FORTVILLE — For Mt. Vernon’s Bryce Gray and Timothy Broaders, there are no days off — even practice after school feels like live competition.
Gray, a senior, and Broaders, a junior, have been neck-and-neck in the pool the past two seasons. This year has been no different, as both swam in the same four events at the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet earlier this month.
And on senior night Thursday against Cathedral, with the season winding down, the pair helped the Marauders boys earn a 102-75 win.
The duo finished 1-2 in the 200-yard freestyle, with Broaders taking first and Gray second. They joined forces in 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event of the night, to help Mt. Vernon finish in first in 3:35.20. Joshua Blackburn and Layne Lynch also swam on the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team.
At conference this season, Broaders and Gray, who are training partners in practice, finished in sixth and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively, and fourth and seventh in the 100-yard freestyle. Together, they helped the Marauders 200-free relay team finish in second.
On Thursday, however, according to Marauders head coach Dixon Tierney, swimmers were placed in random events.
“(Gray and Broaders) are super competitive,” Dixon Tierney said. “I know Tim doesn’t like to lose and Bryce doesn’t like to be beat by an underclassmen. That helps a lot, especially when we are doing sprint sets (in practice).”
Gray added that he has greatly benefited from swimming with Broaders since his sophomore season.
“Just having someone always right there with me (has helped),” he said. “Usually we start of practice in lane four for warmups. Depending on the set we do, Dixon will split us up in a heat type of thing, all next to each other so we lead the lanes and race.
Added Broaders: “My freshman year, I knew I had to step up (to get on the relay teams). Now, here I am.”
On the girls side for Mt. Vernon, Lydia Tierney broke the school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:59.35) to help her team top visiting Cathedral 112-68. Tierney also won the 100-yard backstroke. For her third and fourth blue ribbons, Tierney was a part of the winning 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams.
“Whatever we get in the water and do, we are there to swim fast,” Dixon Tierney said of his little sister breaking the record. “The whole season, we haven’t specifically tried to break that record.
“The gut checks we do in practice have really helped out.”
Also for the girls, Zoey Musick earned four wins against Cathedral. She was on the winning 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams and won the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke.
Her teammate, Maddie King, won the diving competition (270.65) and helped the 200-yard medley relay team top the field.
On the boys side, Thomas Amos won the 100-yard breaststroke, while Blackburn also took first in the 200-yard individual medley. Diver Jordan Spearman earned a first-place finish with 155.90 points.
Broaders also took third in the 100-yard butterfly against Cathedral, while Gray was second in the 100-yard backstroke.
Mt. Vernon will compete again on Tuesday at Yorktown.
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Team Scores
Boys
Mt. Vernon – 102
Cathedral – 75
Girls
Mt. Vernon – 112
Cathedral – 68
Event Results
Boys
200-Yard Medley Relay: 1st – Cathedral (Bem, Cline, Witchger, Jasiak) 1:49.18, 2nd – Mt. Vernon (Worley, Burk, Shepard, Morgan) 1:56.69.
200-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Tim Broaders (MV) 1:57.49, 2nd – Bryce Gray (MV) 2:00.13, 3rd – Matthew Cline (IC) 2:03.07.
200-Yard IM: 1st – Joshua Blackburn (MV) 2:20.08, 2nd – Thomas Amos (MV) 2:31.47, 3rd – Cooper Gray (MV) 2:36.91.
50-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Adam Jasiak (IC) 23.41, 2nd – Kaylen Morgan (MV) 24.33, 3rd – Layne Lynch (MV) 24.70.
Boys Diving: 1st – Jordan Spearman (MV) 155.90, 2nd – Bret Irving (IC) 122.70, 3rd – none.
100-Yard Butterfly: 1ST – Joe Bem (IC) 0:58.31, 2nd – Kaylen Morgan (MV) :59.60, 3rd – Timothy Broaders (MV) :59.61.
100-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Adam Jasiak (IC) 0:52.22, 2nd – Justin Pugh (IC) 0:58.55, 3rd – Jayden Weileman (MV) :59.11.
500-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Matthew Cline (IC) 5:38.31, 2nd – Joshua Blackburn (MV) 5:54.27, 3rd – Layne Lynch (MV) 5:54.79.
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1st – Mt. Vernon (Burk, Worley, Isham, Lynch) 1:46.79, 2nd – Cathedral (x) 1:48.87, 3rd – Mt. Vernon (Owen, K. Frye, S. Frye, Weileman) 1:52.35.
100-Yard Backstroke: 1st – Joe Bem (IC) 0:58.18, 2nd – Bryce Gray (MV) 1:01.98, 3rd – Joseph Shepard (MV) 1:07.49.
100-Yard Breaststroke: 1st – Thomas Amos (MV) 1:09.50, 2nd – Justin Pugh (IC) 1:15.24, 3rd – Tommy Callaghen (IC) 1:15.34.
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1st – Mt. Vernon (Lynch, Blackburn, Broaders, Gray) 3:35.20, 2nd – Cathedral (Jasiak, Bem, Witchger, Cline) 3:40.26, 3rd – Mt. Vernon (Shepard, Isham, Worley, Gray).
Event Results
Girls
200-Yard Medley Relay: 1st – Mt. Vernon (Tierney, Musick, Mull, King) 2:04.27, 2nd – Mt. Vernon (Grandstaff, Longman, Hiatt, Thompson) 2:30.38.
200-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Lydia Tierney (MV) 1:59.35, 2nd – Charlie True (MV) 2:25.75, 3rd – Riese Thornton (MV) 2:26.29.
200-Yard IM: 1st – Zoey Musick (MV) 2:36.60, 2nd – Madalyn Mull (MV) 2:42.37, 3rd – Kelsey Carnes (IC) 2:51.81.
50-Yard Freestyle: Gabi Bridges (IC) 29.32, 2nd – Katey Coleman (IC) 29.63, 3rd – Elizabeth Hiatt (MV) 30.94.
Girls Diving: 1st – Maddie King (MV) 270.65, 2nd – Halle Strege (MV) 191.55, 3rd – Kelsey Carnes (IC) 183.35.
100-Yard Butterfly: 1st – Riese Thornton (MV) 1:19.04, 2nd – Kelsey Carnes (IC) 1:19.15, 3rd – Emma Moore (MV) 1:23.42.
100-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Abbie Heinzmann (IC) 0:59.34, 2nd – Madalyn Mull (MV) 1:03.02, 3rd – Izzy Sweeney (IC) 1:05.64.
500-Yard Freestyle: 1st – Fiona Granados (IC) 5:44.38, 2nd – Charlie True (MV) 6:28.09, 3rd – Emma Moore (MV) 7:53.92.
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1st – Mt. Vernon (Musick, Thornton, True, Tierney) 1:52.00, 2nd – Cathedral (Klein, Jasiak, Cridge, Bunting) 1:52.27, 3rd – none.
100-Yard Backstroke: 1st – Lydia Tierney (MV) 1:01.83, 2nd – Lauren Walker (IC) 1:17.76, 3rd – Monica Merlina (IC) 1:23.77.
100-Yard Breaststroke: 1st – Zoey Musick (MV) 1:17.35, 2nd – Beth Ahonen (MV) 1:29.87, 3rd – Elizabeth Murphy (IC) 1:31.17.
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1st – Cathedral (Granados, Heinzmann, Klein, Bunting) 4:00.63, 2nd – Mt. Vernon (True, Thornton, Ahonen, Mull) 4:33.96, 3rd – Mt. Vernon (Grandstaff, Longman, Stinger, Moore) 5:14.49.
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