IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving

1996-97 State Finals in Review

Carmel used outstanding team depth to capture its 11th consecutive title in the 23rd Annual Indiana High School Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving Championships February 14-15, 1997 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

Coached by Tony Young, the Greyhounds won four of the 12 events and amassed a meet-record 420.5 points. The total broke the previous mark of 418 set by Carmel in the 1995-96 meet. Richmond was second with 178 points, followed by DeKalb, Homestead and North Central of Indianapolis with 128 points each.

This was the first year the state tournament series was conducted as a winter sport. The previous 22 state tournaments were conducted in the fall. The IHSAA moved girls swimming to the winter season from the fall season in order to give more girls the opportunity to compete in a winter sport.

It was the 12th girls swimming and diving title overall for Carmel, all coming since 1981.

Carmel's only individual title came in the 100 butterfly as junior Lindsay Carlberg successfully defended her championship with a 57.07 effort that was slightly faster than her 57.38 time in 1995-96.

Carmel won all three relay titles and scored points in every event but diving. The Greyhounds put three girls in the championship race in four of the eight individual races. All told, Carmel had four first-place finishes, two second-place finishes, one third-place finish and four fourth-place finishes.

Individually, sophomore Michala Kwasny of Fort Wayne Snider and senior Melissa Sugar of Evansville Day were double winners, while Kwasny and Katie Fields of Columbus North broke state meet records.

Kwasny repeated as the state champion in the 200 individual medley and then added her first 100 butterfly title. Kwasny broke her own 200 individual medley state record twice in the meet. Kwasny was clocked in 2:01.60 to post the top time in Friday night's preliminaries, and then followed with a 2:01.07 in the finals. Kwasny won the 100 butterfly in 55.76.

Sugar won the 200 freestyle in 1:49.60 and came back to take the 100 freestyle in 50.24. Fields, a junior, repeated as the 500 freestyle champion and broke the meet record by more than a second with a 4:50.24 clocking.

Brook Monroe, a senior from Floyd Central, won her third consecutive 100 breaststroke title by going 1:03.05. She set the meet record in 1995-96 in 1:02.92. She joined Heidi Hendricks of Logansport (1984, 1986, 1987) and Tricia Tyner of Carmel (1988, 1989, 1990) as the only three-time 100 breaststroke champions.

Amy Shurr of Valparaiso, who captured the diving competition as a sophomore in 1994-95 and was the runner-up in 1995-96, returned to the top with a strong effort on the last of her 11 dives. Shurr edged senior Stephanie Ellis of Warsaw 389.55 to 387.85.

Melissa Sugar of Evansville Day School was selected by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 1996-97 recipient of the Mental Attitude Award in Girls Swimming and Diving. Sugar was a two-event champion in the meet and a four-year team MVP. Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Evansville Day School in Sugar's name.

A total of 210 schools and 3,413 participants began competition at the sectional level.

The 23rd Annual IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving State Finals

February 15, 1997

Indiana University Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Championship Results

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Carmel (Lindsay Carlberg, Katie Simmons, Krista Davis, Andrea Hastings), 1:46.36. 2. Fort Wayne Snider, 1:50.96. 3. Richmond, 1:51.04. 4. North Central (Indianapolis), 1:51.24. 5. DeKalb, 1:51.49. 6. Center Grove, 1:51.97. 7. Homestead, 1:52.39. 8. Mount Vernon (Posey), 1:53.01.

200 Freestyle -- 1. Melissa Sugar, Evansville Day, 1:49.60. 2. Katie Fields , Columbus North, 1:50.01. 3. Carolyn Horwitz, DeKalb, 1:50. 35. 4. Katie Seall, Carmel, 1:51.82. 5. Katie Simmons, Carmel, 1:53.25. 6. Rebecca Wilson, Homestead, 1:55:02. 7. Katie Schell, Penn, 1:56.86. 8. Courtney McCracken, Carmel, 1:57.95.

200 Individual Medley -- 1. Michala Kwasny, Fort Wayne Snider, 2:01.07 (meet record; breaks record of 2:01.60 set by Kwasny in Friday preliminaries). 2. Brook Monroe, Floyd Central, 2:01.09. 3. Gwen Haley, Carmel, 2:04.89. 4. Lindsay Carlberg, Carmel, 2:05.89. 5. Allison Lloyd, Fort Wayne Canterbury, 2:05.99. 6. Jennifer Watts, Carmel, 2:06.89. 7. Brooke Taflinger, Kokomo, 2:06.98. 8. Kristin Brinsley, Avon, 2:12.04.

50 Freestyle -- 1. Heather Auld, DeKalb, 23.95. 2. Sarah Beltrame, Richmond, 24.07. 3. Kerrie Fineran, Fort Wayne Concordia, 24:18. 4. Maureen Hillenmeyer, Westfield, 24:23. 5, and Andrea Hastings, Carmel, 24:23. 6. Adrienne Williams, Anderson, 24:41. 7. Sarah Bowman, Center Grove, 24.42. 8. Krista Davis, Carmel, 24.61.

