Facing its first serious sectional challenge since it edged Center Grove for the title in 2013, Franklin’s boys swimming and diving team knew it would have to establish momentum early if it was going to beat the Trojans again.
A big victory in the opening event did just that.
The quartet of Cade Oliver, Barrett Daily, Griffin Edwards and Ethan Pheifer blazed its way to victory in the 200-yard medley relay, setting the tone for the Grizzly Cubs’ seventh straight sectional championship.
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Franklin finished with 483 points to Center Grove’s 430. Whiteland was a distant third with 289.
The medley relay was a key moment in a meet that Franklin coach Zach DeWitt had expected to be much tighter than it was.
“That’s the most important race of the day,” DeWitt said, “so anytime we can win that race while also not necessarily investing a ton was huge for us. It set the tone.”
Two events later, Edwards, Oliver and Daily pulled off a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 individual medley, stretching Franklin’s lead in the team standings to 137-107. The lead over the Trojans was never less than 29 points from then on.
Senior Jacob Destrampe was first in the 50 and 100 freestyles for the Grizzly Cubs, and classmate Shane O’Sullivan won the 100 butterfly in a school-record 50.30 seconds, the best of four state cut times in the event.
Sophomore Cade Oliver won the 100 backstroke and posted a state cut time in the 200 IM. Barrett Daily won the 100 breaststroke, and Edwards added a state cut time in the butterfly to his medley win.
Franklin also won both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, and senior Gauge Creech dominated the 1-meter diving, breaking his own school record with a score of 498.25.
“I’m very happy with how I did today,” Creech said, “and I think that just gives me the extra motivation I need for Tuesday at regionals and hopefully Saturday at state.”
Center Grove didn’t win any events on Saturday, but it positioned itself for a strong state finish by advancing all three of its relay teams. Ethan Martin earned a state cut in the 50 free, and Tony Gipson did the same with his third-place finish in the butterfly.
“Last year, we didn’t have anybody at the state meet, so this was a hell of a job for us,” Trojans coach Jim Todd said. “I’m really happy for them.”
The lone county winner that wasn’t a Grizzly Cub was Whiteland senior Brenden Gough, who easily won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.83. Gough also made the state cut in the butterfly (51.34).
“I feel good with what I did,” Gough said. “I think there’s some stuff that I can tweak before (the state meet).”
Another Warrior senior, Collin Barton, advanced to Tuesday’s diving regional by finishing second to Creech with a score of 436.40.
Indian Creek wound up getting called back for the state meet in all three relays as well.
Though happy about maintaining sectional supremacy, Franklin has had bigger goals in mind all year long. The state runner-up last season, the Grizzly Cubs are hoping to chase down four-time defending champion Carmel — so it wasn’t a surprise that their sectional celebration lasted just a few minutes.
“We’ve got to put all of the triumph aside,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s hard to come back from triumph and still do good, so we’ve got put all of it aside and focus on the war that’s about to come.”
