Sweet ending: Chesterton’s Allison Koval receives the fifth place medal in the 200 free relay, while Sarah Kehe (right), Christy Grcevich (back left) and Talor Whitaker (back right) wait on the podium Saturday at the state finals. It was the first medal for Koval who has competed at state the last three seasons. (Tribune photo by Jimmy Kissee)

Solid showing: Chesterton’s Ruth Bass swims the 500 free Saturday at the state finals. The Lady Trojan freshman placed 16th overall with a time of 5:16.66. (Tribune photo by Jimmy Kissee)

Top Trojan: Chesterton’s Christy Grcevich competes in the 100 fly on Saturday at the state finals. Grcevich won the event and set a new school record with a 56.57. (Tribune photo by Jimmy Kissee)

State Champ: Chesterton’s Christy Grcevich gets awarded her medal after winning the 100 fly Saturday at the Girls State Swimming and Diving Championships at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. As a team, the Lady Trojans placed seventh. (Tribune photo by Jimmy Kissee)

Start of something special: Chesterton’s Christy Grcevich is all smiles on the awards podium after winning the 100 fly Saturday at thet state finals. Grcevich’s win marks the first girls state title for Chesterton since Jenni Anderson won six titles from 1999-2001. (Tribune photo by Jimmy Kissee)

By JIMMY KISSEE

Indiana is always one of the fastest states for high school girls swimming. This year, it wasn’t only quick but deep with talent and that’s what makes Christy Grcevich’s accomplishments on Saturday at the IUPUI Natatorium even more special.

The Chesterton phenom, competing in her first state finals of her high school career, turned in a blistering 56.57 for the state’s top honor in the 100 fly. She added a second place finish in the 50 free, and led the 200 and 400 free relays each to fifth place finishes.

“Year in and year out Indiana is one of the quickest states in the nation, so that really speaks volumes for what Christy did,” said Chesterton swim coach Kevin Kinel, whose team posted 120 points, which was good for seventh place overall, its highest finish since 2001 where the Lady Trojans placed fourth.

“After the first couple of teams, there were so many teams jumbled from 4th through 10th, so I thought coming in we’d be in that mix and we were. The kids were a little upset with their finish, and in spots we had such a good meet on Friday (prelims), but if you put both together we did awesome.”

Grcevich did her best to account for a foot slip in the 50 free, but she was unable to make up the time. She finished with a 23.79, while Carmel’s Taylor Baughman won the event with a 23.15. On Friday, Grcevich edged Baughman 23.68-23.79.

“I think finishing second made her that much more hungry,” Kinel said. “She came out in the fly and had a much better race. She slipped in the 50 free, but that’s life and those things happen. She certainly came back and showed what she was made of.”

Grcevich, who visibly shaken after the second place swim, agreed with Kinel’s assessment.

“It wasn’t tough to come back,” Grcevich explained. “It was just more motivating for me. After I finished second, all I wanted to do was win the fly. Overall, it was a fun day. I’m just a little upset about our relays.”

In the 200 free relay, Grcevich teamed with Sarah Kehe, Allison Koval and Talor Whitaker to place fifth overall with a time of 1:38.22, followed by joining Whitaker, Sarah Rosiecki and Kehe on the fifth place finishing 400 free relay team (3:34.74).

On Friday at the prelims, both the 200 and 400 free relay teams smashed Chesterton school records. The 200 relay swam a 1:37.73, which was good for the second seed, while the 400 relay turned in a 3:33.37, which earned the foursome the third seed.

“This is a tough weekend, because it drains you both physically and mentally,” said Kinel.

“Everybody did what they could, and I think we got the most out of everyone. The girls in the relays were a little upset, but they broke school records by a large margin, so how can you be upset with that. I am proud of all these girls from where we started a month ago to now. They dropped times significantly and rose to the challenge.”

Koval and Rosiecki, the lone seniors advancing to the finals on Saturday for Chesterton, both saw their high school careers come to an end in the relay swims.

“It definitely hit me right before the start,” said Koval. “I was like ‘Wow, this is it for me.’ It’s my last chance and I need to leave everything in the pool. I went out there and did my best, so I am happy about that.”

