INDIANPOLIS — Concord girls swimming senior Catie Brenneman knew the process, but she was still surprised when her head coach Tom Johnson smiled at the end of the IHSAA girls swim and dive state finals this past Saturday.
Like her older sister Grace, Catie too is now a Mental Attitude Award recipient in the Hoosier State.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I think she had a suspicion because she’s looking up at the spectators and realized that her parents and her siblings weren’t there; it was great,” Johnson said when asked to describe his senior standout’s reaction when her hard work in and outside the pool was about to be recognized.
“It’s funny, I’ve been asked about that a lot today,” Brenneman said about whether she expected to win. “Not really because with Grace winning it four years ago, I told myself there was no way, like, Concord just recently got it and we’re siblings; there’s no way. I didn’t have high expectations for it.
“Then at the end of the meet it was funny because I was there when Grace got it four years ago and my parents disappeared and I noticed that on-deck this time. I was on deck and I was like ‘I don’t know where they went, all my other family members are up there’ and then I look at Coach Tom and he gives me a funny smile and I go ‘Oh no!’ It had to be that because Coach Tom doesn’t usually tell, but you could tell by his face. That sold it.”
Brenneman’s honor at the end of the IHSAA State Finals was the perfect way to pen the finale of her prep career in the pool. After finishing as the state runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.95) and third in the 100-yard freestyle (50.01), Brenneman’s lasting impact will be that she was champion of character that also shattered school and pool records along the way.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“For me, coming back from last year I was not satisfied,” Brenneman said. “I was disappointed in myself and my race times and even just how I handled it mentally. This year was a lot about how I cannot be fearful of what other people are doing and the pain that will come in the race. This year I went out and said that I was just going to race. I know those girls are going to push me to make me better and get those times and goals that I want. It was emphasizing the sense of urgency, like, ‘I have to do this, this is my last year,’ and so it was a lot different emotionally. I was satisfied. Coming home on the bus it felt like I accomplished what I wanted to.”
As a team, Concord led the area at the state swim competition at the IU-Indy Natatorium with a 14th-place finish as a group. The Minutemen scored 56 points. Northridge ended in a tie for 41st with Audrina Eads the lone swimmer in the pool for the Raiders on the second day of competition.
Carmel was the state champion for the 40th year in a row, continuing the Greyhounds’ national record. Fort Wayne Carroll and Fishers tied for second, nearly 100 points behind Carmel.
Heading into the final, Concord had won a sectional title that, unlike recent seasons, the Minutemen were not favored to win. After losing the regular season dual to Northridge and placing second in the Northern Lakes Conference by two points, the Raiders seemed to have the slightest of edges heading into the postseason.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut before coaches could talk with the team, Brenneman brought her teammates into a huddle on the far corner of the pool in Middlebury and gave a passionate speech. The Minutemen were close, close enough that Brenneman showed her latest evolution as a more vocal leader.
Leading to a 10-point win over the Raiders in Elkhart, Brenneman’s effort outside the pool helped Concord win its sixth-straight sectional crown.
“Honestly, I think this one means more because we had to rally as a team to get it and we were not expected to win,” she said. “It highlights people and the hard work they did in those two weeks before sectionals and their mental maturity.”
Brenneman ends her career with multiple pool and school records at Concord and she’s joined by her sister. Brenneman updated the 200 time during Friday’s prelims but fell short of snapping her sister’s record in the 100. The two shared a laugh about that, and expect it to stay for a while.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNext up is the University of Notre Dame. With her older sister wrapping up her career with the Irish this season, Brenneman will join the Fighting Irish next winter.
But for now, she’ll relish in her latest achievement.
“It was really cool to just be able to be honored for the work outside of the pool,” Brenneman said. “There’s enough I do in the pool that gets recognized but how about my character and the characteristics that I’ve gotten from my God and my parents and my siblings that have been instilled in me? It’s cool to see that come to surface in a way.”
PREP GIRLS SWIMMING
IHSAA State Finals at IU-Indy Natatorium
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTop-10 team scores, plus area: Carmel (326.5), FW Carroll (227), Fishers (227), Zionsville (201), Penn (157), Hamilton SE (141), Chesterton (138), Valparaiso (122), Center Grove (76), Munster (73) — Concord (14th, 56), Northridge (T-41st, 1)
Event winners, plus area placers
200-yard medley relay: Carmel (1:40.90)
200-yard freestyle: Emily Wolf (1st, 1:45.84, Fishers); Catie Brenneman (2nd, 1:47.95, Concord)
200-yard individual medley: Ellie Clarke (1:57.73, Carmel)
50-yard freestyle: Maris Williams (22.86, FW Carroll)
1-meter diving: Adelyn Flessner (529.30, North Central)
100-yard butterfly: Molly Sweeney (52.78, Carmel)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement100-yard freestyle: Kate Fetters (1st, 49.52, FW Carroll); Catie Brenneman (3rd, 50.01, Concord)
500-yard freestyle: Emily Wolf (4:43.25, Fishers)
200-yard freestyle relay: FW Carroll (1:32.63)
100-yard backstroke: Ellie Clarke (53.08, Carmel)
100-yard breaststroke: Molly Sweeney (59.24, Carmel)
400-yard freestyle relay: FW Carroll (3:21.30)
AdvertisementAdvertisement
