Carmel Surges to 12th Straight Indiana State Championship; William Allen Wins Four Events
Two weeks after the girls’ program captured a 40th consecutive Indiana state championship, the Carmel High School boys’ program dominated action at its state meet. Racing at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, the Greyhounds grabbed their 12th straight Hoosier state crown, thanks to a 408-point performance. That total enabled Carmel to comfortably defeat Penn, which finished with 247 points. Homestead was third in the team standings with 201 points.
Carmel opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, as the foursome of Carter Hadley (22.72), Yi Zheng (24.15), Jack Street (21.52) and Donald Zhao (20.85) registered a swim of 1:29.24. That triumph was followed by a one-two-four showing in the 200 freestyle, led by William Allen’s win in 1:35.08. By that point, the Greyhounds were in control and never relented. Allen also emerged on top in the 500 freestyle, where he turned in a time of 4:20.02. The Carmel duo of Lewis Zhang (4:26.51) and Austin Bruford (4:29.64) followed.
Zheng cruised away from the field in the 200 individual medley, behind a swim of 1:43.92. That outing handed the junior a three-plus-second win and was complemented by a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Zheng went 54.19, which was behind only the 53.23 of Lucas Ackermann (Franklin Regional).
Carmel punctuated its team crown by winning the 400 freestyle relay in an impressive time of 2:57.63. That team consisted of Allen (44.92), Hadley (44.14), Zhang (44.98) and Zheng (43.59).
Bloomington South’s Peter Kovacs topped the field in the 50 freestyle, going 20.12, and completed the sprint-freestyle double with a 43.79 mark in the 100 freestyle. Hadley was second in 44.22, but returned to win the 100 backstroke in 48.41. Fishers’ Alex Koos was quickest in the 100 butterfly, as he posted a time of 48.15, and Homestead won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:22.41, behind the squad of Logan Poswinski (20.78), Hayden Lynam (20.48), Josiah Collins (20.75) and Jackson Pyle (20.40).
