Shelbyville senior Will Rife broke his own school record Saturday while winning the 100-yard butterfly event at the New Palestine Sectional.
Rife (photo, center) touched the wall just over two seconds ahead of Mt. Vernon’s Elijah Webster to qualify for the IHSAA State Finals. Rife’s new school record time was 52.12 seconds. Webster finished in 54.19.
Rife also finished runner-up in the 50 freestyle (22.56). Richmond’s Owen Fowler earned the state finals berth with a winning time of 21.12.
The Golden Bears’ 200 freestyle relay team finished third in the sectional championship race. Rife, Everett Stegemiller, Andrew Duffy and Brody Jeanette stopped the clock in 1:37.67.
Jeanette, a freshman, was the only other Shelbyville swimmer to compete in a championship race Saturday. He finished seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:56.45) and seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:20.11).
Competing in consolation races were Shia Veach (15th in 200 individual medley), Duffy (10th in 50 freestyle; 13th in 100 breaststroke), Anderson Mollenkopf (16th in 100 freestyle) and Stegemiller (13th in 100 backstroke.
Rife, Stegemiller, Duffy and Jeanette also combined for a sixth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.
The 87th Annual IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving State Finals start Friday with preliminary races at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.
Championship races and the diving competition are Saturday.
In other prep events:
Boys basketball
Beech Grove 59, Triton Central 51
At Triton Central Friday, the visiting Hornets jumped out to a 16-4 lead after one quarter and held off the Tigers the rest of the way in the Indiana Crossroads Conference contest.
Triton Central (15-6, 4-2 ICC) cut Beech Grove’s lead to eight at halftime and four by the end of the third quarter but Jeremiah Lee scored 10 of his 15 points in the final quarter to seal the win for the Hornets (5-16, 3-4 ICC).
Jarron Murry Jr. led Beech Grove with 18 points.
Eli Sego scored a game-high 24 points for Triton Central, who dropped into a three-way tie for second place in the ICC standings with the loss. Silas Blair finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers close out their regular-season schedule Friday when Speedway (9-11, 4-2 ICC) comes to town. The winner of the game will finish in sole possession of second place in the ICC standings.
Liberty Christian 51, Waldron 42
At Waldron, the visiting Lions held the Mohawks below 10 points scoring in each of the first three quarters to seal the victory.
Class A, No. 17 Liberty Christian improved to 12-9 with the win.
Jacob Lindsey led Waldron with 13 points. Lucas Shaw finished with 12 points. Max Jones had eight points and eight rebounds.
On Saturday, the Mohawks scored their second win of the season over Seven Oaks Classical School (1-19).
With the win, Waldron improved to 9-10 (3-2 Mid-Hoosier Conference) with two road games left on the regular-season schedule. The Mohawks are at Hauser (16-5, 5-0 MHC) Tuesday and at Sheridan (11-8) Friday.
Union County 60, Morristown 44
At Union County Saturday, the visiting Yellow Jackets suffered their ninth loss in their last 10 games to fall to 3-17 this season.
The host Patriots improved to 9-11.
Colin Kieninger led Morristown with 23 points and five assists. Kane Snyder finished with 10 points.
Morristown plays its final home game of the season Tuesday against Providence Cristo Rey (1-17). The Yellow Jackets close out the regular season Friday at Tri (13-7).
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