Mt. Vernon’s Caleb Strege is competing at the IHSAA boys swimming and diving state finals prelims tonight, the same time his sister, Halle Strege, is diving at the NCAA Division III Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — The Streges will do their best to be at two places at the same time.
In his final appearance as a high school swimmer, Mt. Vernon senior Caleb Strege will be competing as part of the Marauders state qualifying 400-yard freestyle relay team tonight at the IHSAA boys state swimming and diving preliminaries at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.
At the same time, his sister, Halle Strege, who competes for Anderson University, will be diving in the NCAA Division III Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.
A great accomplishment for both, but a little tough on their biggest supporters.
Mother, Anissa, is staying close to home and attending the state meet to watch Caleb swim in the prelims. Father, Ike, and sister, Isabelle, will make the trip north to watch Halle at the Venema Aquatic Center in Grand Rapids.
“We’ll be texting. We’ll be Face Timing. You can go in the IHSAA website and watch,” Ike said. “(Anissa) is going so she can tell me when Caleb’s swimming. I don’t think (a webcast link is) available where Halle’s diving, so I’ll be taking lots of videos and sending those to her.
“We haven’t really had to do this before. It stinks that we have to split up duties.”
Caleb is swimming in the state meet for the fourth time. Previously, he had been part of Mt. Vernon’s 200-yard freestyle relay team. This is his first time he has qualified as part of the 400 freestyle group.
“It was something me and my parents thought could eventually be a thing,” Caleb said of having their biggest meets at the same time in different states. “My coach always talked with us about having some championship relays and how a lot of people were in that big picture. It led our parents to talk to us and say that maybe only one of us will be at that (big) meet.
“It’s kind of sad. It’s hard to pick and choose.”
Halle met NCAA regional qualifying scores earlier in the season. Most recently, she finished second in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference meet. Her point totals in the prelims (423.55) and finals (413.80) also met NCAA ‘B’ qualifying standards.
“Halle qualified a couple of months ago. We’ve been around swimming for a long time and when she said the dates (of the regional) it immediately popped into my head, ‘Oh, I hope that’s not sectional or state time,’” Ike said.
“When we got closer to it and the dates came out, that’s when we realized one of us would be going one direction and one would be going the other direction.”
Four times this season and seven times in her career, Halle has been named the HCAC Diver of the Week.
A junior, she has six-dive (244.35) and average per dive (40.73) school records.
She is the program’s first diver. AU did not have a swimming and diving program until 2015.
As difficult as it may be for their fan base, Halle is taking a positive look at their unique situation.
“Competing at two very huge meets is amazing because both of us get to spread our family name in the swimming and diving community at the college and high school level,” Halle said. “I wish I could watch him swim at the IHSAA state meet but nevertheless I am proud of his accomplishment either way.”
Caleb is finishing off his high school career strong. Along with being part of the state-qualifying relay group, the Marauder team — after last winning a sectional championship in 2005 — is coming off back-to-back sectional championships.
He is also part of a record-setting state qualifying group.
Head coach Brad Grieshop said the seven state qualifiers (two relays and five individuals) are the most the MV program has had.
The 400 freestyle relay prelims will be the last event tonight. He will be swimming with three juniors, Brady Gray, Matthew Garey and Ethan Murphy. They qualified with a sectional winning time of 3:20.69 at Saturday’s New Palestine Sectional.
Caleb said he’s competed in a lot of big meets, but being on the state stage one last time and his sister competing in an equally big event, makes for a huge highlight of his swimming career.
“To start off, it’s my senior year and I’m swimming with the three guys I’ve been swimming with since middle school,” Caleb said. “That’s a real cool feeling. The other thing is the fact it is happening the same day as Halle’s meet.
“Going into high school I was Halle’s brother. It’s cool to go as big as I’ve had, going to state, even if it is for a relay. It’s like I’m doing my own thing, while also being known as her brother.”
The prelims are slated to get underway at 6 p.m.
The diving portion of the NCAA regional is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m.
With the 400 being later in the evening, the Streges could be swimming and diving at the same time.
“(The meets) are huge for both of us,” Halle said. “This is Caleb’s first ‘A’ relay at state that he gets to compete in, so I know this is very special for him. This is my second NCAA regional meet, and probably the biggest meet of my life thus far. Both of us are going to take advantage of this time and give our best effort and most importantly, have fun.”
Along with the support of their parents and sister, Halle and Caleb will be giving plenty of backing for each other.
“I will send (Caleb) a message the day of prelims,” Halle said. “My text will just be an inspirational message to him. Telling him to go out on his high school swimming career on a high note, giving his all, and having fun with his teammates at his last high school swim meet. I know he always has fun with his team, they’re all amazing and talented boys.”
Caleb said he’ll be sending a ‘Good luck’ and ‘We’re rooting for you!’ text wishing his sister well, too.
It’ll be a great night for the Strege family, but still a hard one for their fan clubs.
“I’m usually pretty decent with words, but I’m struggling to find them in terms of how proud I am of both of them and the work they have put in, the early morning practices and all the time over the years to get to where they’re at,” Ike said. “The amount of pride their mother and I have for them is really beyond words. That’s why it’s so difficult that we both can’t be there for both of them.”
IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals Information
Location: Indiana University Natatorium, IUPUI, 901 W. New York St., Indianapolis
Admission: $8 per session or $15 both days general admission. All tickets are digital only through your mobile phone and may be purchased via GoFan.
A limited number of $18 reserved seating will be available for purchase (good for both days) (8 tickets per purchase max). Reserved seating for a single session will not be available.
Videostream: All competition will be streamed live at IHSAAtv.org via pay-per-view for $10 for Friday’s preliminaries only or $15 for both days.
Schedule: Preliminaries are today, 6 p.m. ET. Finals are Saturday with diving preliminaries and semifinals beginning at 9 a.m. Championship and consolation finals in all swimming events and diving finals begin at 1 p.m.
County competitors (Name, school, seeding): 200-yard IM (Matthew Garey, Mt. Vernon, 27), 50-yard freestyle (Brady Gray, Mt. Vernon, 25), 100-yard freestyle (Brady Gray, Mt. Vernon, 27), 500-yard freestyle (Matthew Garey, Mt. Vernon, 29), 200-yard freestyle relay (Brady Gray, Ethan Murphy, Jack Champion, Matthew Garey, Mt. Vernon, 32), 100-yard backstroke (Ethan Murphy, Mt. Vernon, 32), 400-yard freestyle relay (Brady Gray, Caleb Strege, Ethan Murphy, Matthew Garey, Mt. Vernon, 31), 1-meter diving (Alex Jahrsdoerfer, Greenfield-Central, 27).
