we’ve got to be a little bit sharper … but the most important meet that we can go to is still the state meet, so we’ll plan accordingly."
