In the past, the New Castle girl’s and boy’s swim teams have always been the average team. Not bad, but not amazing either. That changed last year when the New Castle girls had the first winning record in over 7 years, and a 4th place sectional finish. The boys swim team finished 3rd in the sectional, the highest they’ve placed in 11 years.
The girls swim team, with the addition of a few talented freshmen, placed 5th in the conference, and 4th in the sectional. The girls team also posted the first winning record in over 7 years, (11-4-1). The girl’s team did not lose any seniors after the 2020-2021 season, so the future is looking bright with nowhere to go but up.
The girls had many heavy hitters in the 2021 sectional. The distance duo of Senior Lylah Hutson and Sophomore Olivia Owens. Hutson and Owens made a 1-2 punch in the sectional meet last year. Hutson finished 1st in both the 200 Freestyle and the 500 Freestyle in sectionals last year. Along with the second place 500 finish, Owens also finished 6th in the 100 back. Junior Madilyn Moffitt also swam the 500 yard freestyle, finishing 10th.
Huston says, “I am proud of my previous season, and I am thankful to have had a full season. I’m excited to see what else I can accomplish in my last year”
On the sprinting side, another freshman standout Sydney Mathews finished 4th in the sectional in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200 IM. Mathews says, “I’m pretty happy with my freshman season. I really think that this year I have a chance to win or place in the top 3 in the sectional. I’m also really hoping to bring home the school record in the 100 free”
Senior Payton Plank also hopes to place high in the sectional this year, as she finished 11th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 100 freestyle. Junior Elena Millikan hopes to have a high placing in the sectional as well, as she placed 12th in the 100 yard freestyle as only a sophomore.
The team also had the addition of three freshmen. Freshman Caitlin Sipes says that she feels confident about her past season going into this season. “My goals are to get PR’s every other week and to win”
The girl’s only diver, Junior Sacha Shunneson, placed 3rd in the sectional. Shunnneson’s 3rd place finish advanced her to the Brownsburg regional. Shunneson placed 20th in the regional. Shunneson hopes to advance to regionals again this season on her Junior campaign.
On the boy’s side, they, unfortunately, lost 5 talented seniors. However, that is not going to stop them on their campaign to place high in the sectional. After gaining a couple talented freshmen, and more boys coming out to swim this year, they still have hopes of placing in the top 5 in the sectional.
Aidan Sipes as the lone boy’s senior competing this year has high hopes for sectionals. Sipes finished 5th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 backstroke as a junior last year, and hopes to better that this year. Sipes also swam the 200-yard medley relay, and the 200-yard freestyle relay, where they finished 3rd and 7th.
Sophomores Cameron Poe and Gus Upchuch are some of the most promising sophomores looking to fill the graduated senior’s shoes. Poe placed 11th in the 100 yard butterfly and 13th in the 100 yard back in the sectional as a freshman. Upchurch is also looking forward to an exciting sectional finish after previously placing 9th in the 500 yard free and 10th in the 100 yard back.
Juniors Samual Hastings, Paul Huynh, and Max Upchurch are also eager to help the team place high and improve their individual placings. Last season, Hastings placed 15th in the 100 yard freestyle. Huynh placed 16th in the 200 yard IM, along with 7th in the 200 yard medley relay.
With the former assistant coach turned head coach Kristen Owens, the team is looking forward to a great season. Having already competed in three meets this season, the team is preparing for the HHC ( Hoosier Heritage Conference) on Friday the 17th of December. If you see any of these swimmers in the halls, make sure to wish them good luck on their season!