One Meter Diving -- 1. Amy Shurr, Valparaiso, 389.55. 2. Stephanie Ellis, Warsaw, 387.85. 3. Cathy Grimes, Terre Haute North, 384.85. 4. Carrie Dougherty, Franklin, 368.35. 5. Katie Cooper, Franklin, 356.45. 6. Marci Kacsir, Franklin Central, 347.05. 7. Kylee Wells, Western, 345.65. 8. Dana Rogers, Portage, 344.50.

100 Butterfly -- 1. Michala Kwasny, Fort Wayne Snider, 55.76. 2. Heather Auld, DeKalb, 56.69. 3. Erinn Hitch, 57.12. 4. Erica Watts, Carmel, 57.22. 5. Krista Davis, Carmel, 57.62. 6. Sarah Holke, South Bend Clay, 57.71. 7. Courtney Bennett, Carmel, 58.11. 8. Adrienne Williams, Anderson, 58.74.

100 Freestyle -- 1. Melissa Sugar, Evansville Day, 50.24. 2. Carolyn Horwitz, DeKalb, 51.34. 3. Melissa Bromley, Lawrence North, 51.9. 4. Maureen Hillenmeyer, Westfield, 52.49. 5. Sarah Beltrame, Richmond, 52.53. 6. Andrea Hastings, Carmel, 52.55. 7. Kerrie Fineran, Fort Wayne Concordia, 52.75. 8. Kattie Shepherd, Valparaiso, 53.55.

500 Freestyle -- 1. Katie Fields, Columbus North, 4:50.24 (meet record; breaks old record of 4:51.48 set by Lia Oberstar, Fort Wayne Dwenger, 1994). 2. Katie Seall, Carmel, 4:56.39. 3. Brooke Taflinger, Kokomo, 5:02.70. 4. Rebecca Wilson, Homestead, 5:03.84. 5. Courtney McCracken, Carmel, 5:04.92. 6. Joey Duncan, Avon, 5:05.81. 7. Mandy Muenich, Lake Central, 5:07.22. 8. Ashley Schumacher, North Central (Indianapolis), 5:10.24.

200 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Carmel (Andrea Hastings, Cristina Lambert, Angela Bradford, Krista Davis), 1:37.65. 2. Richmond, 1:39.27. 3. Munster, 1;39.45. 4. Center Grove, 1:39.75. 5. Fort Wayne Concordia, 1:40.13. 6. Valparaiso, 1:40.42. 7. Anderson, 1:41.40. 8. Hamilton Southeastern, 1:41.87.

100 Backstroke -- 1. Lindsay Carlberg, Carmel, 57.07. 2. Melissa Bromley, Lawrence North, 58.20. 3. Erinn Hitch, Richmond, 58.33. 4. Kristin Brinsley, Avon, 58.71. 5. Jennifer Watts, Carmel, 58.92. 6. Erica Watts, Carmel, 59.22. 7. Noel Geary, Homestead, 59.32. 8. Andrea Russell, North Montgomery, 59.52.

100 Breaststroke -- 1. Brook Monroe, Floyd Central, 1:03.05. 2. Katie Simmons, Carmel, 1:03.79. 3. Allison Lloyd, Fort Wayne Cantebury, 1:04.01. 4. Laura Swander, Yorktown, 1:05.52, and Stephanie Moll, Mount Vernon (Posey), 1:05.52. 6. Gwen Haley, Carmel, 1:06.10. 7. Malaika Homo, Elkhart Central, 1:06.36. 8. Beth Farris, North Central (Indianapolis), 1:07.31.

400 Freestyle Relay -- 1. Carmel (Katie Simmons, Lindsay Carlberg, Gwen Haley, Katie Seall), 3:30.83. 2. Richmond, 3:34.04. 3. North Central (Indianapolis), 3:37.92. 4. DeKalb, 3:38.30. 5. Valparaiso, 3:38.79. 6. Center Grove, 3:39.08. 7. Homestead, 3:40.63. 8. Munster, 3:40.69.

Team Scores

Carmel 420.5, Richmond 178, DeKalb 128, Homestead 128, North Central (Indianapolis) 128, Fort Wayne Snider 97, Center Grove 96, Valparaiso 93, Munster 80, Anderson 72, Fort Wayne Concordia 70, Avon 46, Mount Vernon (Posey), 42.5, Evansville Day 40, Hamilton Southeastern 40, Kokomo 40, Columbus North 37, Floyd Central 37, Lake Central 37, Penn 35.5, Lawrence North 33, Yorktown 31.5, Fort Wayne Canterbury 30, Westfield 29.5, Franklin 29, West Lafayette 23.5, Elkhart Central 19, Warsaw 17, Evansville Memorial 16, Terre Haute North 16, Crown Point 15, Brebeuf 14, Lafayette Jefferson 14, North Montgomery 14, Franklin Central 13, South Bend Clay 13, Western 12, Martinsville 11, Portage 11, Chesterton 10, Norwell 10, Northridge 9, LaPorte 8, East Noble 7, Greenfield-Central 7, South Bend St. Joseph's 7, Tell City 7, Hamilton Heights 6, Mount Vernon (Fortville) 6, Muncie Central 6, Zionsville 6, Fort Wayne South Side 5, Seeger 5, Southwestern (Hanover) 5, Park Tudor 4, Pike 4, South Dearborn 2, Decatur Central 1, McCutcheon 1.