Columbus East’s Connelly Furnish swims the breaststroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley during a meet against Seymour on Jan. 18 at Columbus East High School.
The Republic file photo
On paper, if there’s any shot that a Columbus swimmer makes it to next weekend’s state finals, it likely will come from the 200-yard individual medley.
Columbus East freshman Connelly Furnish is the top seed in the event (2 minutes, 18.65 seconds), more than a full second ahead of the next-best time going into the East Central Sectional. Columbus North sophomore Ainsley Sherlock is seeded fourth in the event (2:23.45), and East senior Kira VanValkenburg is seeded seventh (2:30.81).
Columbus North’s Ainsley Sherlock competes in the 200-yard individual medley against Franklin Nov. 21, 2023, at Columbus North.
The Republic file photo
Sherlock also is seeded second in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.44), and East senior Ali Trueblood is seeded fourth (1:15.68). Connelly Furnish is seeded second in the 500 freestyle (5:10.71), and East sophomore Cassidy Furnish is seeded eighth (5:51.85).
North junior Katie Frazier is seeded third in the 100 freestyle (57.30) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (2:05.43). North sophomore Georgia Abdallah is seeded fifth in the 50 freestyle (26.55), and North sophomore Brooklyn Pendleton is seeded eighth (27.03). North freshman Mridula Muthukumaran is seeded fifth in both the 100 butterfly (1:04.88) and 100 backstroke (1:04.51), and North freshman Sanaa Kulkarni is seeded seventh (1:07.55).
North is seeded second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:45.96), and East is seeded third (1:47.88). North is seeded third in the 200 medley relay (1:57.81), and East is seeded sixth (2:06.06). East is seeded fifth in the 400 freestyle relay (4:02.68), and North is seeded sixth (4:07.97).
The sectional prelims will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday. The top eight in each event will make the championship finals, and the next eight in each event will make the consolation finals.
The diving prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, and the final three dives will take place within the swimming finals, which start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The top four divers will qualify for Tuesday’s Jasper Diving Regional. East senior Gabbie Meier is the three-time defending sectional diving champion and state qualifier.
Swimming winners and those meeting the state standard will qualify for the Feb. 9-10 state finals at IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium. If the 20 sectional champions from around the state and those meeting the state standard are less than 32, swimmers with the next-best times from around the state will be added to reach a full field of 32 in each event.
