Greenwood girls, South Warren and Bowling Green boys finish in the top 15
By Perry Swack
After dominating the Region 2 Swim and Dive Meet at the beginning of the month, Greenwood, South Warren, and Bowling Green went to Lexington looking to make some more noise at the state meet. The South Warren boys’ team had the highest finish among local qualifiers, taking 12th place out of 36 teams. Bowling Green finished 15th, while Greenwood placed 32nd. On the girls’ side, the Greenwood girls placed 13th out of 42 teams. South Warren finished in 34th and Bowling Green placed 38th.
Greenwood senior Sarah Zoellner led the way for the Lady Gators as she placed third in the 100-fly with a finals time of 55.75 seconds. In the 200 IM, the future Florida Gulf Coast swimmer placed fourth overall with a time of 2:05.89. High finishes on the boys’ side came from South’s Cody Ell and Bowling Green’s Cooper Reynolds. Ell swam the 50 free in 21.05 seconds to place third, while a final round time of 52.07 seconds in the 100 fly placed him eighth. Reynolds took bronze in two events – the 100 free (45.93 seconds) and the 100 back (51.40 seconds).
Reynolds also placed tenth in the 200 medley relay along with Purple teammates Cooper Neal, Warren Woodall, and Alfonso Verduzco with a time of 1:39.46. Ell, Brian Bosse, Eli Jones, and Lari Skeric clipped the BG quartet by 0.05 seconds to place ninth with a time of 1:39.41. South’s relay team also placed tenth in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:22.88. Greenwood senior Landon Badstibner rounded out the top finishers as the Eastern Illinois signee placed 12th in the 500 free (4:50.09) and 13th in the 200 free (1:46.68).
Greenwood’s relay team of Zoellner, Mia Usinger, Amelia Matzke, and Maddie Boyer finished tenth in the 400 free relay with a finals time of 3:43.95, as well as 14th in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:54.23. South’s relay team of Maddi Barbee, Siera Metcalfe, Sarah McGuinness, and Maddie Osmun finished 0.49 seconds behind the Gator team to take 15th at 1:54.72.
In the 200 free relay, BG’s quartet of Carlie Bowen, Sophie Morris, Paige Wierson, and Maggie Morris placed 14th with a time of 1:44.91. Teammate Molly Morton placed 15th in the diving competition with a final score of 296.80. Rounding out high finishers in the Greater Bowling Green Area were Osmun and Matzke who placed 10th (24.89 seconds) and 11th (24.98 seconds) in the 50 free.
