INDIANAPOLIS — Jess Preston gathered his team after the game. He wanted to make sure everyone knew the plan once the state runner-up trophy was awarded.
Penn made school history on Saturday. The boys swim team took second place at the IHSAA state finals, matching the girls team's performance two weeks ago. This is the first time the Kingsmen have finished runner-up in the state championship tournament in the same year.
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“It means everything,” said Preston, who coaches both programs. “We've only had a total of three state runner-up titles for boys and girls so far this year, so two more in one year is definitely unprecedented. We don't know if that will happen again.” I think it’s huge for the state as well. I don’t know how many teams other than Carmel were able to lift the hardware two weeks apart from each other.”
The runner-up was the 400 yard freestyle relay. Heading into the final race, the Kingsmen had a one-point lead over Fishers and a 10-point lead over Zionsville. Carmel had a huge lead over the field and there was no drama left as to who would win the team title for the 10th straight year.
Penn's quartet had to finish ahead of both Fishers and Zionsville, and they did. Sophomore Matthew Weeks, junior Nathan Temeres, sophomore Leo Nee, and senior Reid Ohlson placed third with a time of 3:07.81, earning praise from Kingsman players, coaches, and fans. was cheered.
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“It was the last race of my career, so I just swam as hard as I could,” Ohlsson said of the final 100 yards. “I swam like a 50 and let the second 50 take its course. We had nothing to lose. … It's kind of crazy when you think about it now.”
Each senior had a big moment for Penn Saturday. Chris Oberley was asked to kick off the 200-yard freestyle relay because he did not participate in the event during Friday's qualifying. He set the pace for a 4th place finish in this event. Oberley also earned points in the 100-yard backstroke by placing eighth.
“(Preston) thought it was more important for me to finish fifth in the 100-yard backstroke than it was for me to finish fifth in the 100-yard backstroke again,” Oberley said, referring to his qualifying placement. “Instead of gaining 10 points, you only lose three points…My first club coach also told me that swimming may be an individual sport, but it's also a team sport.”
The best individual finish was from Elliott Dye, who placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.
“Everything was perfect,” Dye said. “I'm really happy to be here. It's like my third year of swimming so it's really crazy to be able to do this. I just want to thank my team and my coaches. That's wonderful.”
Alex Fleming only placed 16th in the 100-yard breaststroke, but the one point he earned helped the Kingsmen build a lead heading into the final race.
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He held on to the trophy for at least five minutes afterwards, almost having to have it surgically removed from his hand.
“I can't believe it,” Fleming said. “We all knew we had a chance (for second place) going into this tournament, but to go through with it is insane. I'm speechless.”
In addition to these finishes, Penn placed 3rd in the 200-yard medley relay (Oberley, Nee, Ohlson, Cole Stephenson), 9th in the 200-yard freestyle (Temeres), 6th in the 200-yard individual medley (Stevenson), and 15 obtained the rank. Placed 13th in the 100-yard butterfly (Ni) and 13th and 16th in the 500-yard free East swim (Stevenson).
This is the second time since 2005 that Penn has finished as a runner-up as a men's program.
“This whole team is indestructible,” Preston said. “We were able to send these seniors out as state runners-up, and we finished in eighth place last year, but we were happy to finish in the top 10. To make the jump from eighth to second place is great. It's unbelievable.”
