JASPER – Bedford North Lawrence sisters Ava and Sabrina Lipp both won their individual events during the IHSAA girls swimming sectional championships on Saturday.
Ava Lipp, a senior who was seeded second after the prelim races, claimed the 100-yard backstroke while Sabrina touched first in the 50 freestyle. The winners in each event advanced to the IHSAA state finals preliminaries on Friday in Indianapolis.
In the backstroke, Ava Lipp blasted to the wall in 1:01.57. Sabrina, a sophomore who was the top seed, zipped to her win in 25.21.
“It was a monster day today for all the girls,” BNL coach Adam Young said. “Needless to say, winning two events was a highlight. Sabrina and Ava both held on to win a trip to state. Ava, in particular, really showed up. She had finished second three years in a row to Nicole Fant, a great swimmer at Tulane now. So it was a relief to see her finally get that win. She was tested big time and really earned it.
“Sabrina was a little bit of a surprise coming in to prelims seeded fourth. With finals today, repeating a performance in that race is never a certainty. One bad stroke can cost you that race and anything can happen. All she did was control it from start to finish and won by half a body length – a lifetime in that event. She is now under a second from the school record held by the great Justine Jones (2009).”
BNL finished third in the team standings with 284 points. Jasper won the team title with 485, while Heritage Hills was second with 310.
“Every single girl left it in the pool,” Young said. “It’s unusual to have so many time improvements across the board Thursday and then to go faster today. I am very proud of what this team did this season.“
Other top finishers for the Stars included Sabrina Lipp (third in the 100 freestyle in 56.13) and the 200 free relay team of Emma Heinzman, Alaina Fish and both Lipps (third in 1:48.57).
