Bulldogs Advance 27 to Finals

The Bulldog Boys Swimming & Diving Team took a big step towards its second consecutive Sectional championship on Thursday night, dominating the preliminary competition at Ben Davis HS. The Bulldogs advanced all 27 swims to Saturday's championship final, and will have the top seeded position in 9 of the 11 events contested on Thursday.

"Today was moving day, and all about qualifying for finals on Saturday," Head Coach Josh Saylor said. "Our guys have big goals, several have their eyes on the State meet next weekend, but we got the job done tonight highlighted by a few great swims. We're right where we need to be."

Junior Vince Partlow (200 & 500 Freestyle) and freshman Jack Franzman (50 & 100 Freestyle) will take the pole position into finals, as will senior Joe Ancel (100 Breaststroke), senior Kyle Baney (100 Butterfly), senior Diego La Torre (100 Backstroke) and sophomore Frank Schoemer (200 IM). La Torre teamed with seniors Jimmy Breedlove and Chad Hale and freshman Braden Jackson to lead the pack in the 400 Freestyle Relay. La Torre is the second seed in the 100 Butterfly, and the team of Breedlove, Jackson, sophomore Andrew Fulwider and freshman Jack Lukens qualified second in the 200 Medley Relay. Senior Cameron Howard will swim from the second position in the 100 & 200 Freestyle.

Senior Adam Moll qualified third in the 200 IM, as did Jackson in the 500 Freestyle and Schoemer in the 100 Breaststroke. The team of Ancel, Lukens, Moll and Schoemer qualified third in the 200 Freestyle Relay.

Ancel qualified fourth in the 100 Freestyle, as did Baney in the 50 Freestyle, Hale in the 200 Freestyle and Moll in the 100 Butterfly. Fulwider had the swim of the night in the 100 Breaststroke, dropping 3 seconds from his personal best time and qualifying fifth. Also taking the fifth position into finals are Breedlove (100 Backstroke), Hale (500 Freestyle) and Jackson (200 IM). Breedlove qualified seventh in the 50 Freestyle as did Lukens in the 100 Backstroke.

Sectional diving preliminaries begin at 9am at Ben Davis HS on Saturday, February 21 (doors open to the public at 8am) with swimming and diving finals beginning at 1pm.

If you are attending the meet on Saturday, PLEASE NOTE: Ben Davis HS will be hosting a very large choir competition in addition to Sectionals. Parking could be very limited and school representatives encouraged all fans and spectators to arrive early and look for parking on the south side of the building.