Kokomo Tribune
By CHRIS GARNER
Tribune sportswriter

CARMEL — Having already finished second to Carmel’s Michael Vinyard in the 200-yard individual medley, Kokomo senior Tylor Gauger wasn’t about to let it happen again.

So Gauger later Saturday put the pedal down here in the championship heat of the 500 freestyle at the Carmel Boys Swimming and Diving Sectional, leading wire to wire to capture the crown.

Gauger’s winning time of 4:39.30 in the 500 shattered his own school record by nearly two seconds, and it was paired with his second-place finish in the IM with a time of 1:54.90 that shaved almost 6/10ths off his school record in that event.

Both times were well below the state-cut times necessary to advance to next Saturday’s IHSAA State Finals at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

“On the last 50 [of the individual medley] the lactic acid was building up and I just couldn’t move,” said Gauger, who led after all three preceding strokes before the freestyle.

“I could see [Vinyard] coming and I was like, ‘Oh, no’ and he just out-touched me. In the 500 it was the same guy and I wasn’t going to let him beat me. I was going to go for it.”

The No. 4-ranked Greyhounds ran away from the field, winning with 374 points. No. 20 Kokomo was fifth with 131, followed by Maconaquah (98), Western (84), Northwestern (29), Eastern (27) and Tipton (14).

This season marks the third straight trip to the finals for Gauger, who will also be joined locally by Maconaquah’s Andrew Loshnowsky and Loshnowsky’s 200 medley relay mates.

Gauger’s brother, Mitchell, and teammate Bryan Parks are also assured of extending their seasons. They finished 2-3 in the 1-meter diving competition and will advance to the Hamilton Southeastern Regional on Tuesday.

“As my last sectional I wanted to go out with a bang, and although I wanted to do a little better in the IM, the 500 definitely made up for it,” said Tylor Gauger.

As his high school coach for only this season, Mark Shelbert — who last mentored the Katfish in 2003 — said Gauger has had to persevere during a sometimes tumultuous time in Kokomo swimming.

“Tylor has been through a lot of coaches and through a lot of philosophies, and through all those changes he is the constant,” Shelbert said. “He has a supportive family behind him and the swim community has a lot of respect for his accomplishments. He’s very goal driven and has a passion for what he does best.

“Tylor knows what he does best. Once he gets rested and tapered [before the state meet] I think he’s going to be even more phenomenal than he was [Saturday] afternoon.”

Loshnowsky, also a senior making a return trip downstate, dominated the 50-yard freestyle field — although he wasn’t entirely happy with his performance. He touched in :21.11, a whopping 66/100ths of a second faster than runner-up Collin Hanson of Noblesville.

He finished second in the 100 free to Carmel’s Joshua Jordan with a state-cut time of :46.06.

“I was really looking forward to a [sub-21 seconds time], but all week I’ve been messing with these walls and I hadn’t been very friendly with them,” said Loshnowsky. “I was kind of shy around the wall. I got it but it wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be. In the 100, that’s where [Jordan] got me was off the wall.”

Loshnowsky can now flirt with the notion of winning a state title. His 50 time at Carmel Saturday would have been good for second place at the finals in Indy last season when he swam a :21.76 to finish ninth.

Loshnowsky’s 100 time Saturday also would have been faster than the state’s second-place finisher in 2008.

“I’m really thankful for everybody who’s supported me through this,” Loshnowsky said. “Now I have to own up to what I said at the beginning [of the season] of being a state champ, and I’ve got to do it — just get [down] there and do it.”

Diving in

Mitchell Gauger earned his fourth straight trip to regional with a score of 422.50, only two points shy of Carmel’s Ingram Cade, who finished third at sectional a year ago while Gauger was second.

Cade opened the door for Gauger with a low-scoring ninth dive, but Gauger missed his 10th dive and Cade shut the door with 6s and 7s on his 11th and final effort.

“I really only messed up on that one dive and it’s unfortunate, but I can’t dwell on it,” Gauger said. “It only motivates me for regional to know that I was that close even with a not-so-perfect dive.

“I knew [Cade] had improved over the summer. He worked hard and deserved it, but I look forward to trying to beat him at regional.”

Probably the most pleasant surprise for the Katfish was the performance of Parks, a freshman. He was sixth after the preliminary and semifinal dives but benefited from a solid effort on his final three.

“I started focusing on the dives and just went and threw them while blocking out everything around me,” said Parks, who estimated that Saturday was maybe his fourth 11-dive competition.

“Most of my good dives were up at the top [of the program], and then recently I just started nailing my last group, which really helped.”

Diving coach Amanda Hueston noted that Kokomo’s third diver, Evan Price, would have been in the finals but had a band conflict in the afternoon. She said Parks had stepped up his routine of late.

“He’s turned it up quite a few notches and impressed us all,” said Hueston. “He’s done great — very consistent [Saturday]”

Gauger, seeking a third trip to the diving state finals, is pleased to have some company on Tuesday.

“I’m happy I actually have a teammate going with me to regional and hopefully to state,” he said. “That will make it easier.”

Braves come up big

Joining Loshnowsky at state will be teammates Jacob Bingham [breaststroke], Travis Long [butterfly] and Jeff Books [freestyle] — all members of the medley relay team that finished second with a state-cut and school-record time of 1:39.24.

Loshnowsky leads off the medley relay with the backstroke, an event in which he qualified for state last season.

“Jeff Books was a huge part of [the medley relay],” said Braves coach Brad McManus. “If he goes any slower [on the freestyle leg], we don’t make it, so he came through in the clutch.”

Around the county

Senior Russell Showers placed sixth in the 50 free in :22.77, Western’s best finish. Coach Brad Bennett noted that Showers also was ninth in the 100 free with a personal-best :49.97.

“That’s the first time he’s gone under 50 [seconds] in the 100 and he did it again in the [400 free] relay, so I’m glad he went out with two great swims,” Bennett said.

“It was a great day. The kids swam really well and the relays all swam season-bests. Colin Hughes came back in the 200 [freestyle] and dropped another second from Thursday — just swims like that all day.”

Northwestern senior Nathan Brun held on for 10th in the 50 free in :23.28 and freshman Trevor Sprouse, after finishing 12th in the 200 free, finished second in his consolation heat of the 500 free in 5:14.23.

“He’s done an awesome job this year and we’re really proud of him,” coach Cindy Britten said of Sprouse. “That [500 time] was exactly what we wanted him to do, to just go out and go for it and that’s what he did.

“We had such a young team with just the two seniors and the sophomore class is pretty much the [core] of the team. That group really gave it everything they had. They’re really pumped about next year.”

Comets senior Kevin Conwell improved his 100 butterfly time from Thursday’s prelims with a :58.70 but still wound up 12th.

“Conwell was a little disappointed with his time in the 100 fly,” Eastern coach Kevin Klepfer said. “He really wanted that [school] record [although] he swam a personal-best. I can’t complain about that.”