Freshman Lily Christianson Anchors 200 FR in 22.19 at IHSAA Sectionals Meet

IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving Sectionals – South Bend Riley HS Site

• February 4-6, 2021
• South Bend Riley HS, South Bend, IN
• SCY (Short Course Yards)
• Results (without splits)
• Results (with splits) – MeetMobile “South Bend Riley High School – Girls”

Team Scores

1. Penn – 513
2. South Bend St Joseph – 382
3. South Bend Adams – 360
4. South Bend Riley – 264
5. Bremen – 158.5
6. New Prairie – 140.5
7. Mishawaka – 140
8. South Bend Clay – 93
9. Mishawaka Marian – 74

Penn won handily at the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) girls swimming & diving sectionals meet at South Bend Riley, thanks in large part to freshman Lily Christianson. Christianson’s biggest swim of the meet came in a relay, as she anchored the Penn 200 free relay in a blistering 22.19. The swim was significant for the newly-turned 15-year-old, as she holds a personal best flat-start 50 time of 22.74, which she recently swam in mid-December 2020. Christianson’s split was not quite enough to overpower the huge lead South Bend St Joseph had established in the race, and Penn ultimately ended up 2nd in 1:35.53 to St Joseph’s 1:34.90.

Christianson did help Penn secure a relay win in the 200 medley, however. She teamed up with Alyssa Messenger, Avery Woods, and Madison Bottorff to post a final time of 1:44.81, the fastest in the field by over 8 seconds. Messenger led the squad off in 26.75, with Christianson providing a 28.16 breast split, Woods swimming 26.01 on fly, and Bottorff anchoring in 23.89.

Individually, Christianson won both her events. She clocked a 23.32 to win the 50 free by .37 seconds. Christianson then went on to win the 100 breast in 1:02.33, just narrowly missing her personal best of 1:02.31, which also is less than 2 months old. She split the race well, taking it out in 29.51, and coming home in 32.82.

Alyssa Messenger also picked up an event win for Penn, taking the 100 back. Messenger swam a new personal best in the race, touching in 56.90, just ahead of the South Bend St Joseph duo of Jane Lloyd (56.98), and Olivia Elston (57.14). It was Elston who flipped first at the 50 mark, splitting 27.73 to Messenger’s 27.75, and Lloyd’s 27.87, but her 29.41 on the 2nd 50 was enough to allow Messenger and Lloyd to edge her out. Messenger came home in 29.15, while Lloyd split 29.11. The swim was Messenger’s first time under 57 seconds.

Mary Cate Pruitt (St Joseph’s) led a 1-2 charge by St Joseph in the 200 free, touching in 1:48.57. The swim was just slightly off her personal best in the race, which stands at 1:48.28 from the 2020 IHSAA state meet a year ago. Pruitt took the race out quickly, splitting 52.62 on the first 100, which is less than a second off her best 100 time of 51.68. Teammate Emma Feltzer came in 2nd, swimming a 1:50.55. The swim was a huge best time for Feltzer, coming in well under her previous best of 1:52.24.

Pruitt went on to win the 500 free as well, finishing in 4:50.84. While the swim was enough for Pruitt to win by a whopping 20 seconds, it came in over 3 seconds off her best time of 4:47.03, which she also swam at last year’s IHSAA state meet. Feltzer went on to crack another personal best, winning the 100 free in 50.93. The swim was good to win the race by nearly 3 seconds, and took .56 seconds off her previous best of 51.49.

Pruitt and Feltzer also teamed up with Lauren Pieniazkiewicz and Jane Lloyd to win the 400 free relay. Feltzer led the squad off in 51.24, marking her 2nd-fastest performance of her career, then Pieniazkiewicz split 52.01, Lloyd swam 53.33, and Pruitt anchored in 51.32, combining for a 3:27.90.

South Bend Adams freshman Adele Zyniewicz swam a best time en route to winning the 100 fly. Zyniewicz swam a 55.69, using a 29.41 on the 2nd 50 to coming in well under her personal best of 56.22. In diving, South Bend Adams senior Lindsay Gizzi was dominant, scoring 527.70 points to win by over 100 points.