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February 24, 2012

BOYS' SWIMMING: Jeff, Floyd Central swimmers advance at state meet

Blankenbeker, Martin, Anderson each make championship heat

By MATT KOESTERS sports@newsandtribune.com

INDIANAPOLIS — It was a good day for local swimmers at the qualifying round of the IHSAA Boys’ Swimming and Diving State Championship Meet at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

Jeffersonville’s Zach Blankenbeker and T Martin advanced to the championship round of two individual events apiece, and the two joined Ty Arthur and Austin Smith to advance to the finals in two relays.

Blankenbeker showed strong improvement over his sectional times in both of his events. The Jeff senior placed eighth in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.25, better than his sectional time of 1:43.49, and he knocked nearly 10 seconds off his sectional time in the 500 free, finishing in 4:38.49. The finishes were good enough for eighth and sixth, respectively, heading into the final day.

Martin made the championship lap with a seventh-place preliminary finish in the 50 free with a time of 21.22, improving upon his sectional time of 21.47. He also got a fifth-place prelim finish in the 100 free with a time of 46.19, down from his 46.84 at sectional.

The Jeff 200-free relay team knocked three seconds off of its sectional time, taking seventh with a time of 1:26.01. The 400-free relay showed similar improvement, finishing in 3:09.47, almost exactly six seconds faster than the sectional pace.

Floyd Central’s Oscar Anderson will also compete for a state championship in the 200 IM. Anderson finished eighth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:56.49, down from his 1:59.15 sectional swim. Anderson was forced to fend off Carmel’s Mitch Cooper in a swim-off after the two finished prelims tied for eighth in the event. Cooper was disqualified in the swim-off, allowing Anderson to move on to the championship.

Anderson will compete in the consolation lap of the 100-backstroke event after finishing 12th in preliminaries. Anderson dropped 3/4 of a second from his sectional time.

Other swimmers saw their championship aspirations end Friday. The Jeff 200-medley relay team of Evan Shive, Lucas Hennegan, Smith and Arthur missed moving on with a 19th-place finish. Hennegan also did not advance after placing 28th in the 100 breast.

New Albany’s Luke Lete missed the second day with an 18th-place finish in the 100 fly.

Anderson, Blankenbeker, Martin and the advancing Jeff relay teams will compete for the state championships today.

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