New Albany’s girls swim team got revenge over Floyd Central with a 97-86 victory over the Highlanders on Saturday.

Just a week after falling to the Highlanders by five points in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet, the Bulldogs handed Floyd its first dual-meet loss in three years.

“This was a big win for us,” New Albany coach Steve Bonifer said.

New Albany won the first six events of the meet and took eight wins overall.

Freshmen Rachel Klein and Hannah Manger each won four times in the victory, while Kaitlyn Stewart and Abby Litkenhous were double winners. Emily Robinette won the diving event.

“I still think Floyd Central is the favorite to win the sectional,” Bonifer admitted.

The Bulldogs boys fell to Floyd Central, 103 1/2 to 82 1/2, despite individual wins from Aaron Zinner (200 free), Evan Truman (100 free) and Luke Lete (100 back), and a victory by the 400 freestyle relay team with Truman, Lete, Zinner and Justin Sparks.



FLOYD CENTRAL

The Highlanders girls finished their dual-meet season with a 5-1 mark after the loss to New Albany.

Even in the defeat, five Floyd swimmers posted season-best times: Melanie Sartin (2:10.79) and Rachael Peters (2:24.30) in the 200 freestyle, Sarah Taylor (5:42.97) and Shelby Weathers (5:43.47) in the 500 free and Katelyn Cato (1:03.39) in the 100 backstroke. Taylor won the 500 free.

“New Albany’s second and third swimmers, as well as their B relays, were the key to the meet,” Floyd coach Joe Perkins said. “We had some races where we got (out) touched for points that cost us tremendously in the meet. The girls hadn’t swam a dual meet since Dec. 22, and I think it showed after a tough conference meet and a hard week of practice. I felt we gave a great effort on Saturday. We were just a little flat.”

The girls’ next meet is the Floyd Central Sectional, Feb. 4 and 6.

The Highlander boys remained unbeaten in the dual-meet season with the triumph over New Albany.

Andrew Cato broke the school record in the 200 individual medley, which he swam in 1:58.05. Brent McDonald set the record 16 years ago with a time of 1:58.69. Cato also won the 100 breaststroke and was a member of the 200 medley relay team and the 200 free relay team.

Eleven Highlanders set season-best times, and Oscar Anderson was a double winner.

“We were looking for a good effort today from the boys across the board,” Perkins said. “They had not swam a meet since Dec. 22, and we needed good times for the (Hoosiers Hills Conference) meet on Saturday. I was pleased with the effort they gave on Saturday. We had a very focused effort and worked well on relays and individual events.”



JEFFERSONVILLE

In its their one meet last week, Jeffersonville’s boys and girls easily swept Columbus East on Saturday.

The Red Devils boys won, 135-51, while the girls scored a 131-55 victory. Jeff swept every event on the day.

“It was a good day for the Devils,” Jeff coach Keith Gast said. “We had a lot of good swims, great effort and high energy the whole day. We were able to get some tweaks in our lineup for the sectional and (boys) conference championship.”

The girls’ team took the top two places in all but one event and earned the top three spots in the 50-yard freestyle with Hanna Martin, Katie Daily and Shelby Simcoe.

Martin was a four-time winner on Saturday. Along with the 50 free, Martin won the 500 freestyle and was a member of the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

Jeff’s other individual winners were Sam Kennedy (200 freestyle), Kea Gwin (200 individual medley), Alexa Waldrip (diving), Lori James (100 butterfly), Katie Scott (100 backstroke), Daily (100 breaststroke) and freshman Sydney Bloom (100 freestyle).

Bloom also finished second in the 200 free and was on the runner-up 200 free relay team.

“I was really happy with Sydney Bloom,” Gast said of her first victory of the season.

On the boys’ side, Jeff swept the top three in two events. John Davis, Acey Huffman and George Jancosek were 1-2-3 in the 200 freestyle. In the diving event, Andrew Shelly was the winner, followed by Connor Richardson and Will Czerwonka.

Sophomore Zach Blankenbaker was a three-time winner — in the 200 individual medley, the 100 butterfly and as a member of the 200 free relay team.

Brad Reinhardt won the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.

“Reinhardt continued to show his emerging talent,” Gast said.