Our march to No. 1 on the individual list begins with a duo of Warsaw swimmers and closes with a swimmer to which many are measured.
Jayden Parrett/Spencer Davidson
5. Seeing Double – When trying to tell Warsaw’s two ace swimmers apart, looks are easy. But the planes to which these two are heading, both in the Warsaw record books and down at the state meets, the ride has been a fun one.
Juniors Jayden Parrett and Spencer Davidson have been buoyant rocks for the Warsaw swim program for three years, but haven’t necessarily gotten the headlines in the Northern Lakes Conference swimming in a different sectional and often evenly matched by powerhouse Northridge. But that doesn’t mean the two can’t hang, proving this past season they were forces to be reckoned with.
Parrett and Davidson both won two events at the NLC meet Feb. 3, Davidson breaking a meet record in the breaststroke and also won the 50. Parrett won the 100 and backstroke, giving the duo the only non-Northridge championships at the event. The two then paired to help Warsaw clobber the field at the Warsaw Sectional, breaking four records in the process. Warsaw would claim its seventh consecutive team title in the massacre.
At the IHSAA Boys Swimming State Finals, Parrett nearly made the finals of the backstroke, but settled for a tenth-place finish while Davidson took home 14th in the breaststroke in the only two second-day swims at the finals.
As the two head into their senior seasons, the motivation of swimming a championship final in Indianapolis has the two itching to prove they belong among the elite conversations.
Kyle Hatch
4. Like Father, Like Son – Kyle Hatch lived up to his strong wrestling bloodlines in impressive fashion.
The Warsaw freshman put together an outstanding postseason push, culminating with an eighth-place finish at the State Finals.
Hatch, whose father Dan placed eighth at State in 1992, had a first-ever State Finals match to remember. The smart, hard-working 106-pounder trailed a No. 1 seed by six points with just 18 seconds left before rallying for a thrilling 13-12 win. Hatch, who was a No. 4 seed in his class, scored his winning points on a takedown with just two seconds left.
Hatch claimed a championship at the Plymouth Sectional and then took runner-up honors in the Rochester Regional. He punched his ticket to the State Finals by placing fourth at the Merrillville Semistate.
Hatch, whose father Dan is an assistant coach for the Warsaw program, ended his first high school season with a mark of 34-10.
Mallorie Jennings
3. The Greatest Of All-Time – It’s sports cliché to say that someone is the greatest. It’s relative to opinion. Very rarely can statistics back that up. But for Triton’s Mallorie Jennings, she might have a say in the matter after wrapping up an incredible softball career. Jennings stood in the pitching circle for Triton for four years as the program continued to resurrect itself. All told, Jennings graduated this past week as the all-time leader in strikeouts (702) and also moved past Katie Claxton as the school’s leader in career hits with 149 with a single at the semi-state.
Individually, Jennings has the statistics to bend the mind, including an 0.91 earned run average and 151 strikeouts this season. At the dish, Jennings led the Lady Trojans in six major stat categories, notably a monster slash line of .510/.543/1.230, hits (49) singles (38) and triples (4).
But as Jennings did all season, she pointed to the team aspect, which Triton had its best run in program history. The Lady Trojans won its third sectional title and second in a row, then won its first-ever regional before bowing out to North Miami at the semi-state. The team also won a team-record 23 games.
Jennings will continue her softball career next year at Manchester University.
Ellis Coon
2. Fitting Finish – It only seemed right that Ellis Coon finished his high school career on a high note.
The Warsaw distance star capped his senior season in style with a third-place finish in the 1,600 at the State Finals in Bloomington June 7.
It was only fitting that Coon, who missed almost his entire junior track season due to a foot injury, was on the awards podium after the final race of a brilliant prep career.
Coon had some kind of cross country season in the fall for the Tigers. He won the sectional, regional and semi state races for coach Jim Mills’ team before capturing a third-place finish at the State Finals in Terre Haute last October. Led by Coon, his Warsaw team won the sectional and regional championships at Culver Academies, placed second at the New Prairie Semistate and was 12th at the State Finals.
Coon was a huge part of the stellar senior class for coach Matt Thacker’s track team this spring. He helped lead the Tigers to conference, sectional and regional championships.
Coon will continue his cross country and track careers on the collegiate level at the University of Tulsa.
Bre Robinson
1. The Little Engine That Can – She’s not the biggest athlete you’ll encounter or the most vibrant. But you can’t miss what Wawasee’s Bre Robinson has done in the swimming pool. Standing barely 5’3″ (generous?), Robinson has gone toe-to-toe with some of the biggest (Re: Carmel) and baddest (Re: Carmel) in the state and held her ground.
Robinson added two more medals to her collection, taking second place at the IHSAA state finals in the backstroke and butterfly. Led onto the deck by sister, Brittany, who held the butterfly state record, Bre would succumb to Crown Point’s Aly Tetzloff at 52.70, the new state record, while Robinson settled for a lifetime-best of 53.77. Brittany’s house record, still safe for at least one more year.
Robinson would lead the backstroke after one lap, but the length and power of Carmel’s Claire Adams was too much in another state-record time of 52.97, the second-fastest time in the nation at that point. Robinson lowered her school record time to 53.96 taking runner-up. The two swims left Robinson all smiles and very motivated for her senior year, but it was quite a year for Robinson’s team, which went undefeated at 9-0 and 7-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, the first conference title since 1996, the first NLC title since 1996 and the first sectional title since 1999. Robinson’s mile-wide smile on the deck at the sectional was infectious.
Robinson also had a great year elsewhere, where she helped lead the Wawasee cross country to a semi-state appearance and won All-NLC honors along the way. Robinson also ended her year with a bang, taking Best In Show for her self portrait done in color pencil at the Wawasee art show in May. As could be best described: stunning.