Four Golden Bear swimmers are set up to claim sectional titles Saturday in New Palestine.
Tyler Harker and Juan Gonzalez-Gallego held top seeds in their best events and teamed up with Will Rife and Trey Carrell to produce the fastest time in the 400-yard freestyle relay Thursday night during the preliminary round of the New Palestine Sectional.
Harker cruised to a 2.05-second win over Eastern Hancock’s Matthew McDaniel in the 200 freestyle. The Shelbyville senior’s time of 1:51.58 was almost three seconds slower than his seed time but still fast enough to remain the top seed.
Gonzalez-Gallego won the 100 butterfly in 55.44, 1.65 seconds slower than his school record time of 53.79. He is the top seed going into Saturday’s championship race with New Castle’s Cameron Poe (55.66) and Rife (56.38) in pursuit.
Shelbyville’s 400 freestyle relay (photo) posted a 3.04-second victory over New Palestine to remain the top seed. The Golden Bears’ time of 3:32.53 was faster than their seed time of 3:33.68.
The top eight finishers in each event Thursday return Saturday for sectional championship races. The next eight finishers Thursday return for consolation races.
Shelbyville will open the sectional championship Saturday with a hotly-contested race in the 200 medley relay.
Richmond is the top seed after Thursday’s qualifying with a time of 1:45.42. New Castle is the second seed at 1:45.67 with Shelbyville third at 1:46.26.
Shelbyville will use the same foursome in the 400 relay to chase the squad’s first sectional title Saturday.
Harker follows in the 200 freestyle championship race that will run after the consolation race that features Shelbyville’s Michael Fox, who finished 15th overall Thursday in 2:05.76 – 4.28 seconds faster than his seed time.
Gonzalez-Gallego will seek his first sectional title in the 200 individual medley where he is the second seed behind Mt. Vernon’s Matthew Garey. Shelbyville’s Tristin Maloney finished 11th and will swim in the consolation race.
Carrell qualified for the 50 freestyle final with a sixth-place finish in 23.54. Mt. Vernon’s Brady Gray was the top qualifier at 22.3.
Three Golden Bears will compete Saturday in the 100 butterfly. Maloney finished 15th to get into the consolation race. Gonzalez-Gallego and Rife will battle in the championship.
Lance File qualified for the consolation race in the 100 freestyle in 56.05 – 1.7 seconds faster than his seed time.
Harker is the No. 2 seed in the 500 freestyle behind Garey of Mt. Vernon. Harker touched the wall in 5:09.16, nearly eight seconds slower than his seed time while Garey was .46 seconds off his seed time.
Fox will return to the pool for the consolation race of the 500 freestyle.
Shelbyville qualified for the championship race in the 200 freestyle relay. File, Fox, Maloney and Andrew Duffy finished eighth to advance.
Rife improved his seed time and placed sixth in the 100 backstroke. File will compete in the consolation race.
Shelbyville closes out the event with the potential for another sectional title in the 400 freestyle relay. New Palestine finished runner-up with a 4.16-second drop from its seed time. Richmond is lurking in third after posting a time slower than its seed time.