Koval, who claimed her first medal in her final try, added it was a rather bitter sweet ending.

“I am disappointed and happy at the same time,” she said. “I have never received a state medal before, so I am happy about that, but we were seeded second, and we swam faster on Saturday, so that’s a little frustrating.”

Although she’ll be a spectator rather than a swimmer, Koval said if she can find time to get away from college, she would love to come back and cheer on the talented team that Chesterton will bring back next season.

“Our freshman class is awesome and I am just so excited about the future for them,” Koval said. “Christy and Talor are unbelievable. I can’t wait to see what they can do in the years to come.”

Whitaker, who was also competing at her first state meet, placed seventh in the 100 free (53.32) and won the B final of the 50 free with an impressive time of 24.54.

“What can you say about Talor,” Kinel questioned. “These kids are young and they’ll be back. Good state experience is hard to come by and we got some today. This is something we can absolutely build off of for next season.”

Kehe added a 12th place finish in the 200 free (1:56.97) and Ruth Bass placed 16th in the 500 free (5:16.66). Carmel won its 18th consecutive state title with 316.50 points, while Indianapolis North Central was runners-up with 194 points. Munster took third with 177 points and Lake Central was fifth with 150.50 points.

2004 Girls HS Swim State Finals

At IUPUI Natatorium

Team Scores

1. Carmel 316.50 (18th straight title); 2. North Central (Indpls.) 194; 3. Munster 177; 4. Yorktown 174; 5. Lake Central 150.50; 6. Hamilton Southeastern 123; 7. CHESTERTON 120; 8. Fort Wayne Snider 118; 9. Homestead 84; 10. Southridge 70; 11. Columbus North 68; 12. Bloomington North 67; 13. Jasper 65; 14. Jeffersonville 53; 15. Noblesville 49; 16. Evansville Harrison 33; 17. (tie) South Bend St. Joseph’s 32, West Lafayette 32; 19. Northridge 29; 20. (tie) Brebeuf Jesuit 26, Greencastle 26; 22. Terre Haute North 23; 23. (tie) Center Grove 21, Mount Vernon 21; 25. Indpls. Broad Ripple 20; 26. Elkhart Central 19; 27. (tie) Crown Point 17, Whiteland 17; 29. Heritage Christian 15; 30. (tie) Lafayette Central Catholic 13, Jay County 13, New Castle 13; 33. (tie) South Vermillion 12, Lawrence Central 12, Franklin Community 12, Highland 12; 37. Castle 11; 38. Cowan 10; 39. Carroll (Ft. Wayne) 8; 40. (tie) Westfield 6, Oldenburg Academy 6, Park Tudor 6; 43. (tie) Pendleton Heights 5, Plainfield 5; 45. (tie) Twin Lakes 4, Crawfordsville 4; 47. (tie) Floyd Central 3, Lafayette Jefferson 3; 49. Lawrence North 2, 50. LaPorte 1.

200 Medley Relay

1. Carmel 1:46.05; 2. Munster 1:49.31; 3. FW Snider 1:49.35; 4. Hamilton SE 1:50.09; 5. Indpls. North Central 1:50.23; 6. Homestead 1:51.69; 7. Southridge 1:52.48; 8. Noblesville 1:53.49.

200 Free

1. Aubrette Biegel (LC) 1:50.95; 2. Christine Shehorn (NC) 1:51.37; 3. Jill Lockhart (Y) 1:51.52; 4. Maggie Bird (Y) 1:51.81; 5. Mary Grace Godfrey (SBSJ) 1:54.17; 6. Michelle Huang (EC) 1:54.35; 7. Jen Wright (LC) 1:55.51; 8. Meredith Moore (Ca) 1:55.51. (12. Sarah Kehe, Chesterton 1:56.97).

200 IM

1. Erin Sparks (Ca) 2:02.41; 2. Leslie VanWinkle (EH) 2:06.88; 3. Meghan Bradley (THN) 2:07.65; 4. Emily Hurst (NC) 2:07.83; 5. Audrey Webster (BJ) 2:08.80; 6. Sherri Pickens (Ca) 2:10.97; 7. Stephanie Moon (LC) 2:11.30; 8. Addison Del Rio (Mu) 2:13.80.

