Leaving Their Mark

Purples, Spartans, Gators Finish Strong at State Swimming/Diving Meet

By Perry Swack

Taking place across three different venues over the course of two days, the 2021 KHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships were unlike any other season’s state meet. All divers from across the state competed in Versailles at Falling Springs on Thursday, April 22. Swimmers from the Greater Bowling Green Area took to the pool in Russell Springs along with all the teams from Regions 1-3, competing on Saturday, April 24. With the boys’ meet in the morning and the girls’ meet in the afternoon, the results were tallied from across the state and a champion was crowned late Saturday evening.

Greenwood’s Sarah Zoellner was busy on Saturday, taking part in four different events. The sophomore placed fourth in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:07.87 and ninth in the 100-yard butterfly at 57.29 seconds. Zoellner also partnered with Leah Witcher, Amelia Matzke, and Anne Elizabeth Zoellner to finish ninth in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Lady Gators were the highest team-finisher among area schools, placing 16^th overall with 46 total points.

Just behind Greenwood in 17^th place was South Warren, the 2^nd Region champions. The Lady Spartans tallied 43.5 points for the meet. Sophomore Maddie Osmun finished ninth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.40 seconds. Junior Hannah Gardner swam the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.76 to place tenth individually. The relay team of Maddi Barbee, Selynna Metcalfe, Gardner, and Osmun placed ninth in the 200-yard medley relay, while Barbee, Osmun, Metcalfe, and Madison Bush finished twelfth in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Three area schools placed in the top eleven at the boys’ state meet. Bowling Green (112 points) finished sixth, South Warren (90) tied for seventh, and Greenwood (70) placed eleventh. The Purple relay team of Grady Sine, Ethan Taylor, Mei Fukushima, and Phillip Khenner finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:37.40 and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:27.80. Khenner followed that runner-up finish with a ninth-place time of 1:44.79 in the 200-yard freestyle. Fukushima placed 11^th in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:58.89. Sine also placed 17^th individually in the 50-yard free at 22.54 seconds, 0.05 seconds ahead of Taylor who got 18^th.

Region diving champion Aidan Shy of Bowling Green placed 13^th at state with a final score of 292.90. Khenner also took 12^th place in the 100-yard free at 47.48 seconds. Sophomore Cooper Reynolds placed 12^th in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.97 seconds. Taylor finished eighth overall in the 100-yard breaststroke at 58.70 seconds, while Fukushima grabbed 13^th overall at 1:00.30. The Purples’ relay squad of Reynolds, Andrew Cook, Cole Renfrow, and Cooper Correa took 15^th in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:27.71.

South Warren got two high-individual finishes from sophomore Cody Ell. He placed 11^th in the 50-yard free with a time of 21.86 seconds and 13^th in the 100-yard butterfly (47.59). Drew Wolfram took fifth place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.45 seconds before finishing seventh in the 100-yard backstroke at 52.80 seconds. Two Spartan relays fared well, as the 200-yard freestyle team of Ell, Wolfram, Logan Hughes, and Peyton Black finished fifth (1:28.08) and Ell, Wolfram, Hughes, and junior Ethan Luis placed sixth overall in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Greenwood senior Luke Shourds had a big day in the pool, following up his record-breaking region performances with a strong state meet. The future Louisville swimmer finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.96, 0.23 seconds from a state title. Shourds also placed fourth in the 100-yard free with a time of 45.46 seconds before taking 13^th in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Landon Badstibner, Sam Humble, Canaan Timberlake after swimming a time of 1:31.46.