State Champs: The Chesterton girls swim team brought home four state championships, its most ever, Saturday at the IHSAA State Championships at the Indiana University Natatorium at IUPUI in Indianapolis. Pictured (clockwise) are Talor Whitaker, Christy Grcevich, Taylor Lipniskis and Sarah Kehe. Whitaker (100 Free) and Grcevich (100 Fly) garnered individual state titles, while the quartet won the 200 Free Relay and the 400 Free Relay. (Photo by Steve Handly)

By TR HARLAN

Some things just seem unexplainable.

As the Carmel Greyhounds won their 20th consecutive state girls swimming title, most of the eyes at the Indiana University Natatorium at IUPUI in Indianapolis seemed to be looking at the quartet of Chesterton swimmers that dominated the second half of the final day.

The Trojans would finish sixth overall as a team, but claimed four state championships. It was the most in school history.

A slow start for the Trojans made a 180-degree turn as junior Christy Grcevich dominated the field in the 100 Fly for Chesterton’s first of four state titles in the meet’s final seven events.

“We started out a bit slow, but then when Christy won the Fly it changed all the momentum,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said. “We were a few tenths off here and there at the start and a little down.”

Grcevich started fast in picking up a state title she originally won as a freshman.

“I wanted that race so bad,” Grcevich said. “I knew I had to take it out faster than I did in prelims. It took care of itself after that.”

That finished the first half of a pact Grcevich and teammate Talor Whitaker made at the end of the diving competition.

“Before the race, I told her that if I won she had to win,” Grcevich said. “We pinky swore on it. When she was walking out there I told her ‘you promised.’

Whitaker, who struggled to an eighth place finish in the 200 IM earlier in the day, wasn’t about to disappoint. Her time of 51.34 took top honors.

“I think the start of the meet in the 200 IM was something that had to happen,” Whitaker said. “I was so focused on the 100 Free that the first race I just had to find out how I felt in the water.

“I worked hard and really wanted this. I wanted to come down here and prove myself. I’ve visualized finishing first and the prelims went great. I just had to do my best and let it happen.”

The Trojans took one event off as Yorktown’s Maggie Bird won the 500 Free and then it was back for another title in the 200 Free Relay. It was the second straight year the group of Whitaker, Taylor Lipniskis, Sarah Kehe and Grcevich won the title.

“When Christy won and then Talor’s swim, we kind of new we’d be pretty good in the 200,” Kinel said. “Our exchanges weren’t very good in the prelims, so we knew we could drop time, but so could everyone else.”

Whitaker, Lipniskis and Kehe put Grcevich into the water first on the anchor leg and they were never seriously threatened by second place Indianapolis North Central.

“I thought Taylor Lipniskis and Sarah Kehe were so much faster than they were (Friday night),” Kinel said. “They are both racers. They can be so much faster in a relay than they are individually. They love it and do it for their teammates.”

All eyes returned to the quarter as the meet’s final event, the 400 Free Relay, hit the starting blocks.

“After the 200, you could just see it in their eyes that there was no denying them from winning the 400 Free Relay,” Kinel said. “That’s just a special group of kids.”

Whitaker led the Trojans to a lead on the first leg, while Lipniskis and Kehe battled Carmel from one end of the pool to the other, leaving Grcevich a chance to catch the Greyhounds in the final leg. “Christy just found another gear,” Kinel said.

“Christy can rise to the occasion. In this kind of setting, this is what she was meant to do. “When you make up that much time on a team from Carmel, you know your in a special league”

“In the 400, I was going in second by a good three of four tenths and I just had to go after her. That’s as fast as I’ve been in a while.”

Grcevich and Whitaker each took home three state titles, while Lipniskis and Kehe each garnered two.

“I did not envision this,” Kinel confessed. “I didn’t think we were that inspired coming down here. You can’t teach the heart that these kids have.

Kehe was the lone senior in the group.

