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State title is sweet surprise
Written By: Ted Schultz - Indianapolis Star
Everything fell in place for sophomore
Katie Bittner had hoped to win a state diving title before she graduated from Noblesville High School.
To win it as a sophomore was a bit of a shock. Bittner racked up a school-record 470.05 points Saturday at the Natatorium at IUPUI to edge Valparaiso senior Madelyn Miskulin by 3.65 points and lead the Millers to fifth place in the team standings.
"I'm very excited about it," Bittner said. "It's something I never expected to come out of this year. That's everyone's main goal -- to win state. My goal was first to medal, which was top eight, and going into this, I pretty much wanted to get top five. There's no disappointment or anything."
Bittner led by slim margins after the morning preliminaries (five dives) and semifinals (eight dives). She held on through the final three dives in the afternoon.
"I actually don't watch scores or places during the meet, but she went right before me in the order, so I knew it was close," Bittner said. "When we were going into the final round, I was talking to one of my close friends, and I was like, 'I need help calming down.' I had never been in that situation before."
Bittner placed third behind junior teammate Meghan Potee and Fishers junior Gail Susdorf in last week's Fishers Regional. Potee took fifth at state with 436.80 points, and Susdorf was seventh with 433.85.
"It was a surprise," said Noblesville diving coach Doug Hartley. "At the beginning of the season, (Bittner) and Meghan both, we sat down and discussed what type of goals they had. They wanted to go 1-2, and it didn't matter who was first and who was second. After a few dives, it started to become a reality. It was going to take everything she had to make that happen. Everything had to go just right, and it did."
The Millers scored 149.5 points as a team to place behind Carmel (427), Hamilton Southeastern (227), Homestead (163) and Chesterton (161). Fifth place is the best ever for Noblesville.
"Everything kind of came together," Wolfred said. " . . . Every swim was where we expected it to be, including the relays."
Junior Audrey Welklin, seniors Mackenzie Imbro and Nora Brolsma and freshman Claire Brolsma tied for fourth in the 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 46.92 seconds. Sophomore Marley Cripe, Imbro, Claire Brolsma and Nora Brolsma took sixth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.05. Nora Brolsma was sixth in the 50 freestyle in 24.06; Welklin was sixth in the 500 freestyle in 5:01.87.
Cripe, senior Sydney Grant, freshman Aubrey Kluth and Welklin took 10th in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:35.94. Welklin finished 10th in the 200 freestyle in 1:53.01, Cripe took 11th in the 50 freestyle in 24.45, and Brolsma was 12th in the 100 butterfly in 57.94.
"It's been a good year," Wolfred said. "It's a good group of kids. They worked hard and stayed focused, and if they went after something, they pretty much achieved it."
Hamilton Heights tied for 27th with 13 points. Those came on an eighth-place finish in the 500 freestyle from junior Cheyanne Jackson in 5:09.87.
• Call Noblesville Ledger reporter Ted Schultz at (317) 444-5547.
Posted 2-23-09 |
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