Columbus East’s Judah Nickoll competes in the 200-yard freestyle against Seymour Jan. 18 at Columbus East High School.
The Republic file photo
There are a few chances for some of the Columbus swimmers to advance out of the Columbus North Sectional, but it is going to take some personal-bests to do it.
While there are no top seeds for Columbus East or North, there are a few second seeds.
Columbus East senior Judah Nickoll is seeded second in the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 46.88 seconds), which is only 9-hundreths of a second off of top seed Botond Kun of Bloomington South. Nickoll also is seeded third in the 100 backstroke (54.90).
East junior Misha Machavariani is seeded second in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.74), which is .35 off of top seed Hunter Tang of Bloomington North. Machavariani also is seeded third in the 100 butterfly (53.12).
The Olympians are seeded second in the 200 medley relay (1:39.95) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:19.48), and Columbus North is seeded third in the 200 medley relay (1:42.99) and sixth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:46.52). North is seeded second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:31.16) and East fourth (1:37.36).
East senior Cavan Stilson is seeded third in the 100 freestyle (48.96) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (22.32). Olympian junior Keaton Stephenson is seeded fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:47.55) and fifth in the 500 freestyle (4:58.08). East juniors Todd Hundley (2:02.69) and Ethan Hall (2:11.04) are seeded third and eighth in the 200 individual medley. Hundley also is seeded fourth in the 100 backstroke (55.66).
Columbus North’s Diego Cotero Tapia competes in the 200-yard freestyle against Franklin Nov. 21, 2023 at Columbus North High School.
The Republic file photo
North junior Diego Cotero Tapia is seeded fourth in the 100 butterfly (53.19) and seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:51.17). Bull Frog senior Jude Abdallah is seeded fifth in the 50 freestyle (22.59) and in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.12). North sophomore Aarush Mahato is seeded seventh (56.46) and senior Brock Smith eighth (57.53) in the 100 butterfly.
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 a.m. Saturday, and the final three dives will take place within the swimming finals, which start at 1 p.m. Saturday. The top four divers will qualify for Tuesday’s Jasper Diving Regional.
Swimming winners and those meeting the state standard will qualify for the Feb. 23-24 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.
