State girls swimming notebook

INDIANAPOLIS

It’s easy for Johnson County’s other girls swimming and diving teams to get lost in the tsunami that is Franklin, but Greenwood continued its quiet climb upward with a strong state showing of its own over the weekend.

The Woodmen didn’t necessarily light up the team scoreboard, finishing 32nd with five points, but their overall improvement was measurable in a number of different ways.

Not only did junior Grace Nuhfer get the team’s name into the standings with her 12th-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, but the Woodmen qualified a pair of relay teams (200 medley and 400 freestyle) for the second straight year, finishing 23rd and 19th, respectively, and also had junior Alayna Kenworthy reach the prelims in the 200 individual medley, where she placed 23rd.

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"It’s been a really exciting weekend for me and the team," Nuhfer said. "We’ve all come together and had such an amazing time."

More importantly, the meet helped lay the foundation for greater success in the future. All five of the girls who competed for the Woodmen at IU Natatorium over the weekend will return next season, leaving coach Brooke Thompson optimistic about what’s to come.

Thompson noted that the team was far more composed this year in what was the second state trip for most of them, and that should only make it easier going forward.

"I think we’re just going to keep building and building up from here," she said. "Really getting that strong base like we have in the past couple of years and just building up from that, watching it progress has been really exciting to see. I think next year we’re going to come back even stronger, for sure."

"Experience is just so valuable for anyone doing anything," Nuhfer added, "so I know for sure next year we’re going to have a lot of fun, and we’re going to know what we’re walking into on deck."

Big finish for Hoffman

Franklin’s Sarah Hoffman followed up her stellar preliminary showing with an even better one during Saturday’s finals. The senior closed out her career in style with three state medals, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

Hoffman was one lane over from runner-up Josephine Ramey of Fishers and just tried to stay right by her side, which she did for most of the race before fading slightly on the final lengths. Hoffman hit the wall in 4:56.31.

"Normally, I don’t take out as fast," Hoffman said, "but I had (Ramey) there, and so I was like, ‘If I take it out with her, we’ll see where I end up’ — and I ended up pretty fine.

"I tried at the end, but I was dead."

Not totally. Immediately after the 500, Hoffman anchored Franklin’s third-place 200 freestyle relay. She also swam on the 400 free relay team, which wound up seventh, and took 10th in the 200 free.

Grizzly Cubs coach Zach DeWitt said that Hoffman’s performance was a perfect illustration of what his program is about.

"Her junior year, she didn’t have what she wanted," he said, "and instead of running away from the work, she embraced it like she always done. She’s a tireless worker. Our tagline is ‘hard work pays,’ so in a lot of ways, Sarah was the one who helped take that legacy on through and teach it to the next generation of girls we’ve got coming through."

Hoffman will swim at Kenyon, a perennial NCAA Division III title contender, next year.

Solid opening act

Though she didn’t bat 1.000 on the weekend, missing out on advancing of the 100 backstroke prelims on Friday, Franklin freshman Allie Lacy wound up having a pretty productive state debut. Lacy placed 10th in the 200 individual medley at 2:04.65 and helped the Grizzly Cubs earn a pair of relay medals. She led off the third-place medley relay and also swam on the Grizzly Cubs’ 400 freestyle relay, which placed seventh.

Lacy said she was very happy with how she performed and thoroughly enjoyed her first state meet experience. Senior teammate Hoffman noted that the newcomer was eagerly scoreboard-watching throughout the meet, keeping tabs on where the Grizzly Cubs stood.

“I never swam with my school team throughout middle school, so this is my first season swimming with the school, and it was really fun to be a part of it," she said.

"This makes me really excited for the next three years."

Team player

Senior Bella Ratzlaff had a big hand in Franklin’s third-place finish on Saturday, swimming on the third-place 200 freestyle relay, winning the consolation final in the 100 breaststroke and finishing 16th in the 50 freestyle, but she passed up the opportunity to do a little more.

DeWitt had asked Ratzlaff if she wanted to swim on the 400 free relay at the end of the meet, but she opted out, trusting that sophomore Paige Lawrence would do a better job on the anchor leg.

"How we’re deep with sprinters, we have the ability to do that, and I’m glad that I was able to make that decision," Ratzlaff said. "Physically, I wasn’t sure, and mentally I wasn’t sure either, and (DeWitt) said, ‘If you’re not sure, just don’t do it.’

"I’m so glad Paige got to swim that. … She’s got a state medal, and I told her, ‘You better right my name on it.’"

The Air Force commit was pleased with what turned out to be her final high school swim in the breaststroke. She turned in a time of 1:03.44, breaking the school standard she set at the sectional meet — only to have teammate Kabria Chapman reclaim the mark in the championship final.

"Had the school record for a week and two minutes, so that was cool," Ratzlaff joked.

Never backing down

Friday’s prelims weren’t quite what Franklin junior Gracey Payne had imagined — she landed in the consolation finals of both the 50 and 100 freestyle, a relative disappointment after tying for third in the 50 as a sophomore.

But Payne made the most of her swims on Saturday, winning both of her consolation finals in addition to swimming on the Grizzly Cubs’ two third-place relays.

"I changed my mindset from what it was last night, and I just pushed it," Payne said. "I had to do it for the team."

The entire year has been a push for Payne, who had gutted her way through her sophomore season with a growth on her femur right where it met the hip socket. After missing out on almost a whole summer of training and not being able to get through a full practice until after this season started, she managed to squeeze what she could out of this winter.

"Gracey is one of the toughest people I’ve ever been around; she’s a true gamer," DeWitt said of the Ball State recruit. "She spent a lot of time in the PT room, she spent a lot of time at the chiropractor to get her body right to be able to do something like this. She wasn’t dealt what she wanted a night ago, and she comes back swinging again. That’s just who Gracey Payne is."

Close, but not quite

Center Grove junior Kenzie Mills narrowly missed out on qualifying for the afternoon 1-meter diving finals. Mills, the county’s lone representative in the event, wound up in 19th place with a score of 291.60, just 16.05 short of the 16th spot after the semifinal round.