On Feb. 18, the boys swimming team traveled to Munster High School to participate in their Sectional meet, which was one of the most highly anticipated events of the whole season.
“We’ve been working since October for this meet. We had two practices a day, weightlifting three days a week and we trained through Christmas break,” Gavin Baisa (12) said.
Overall, the boys were against 15 teams with Munster being their biggest competition.
“Munster is a big competitor for us because of the team they produce. They have very fast swimmers and have always been our rival for as long as I can remember,” Ryan Kilinski (12) said.
Throughout the season, the boys battled Munster three times, which readied them to face the team once more at Sectionals.
“Munster had a lot of really good freshmen come up this year, which made them a lot stronger. It made it a lot harder,” Baisa said.
At the meet, the boys total score was 359 which put them in second place right behind Munster with 506.5 and in front of Crown Point, who had 318.5.
“I wasn’t surprised at all by the score or our place. Our goal this entire year has been to get second at Sectionals and to send some people to State. I think we did really well, but I don’t think it was anything surprising,” Baisa said.
There were several strong showings during the meet, especially the 200-meter freestyle relay and 400-meter freestyle relay, both which will be traveling to state competition at IUPUI this weekend.
“I think both the relays went well. I wish we had went a faster time, but it still managed to get us down to State. Hopefully we’ll be able to make top 16 in the 400 free relay and make the callback,” Kilinski said.
One of the most eventful moments of the entire meet was watching Riley Ingram (10) qualify for the State meet in the 100-meter backstroke.
“I was really impressed with my time and I was happy that I wasn’t the only Lake Central backstroker competing. I’m really excited for State. It’s going to be my second year going, but my first individual race,” Ingram said.
In regards to the diving portion, there were many strong scores from Josh Chen (9) who placed sixth and Chris Wayman (10) who placed eighth.
“I think that the majority of the divers had a good last meet, and even though there were a few mess ups on some dives, everyone gave it their all and it was close,” Wayman said.
As the meet met its halfway point, the boys trailed behind Munster, and they kept their second place standing until the end.
“Achieving second place made the team all around feel really good. Everyone of us put in lots of effort and time, and it left us with a nice, rewarding feeling,” Kilinski said.
For the seniors, their second place standing felt especially fulfilling since it was their last high school swimming Sectional meet.
“With this being my last Sectional for Lake Central I feel sad. I’m going to miss all the effort and hard work I put into the four years of this sport,” Kilinski said.
