CROWN POINT | Times No. 2 Munster made it 26 consecutive sectional crowns Saturday with a dominating victory at the Crown Point Sectional finals.
The Seahorses won seven events and accumulated 335 points, followed by Crown Point (273), Lake Central (229), Highland (156) and Rensselaer (89).
Munster started off the finals with a bang when it set a sectional and pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 34.77 seconds. Crown Point's medley team also qualified for state with a time of 1:36.79.
"When the seniors came out and won the medley, it really lit us up," Munster coach Matt Pavlovich said. "We built off of that energy the rest of the meet."
Munster also set sectional and pool records in the 200 free relay (1:24.69).
Seahorse Dillon Thompson followed up with his second straight sectional win in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.35.
"It feels really good to be able to repeat as sectional champion," Thompson said. "That's not my best time, but I'm OK with saving my best time for state next weekend."
Munster's Frank Rapin won an extremely competitive 50 free with a personal-best time of 21.2. Five of the six finals qualifiers made the state cut in the 50.
"The competition really amped me up," Rapin said. "When you get a chance to swim against such great competition, you can't help but do your best."
The Seahorses also got wins from Rapin in the 500 free (4:38.58) and Kevin Behrens in the 100 fly (49.91) and the 100 back (51.12).
Rensselaer's Casey Hooker won his first sectional crown in the 200 free with a personal-best time of 1:42.78.
"This feels pretty incredible," Hooker said. "I didn't swim the 200 free at sectional last year, so that makes it even more special. I dropped a lot of time over the course of the year."
Hooker, who also qualified for state in the 100 fly, will continue his swimming career at DePaul University next year.
Crown Point's Tyler Croell won the diving crown with 509.85 points. The Bulldogs also got a sectional win from Blake Yeager in the 100 free (47.20).
With the heart of the Seahorses graduating, Pavlovich thought getting No. 27 next year might be tough.
"I'll enjoy this one for now, and we'll worry about next season later," Pavlovich said.
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