Carmel Girls Claim 40th Straight Indiana High School Girls’ Title; Molly Sweeney Goes 59-Low in 100 Breaststroke
The Carmel High School team that traveled to Indianapolis this weekend wasn’t the strongest or deepest the Greyhounds have fielded. But tradition is never lost on the program and coach Chris Plumb’s squad did exactly what was needed at the Indiana University Natatorium, the result a 40th consecutive Indiana girls’ state championship.
During Saturday’s finals action, Carmel totaled 326.5 points to defeat Carroll (Fort Wayne) and Fishers, which tied for second in the team standings with 227 points. With the victory, the Greyhounds extended their Hoosier State dominance to 40 years, a national record for state titles in any sport. The triumph was fueled by Molly Sweeney and Ellie Clarke, who each secured a pair of solo wins.
Carmel opened the day with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, as the foursome of Leah Debosch (26.14),Sweeney (27.33),Clarke (23.59) and Sophia Floyd (23.84) combined for a time of 1:40.90. That effort was enough to beat Zionsville, which checked in with a time of 1:41.60.
In her first individual event of the meet, Clarke rallied on the freestyle leg to edge Carroll’s Jordyn Glassley, 1:57.73 to 1:57.85. Clarke trailed Glassley by a slight margin heading into the last 50 yards, but a split of 27.15 enabled her to move ahead of Glassley. In the 100 backstroke, Clarke went 53.08 to prevail by more than two seconds.
Sweeney earned her first individual triumph in the 100 butterfly, where the Tennessee recruit notched a performance of 52.78. That swim was enough to fend off Lylah Theriac (53.18) of Mooresville. She picked up another win in the 100 breaststroke, behind a 59.24 showing.
The Carroll tandem of Maris Williams (22.86) and Kate Fetters (22.92) swept the top-two positions in the 50 freestyle, with Mount Vernon’s Peyton McDaniel (22.98) also dipping under the 23-second barrier. Fetters and Williams reversed their finishing positions in the 100 freestyle, with Fetters emerging in front in 49.52, and Williams touching in 50.00.
Fetters and Williams handled the first two legs of the winning 200 freestyle relay, which finished in 1:32.63. After Fetters (23.20) and Williams (22.68) jumpstarted the relay, Glassley split 23.42 and Naomi Bowland closed in 23.33. Carroll also captured the 400 freestyle relay as Glassley (50.29), Fetters (49.49), Bowlan (52.12) and Williams (49.40) put together a time of 3:21.30.
Emily Wolf (Fishers) was dominant in the distance-freestyle events. A North Carolina State recruit, Wolf first won the 200 freestyle in 1:45.84, then followed with a victory in the 500 freestyle. The junior won the 500 free with a time of 4:43.25, good for a nine-second margin.
North Central’s Adelyn Flessner scored 529.30 points to take first place in the one-meter diving competition.