“Individually I didn’t quite reach the goals I set for myself, but this weekend is all about the team and I am so proud of the girls that came down and the job that they did,” Kehe said. “Just the fact that I have two gold medals and two state championships is a fairy tale ending.”

Team scores

Carmel 291.50, Yorktown 217.50, North Central 210, Hamilton Southeastern 187, Columbus North 170.50, Chesterton 163, Center Grove 140, Homestead 117, Ft. Wayne Snider 113, Munster 94, Highland 81, Jasper 40, Noblesville 37, Lafayette Harrison 37, S. Bend St. Joseph’s 36, Penn 36, Jeffersonville 32.50, Crown Point 25, Indpls Roncalli 25, Ft. Wayne Carroll 20, Broad Ripple 20, Heritage Christian 16, Lafayette Jeff 15, Plainfield 15, West Lafayette 14, Bloomington North 14, Pendleton Heights 13, Whiteland 12, Terre Haute North 11, Mishawaka Marian 11, Anderson Highland 11, Floyd Central 11, Norwell 10, Richmond 9, Westfield 9, Warsaw 8, LaPorte 8, S. Bend Riley 7, Brownsburg 6, Danville 5, Seeger 5, Merrillville 4, Mount Vernon 4, Indpls Brebeuf 3, Franklin Community 3, Kokomo 2, Portage 2, Indianapolis Cathedral 1, Avon 1.

Individual results

200-yard medley relay — 1. Carmel (Jessie Hannes, Emily DiBenigno, Alyssa Rosinko, Megan Sparks), 1:46.48; 2. Hamilton Southeastern, 1:47.27; 3. Munster, 1:47.79; 4. Center Grove, 1:48.04; 5. North Central, 1:49.53; 6. Ft. Wayne Snider, 1:50.22; 7. Yorktown, 1:50.29; 8. Noblesville, 1:50.30; 17. Chesterton (Kate Stephens, Jamie Detmar, Nikki Pierce, Taylor Lipniskis), 1:52.94.

200-yard freestyle — 1. Maggie Bird, Yorktown, 1:50.02; 2. Mary Grace Godfrey, S. Bend St. Joseph’s, 1:51.68; 3. Jill Lockhart, Yorktown, 1:51.73; 4. Laura Heckroth, Columbus North, 1:51.88; 5. Melody White, Center Grove, 1:52.80; 6. Megan Sparks, Carmel, 1:54.48; 7. Anna Chang, West Lafayette, 1:55.10; 8. Caitlin Conroy, Columbus North, 1:55.35; 12. Sarah Kehe, Chesterton, 1:55.27; 24. Ashley Furmankiewicz, Chesterton, 1:57.69.

200-yard individual medley — 1. Michelle McKeehan, Center Grove, 2:00.99; 2. Lindsay Rogers, Hamilton Southeastern, 2:04.89; 3. Emily DiBenigno, Carmel, 2:06.11; 4. Julie Feingold, Munster, 2:06.72; 5. Margaret Behrens, Munster, 2:08.05; 6. Amber Molina, North Central, 2:08.40; 7. Emily Hurst, North Central, 2:08.44; 8,.Talor Whitaker, Chesterton, 2:08.57.

50-yard freestyle — 1. (tie) Kelsi Hall, Yorktown, and Ariel Martin, Jeffersonville, 23.54; 3. Christy Grcevich, Chesterton, 23.88; 4. Lauren Massey, North Central, 23.94; 5. Kelly Johnson, Homestead, 24.06; 6. Kayla Sergesketter, Jasper, 24.19; 7. Alyssa Rosinsko, Carmel, 24.23; 8. Maegan O’Connor, Hamilton Southeastern, 24.23; 11. Taylor Lipniskis, Chesterton, 24.81.

One-meter diving — 1. Brittney Feldman, Broad Ripple, 482.25; 2. Ellis Walters, North Central, 434.25; 3. Audra Egenolf, Heritage Christian, 430.60; 4. Kayla Purkiser, Plainfield, 414.40; 5. Tien Tran, Center Grove, 406.15; 6. Krissy Riley, Pendleton Heights, 404.45; 7. Jami Sears, Whiteland, 4:04.10; 8. Kylie Hutson, Terre Haute South, 403.00; 29. Carlie Frech, Chesterton, 134.45.