50 Free

1. Taylor Baughman (Ca) 23.15; 2. Christy Grcevich (Ch) 23.79; 3. Ariel Martin (Je) 23.86; 4. Kelley Otto (HSE) 24.02; 5. Jenae Gill (So) 24.05; 6. Kayla Sergesketter (Ja) 24.09; 7. Tracy Menzel (Gr) 24.50; 8. Kassidy Kirchner (BN) 24.83. (9. Talor Whitaker, Chesterton 24.54).

Diving

1. Brittany Feldman (IBR) 431.00; 2. Daryl Packard (CP) 429.90; 3. Ashley Greene (NC) 412.65; 4. Audra Egenolf (HC) 411.85; 5. Tien Tran (CG) 410.05; 6. Sarah Miller (JC) 409.90; 7. Marie Patrick (FC) 407.60; 8. Monica Dodson (W) 395.35.

100 Fly

1. Christy Grcevich (Ch) 56.57; 2. Jill Lockhart (Y) 57.04; 3. Erica Smith (FWS) 57.67; 4. Mary Grace Godfrey (SBSJ) 57.96; 5. Alyssa Rosinko (Ca) 58.43; 6. Elizabeth Schrader (LCC) 58.83; 7. Briann Collip (Law. C) 59.12; 8. Stephanie Moon (LC) 59.44.

100 Free

1. Taylor Baughman (Ca) 50.33; 2. Ariel Martin (Je) 52.06; 3. Leslie VanWinkle (EH) 52.31; 4. Kayla Sergesketter (Ja) 52.47; 5. Tracy Menzel (Gr) 52.83; 6. Kelley Otto (HSE) 52.95; 7. Talor Whitaker (Ch) 53.32; 8. Ashley VanOsdol (CN) 54.22.

500 Free

1. Christine Shehorn (NC) 4:54.90; 2. Maggie Bird (Y) 4:55.16; 3. Aubrette Biegel (LC) 4:57.42; 4. Meredith Moore (Ca) 5:02.76; 5. Courtney Ashton (CN) 5:09.09; 6. Sherri Pickens (Ca) 5:09.49; 7. Katie Simmons (Y) 5:09.67; 8. Rebecca Retrum (HSE) 5:12.59. (16. Ruth Bass, Chesterton 5:16.66).

200 Free Relay

1. Lake Central 1:36.84; 2. Yorktown 1:38.02; 3. North Central (Indpls.) 1:38.10; 4. Hamilton Southeastern 1:38.16; 5. CHESTERTON (Christy Grcevich, Sarah Kehe, Allison Koval, Talor Whitaker) 1:38.22; 6. Homestead 1:38.74; 7. Carmel 1:39.27; 8. Bloomington North 1:39.45.

100 Back

1. Jenae Gill (So) 56.52; 2. Maggie Behrens (Mu) 57.23; 3. Megan Sparks (Ca) 57.70; 4. Katherine Osborne (NC) 58.26; 5. Stephanie Meyer (FWS) 58.70; 6. Alyssa Rosinko (Ca) 58.72; 7. Audrey Webster (BJ) 58.80; 8. Chelsey Gill (So) 59.18.

100 Breast

1. Erin Sparks (Ca) 1:03.85; 2. Julie Feingold (Mu) 1:06.04; 3. Stephanie Parker (FWS) 1:06.62; 4. Emily Hurst (NC) 1:07.15; 5. Abby Mitchell (MV) 1:07.78; 6. Amanda Breen (NC) 1:08.03; 7. Cheri Baratto (SV) 1:08.11; 8. Whitney Hackman (No) 1:08.28.

400 Free Relay

1. Carmel 3:28.63; 2. Yorktown 3:32.40; 3. Munster 3:32.60; 4. Lake Central 3:33.70; 5. CHESTERTON (Talor Whitaker, Sarah Rosiecki, Sarah Kehe, Christy Grcevich) 3:34.74; 6. North Central (Indpls.) 3:36.26; 7. FW Snider 3:37.78; 8. Bloomington North 3:37.96.

Posted 2/16/2004