The Columbus East girls swimmers had six individual first-place finishes and swept all three relays against Shelbyville on Thursday.
The Olympians beat Shelbyville 99-82 with three individual double winners. Cortney VanLiew placed first in the 200-yard freestyle (2 minutes, 12.24 seconds) and 100 freestyle (56.94), Jennifer Utterback touched the wall first in the 200 individual medley (2:28.62) and 500 freestyle (5:50.35) and Whitley Eicher took the 100 butterfly (1:05.66) and 50 freestyle (27.07).
East’s 200 medley relay won in 2:00.70, the 200 freestyle relay prevailed in 1:55.67 and the 400 freestyle relay completed the meet by finishing first in 4:02.73.
The Olympians have young girls team this year, with over half the team competing in their first year. Girls coach Jill Arnholt said Thursday went much smoother for the new girls than the first meet. They ended the night with 20 best times between the entire team.
“We had a great meet,” Arnholt said. “The girls have been working really hard in the pool, and I think it’s showing. I’m really proud of them. Our first dual meet was a learning curve. The girls had no idea what was going on. Now they have a better idea of what to expect. They’re still nervous and anxious, but they’re really excited and fun to watch.”
The Olympian boys fell short 110-67 but managed to get two first-place finishes out of Chaun Lee in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.64) and Griff McGaha in the 100 backstroke (1:04.44). East also managed to win the 400 freestyle relay (3:59.75).
Boys coach David Fribley said the meet was a chance for the new guys to show some improvement, and they stepped up.
“The young guys swam really well,” Fribley said. “They all had really good time drops, and that’s what we wanted. I think the older guys realized they have some conditioning to get in.”