100-yard butterfly — 1. Christy Grcevich, Chesterton, 56.28; 2. Jenny Connolly, Lafayette Harrison, 56.50; 3. Donna Smailis, Highland, 56.63; 4. Alexandra Young, Carmel, 56.86; 5. Mary Grace Godfrey, S. Bend St. Joseph’s, 56.87; 6. Jill Lockhart, Yorktown, 57.42; 7. Erica Smith, Ft. Wayne Snider, 58.00; 8. Sarah Boylen, Mishawaka Marian, 58.29.

100-yard freestyle — 1. Talor Whitaker, Chesterton, 51.34; 2. Lauren Massey, North Central, 51.72; 3. Lindsay Rogers, Hamilton Southeastern, 51.77; 4. Kayla Sergesketter, Jasper, 52.51; 5. Kelsi Hall, Yorktown, 52.66; 6. Caitlin Conroy, Columbus North, 52.78; 7. Kelly Johnson, Homestead, 52.86; 8. Katie McRoberts, Carmel, 52.95.

500-yard freestyle — 1. Maggie Bird, Yorktown, 4:55.09; 2. Laura Heckroth, Columbus North, 5:00.91; 3. Samantha Partridge, Carmel, 5:02.81; 4. Jessica Skiba, Homestead, 5:03.00; 5. Alexandra Young, Carmel, 5:03.96; 6. Rebecca Retrum, Hamilton Southeastern, 5:04.70; 7. Samantha Wickizer, Columbus North, 5:07.41; 8. Emily Schroeder, Hamilton Southeastern, 5:08.04; 12. Sarah Kehe, Chesterton, 5:08.15.

200-yard freestyle relay — 1. Chesterton (Talor Whitaker, Taylor Lipniskis, Sarah Kehe, Christy Grcevich), 1:35.63; 2. Yorktown, 1:36.36; 3. Columbus North, 1:36.79; 4. Carmel, 1:37.18; 5. North Central, 1:37.22; 6. Highland, 1:38.50; 7. Hamilton Southeastern, 1:38.55; 8. Homestead, 1:38.96.

100-yard backstroke — 1. Jenny Connolly, Lafayette HarrisonHarrison, 56.97; 2. Megan Sparks, Carmel, 57.32; 3. Magaret Behrens, Munster, 57.51; 4. Jessie Hammes, Carmel, 57.74; 5. Ariel Martin, Jeffersonville, 57.87; 6. Kiley Tolbert, Yorktown, 58.13; 7. Molly Raspopovich, Crown Point, 58.45; 8. Amber Molina, North Central, 58.67; 18. Kate Stephens, Chesterton, 1:00.34.

100-yard breaststroke — 1. Michelle McKeehan, Center Grove, 1:02.07; 2. Julie Feingold, Munster, 1:04.27; 3,.Stephanie Parker, Ft. Wayne Snider, 1:05.58; 4. Kristin Lewis, North Central, 1:06.10; 5. Sarah Paetzmann, Hamilton Southeastern, 1:06.84; 6. Andrea Eriksson, Roncalli, 1:06.85; 7. Emily DiBenigno, Carmel, 1:06.89; 8. Janelle Nassim, Floyd Central, 1:07.65.

400-yard freestyle relay — 1. Chesterton (Talor Whitaker, Taylor Lipniskis, Sarah Kehe, Christy Grcevich), 3:29.49; 2. Carmel, 3:30.52; 3. Yorktown, 3:32.16; 4. Columbus North, 3:32.70; 5. North Central, 3:33.08; 6. Center Grove, 3;33.84; 7. Highland, 3:36.04; 8. Ft. Wayne Snider, 3:36.25.

Posted 2/13/2006