JASPER – Bedford North Lawrence concluded the girls swimming season with a fifth-place finish in the IHSAA sectional at Jasper on Saturday.
The Stars totaled 189 points. Jasper won the team title with 533.
Ava Lipp was the top finisher for BNL as she took second in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.44. She also finished fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:24.62.
Cookie King was fifth in the 200 freestyle (2:09.53) and third in the 100 butterfly (1:04.72).
BNL also finished fourth in the 200 free relay (King, Mia Manke, Emma Heinzman and Lipp clocked 1:50.72) and 400 free relay (that same foursome finished in 4:08.24).
“An absolute home run with the girls,” BNL coach Adam Young said. “We had to put it all on the line Thursday (in the prelims) to put ourselves in a position to score today. So we shaved and ‘teched up’ (wore tech suits) for prelims. This makes it tough for major drops less than 48 hours later in finals. Our girls didn’t get the memo. We had the youngest team overall by far.
“Ava Lipp and Cookie King led the way with lifetime bests. Ava moved up to 3rd all time at BNL in the 100 back. Cookie moved up to 6th all time in the fly with a huge swim. Emma Heinzman had big drops in both her swims. Mia Manke busted out a 1:02 relay leg in the 400 free, taking 3 seconds off her lifetime best. Amelia Rich had lifetime bests in both of her swims today.
“The bottom line is this. I have not witnessed a better overall team performance by the girls since the sectional team in 2018. Most of the teams ahead of us were heavy with seniors (Tell City, Heritage Hills, Corydon Central). I hope our girls recognize the opportunity that lies in front of them.”
The winner in each event advanced to the state finals at IUPUI on Feb 9.
