Published: February 23, 2007 10:45 pm            

Gauger qualifies for two events in today’s finals

INDIANAPOLIS – The 70th annual IHSAA State Swimming and Diving finals got underway Friday night from the IUPUI Natatorium and it was an expected rough night in the preliminaries for the contingent from Kokomo High School.

Only sophomore Tylor Gauger and his brother Mitchell will compete in today’s finals. Mitchell will appear in the diving prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and Tylor will appear in the consolation final of the 200 Individual medley and the 500 freestyle.

“Our goal coming into the year was two get two relays down here plus Mitchell and Tylor and we met that goal,” said Wildkat Brian Hindson.

“Anything more than that is a success for us. The fact that Tylor got through in two events for [today] is a success and I expect him to be more relaxed and swim better in the finals. We’ve been down here for meets before but it is nothing like the state finals when a couple thousand people are in the stands.”

Tylor Gauger came into the 200 IM seeded 10th and finished slightly lower than his seed time, coming in at 1:57.64. This time was .57 off his personal best time that he set in the sectional final, but still good enough for 13th place heading into the consolation round.

“It is really totally different down here in this kind of meet,” said Tylor Gauger. “I was disappointed because I was off my best time by less than a second, but I’m glad I get to swim in two events in the finals. In my 500 I didn’t feel like I had a good swim in the prelims and I am glad I get a second chance in the final.”

Gauger was more than a second slower than his 12th seeded time in 500 free, but the time of 4:47.47 was still good enough to slip into the consolation round in 16th place. Gauger qualified by seven tenths of a second, and stands a strong chance of moving nearer the top if he swims his sectional time of 4:46.17.

“Both of his events were his second best times ever, just behind his sectional times,” said Hindson. “His splits were just barely off so he was close, but when they add up it just looks like he was way off.”

Kokomo’s 200 and 400 freestyle teams didn’t fare as well as both teams pretty much matched their seed placing by finishing 27th place. The 200 free relay team of Sean Rolland, Justin Whalen, Stephen Sehr, and Gauger finished in 1:31.83, which was just off the 1:30.18 pace needed to advance. Rolland, Sehr, and Gauger teamed with Jaymes Cardwell in the 400 Free and came in at 3:21.66. Both times were slower than their respective sectional times.

“For our three seniors it was good for them to come down here and experience the state finals,” said Hindson. “[Whalen] and [Gauger] had really good legs and should help our relays move up next year. For us it was about swimming our times and not going for a particular place. We were a little off from our seeds but not many people come down here and get faster.”

Mitchell Gauger comes into today’s diving prelims seeded 13th in a 32 diver field after getting through the difficult Fishers’ diving regional earlier this week. He placed eighth there.

“If Mitchell can get out of that difficult regional, he has a chance to advance through a few cuts [today],” said Hindson. “He has a few dives that are tough but if he does well on them he can definitely be right up there with some of the better divers in the state.”

        

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