Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

CRAWFORDSVILLE - The third title might have been the sweetest for the Western Boone girls swimming and diving team. The Stars won the Crawfordsville Sectional 360-341 over second-place Crawfordsville, the narrowest margin of their three wins. "This one was probably the most rewarding because we had to fight so hard for it," Western Boone head coach Hayley Eadie said. "Having to fight that hard definitely makes it sweeter for us." After Thursday's prelims, the Stars knew it was going to be a tight race with the Athenians. Eadie said the message to the team heading into the meet was that every position was going to matter. The Stars out-performed their seed in a couple key spots and that gave the Stars some breathing room. "We made sure the girls knew that every single girl on the team mattered today," Eadie said. "It wasn't just our leaders and girls in the finals. Every single girl scoring and moving up was going to make a difference. All the girls step up for the team." The other key spot for the Stars was diving. Based on the swimming results from Thursday, Crawfordsville had a 21-point advantage in swimming. But the Stars by far had the advantage in diving. Leelah Fettig won the competition with a sectional record 460.25 points, and Maisa Kent-Doolan was third with 316. Both advance to Tuesday's Brownsburg Diving Regional at 6 p.m. Cara Hanna added an 11th-place finish in 257.05. The Stars out-scored the Athenians 42-7 in diving, giving them a huge lift. "That has really been a key spot for us all year long," Eadie said. "Leelah has been doing such a great job all year and has worked really hard. Maisa has really come along too to score a lot of points for us." Along with the diving success, Arianna Stieber defended her sectional titles in the IM and backstroke. Stieber won the IM in 2:13.81 and the backstroke in 1:00.34. "We are so proud of Ari," Eadie said. "Now she is a three-time sectional champion in both those events and has been undefeated all throughout high school dual meets too. We are proud of her, we are lucky to have her and she's doing a great job." The Stars are also sending the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Katherine Aliff, Rashel Anderson, Adelaide Jones and Stieber, who won in a time of 3:49.65. "We were really hoping to get that really out," Eadie said. "It is always nice to end things on a high note, and those girls did a fantastic job." Also earning spots on the podium for the Stars: Kaitlyn Crowley was fourth in the 200-free in 2:11.87 and fifth in the 500 in 5:54.36, Samantha Jones was sixth in the 200-free in 2:12.13 and seventh in the 100 in 58.24, Adelaide Jones was fifth in the 50 in 25.70 and second in the breaststroke in 1:13.54, Hannah Hayden was fifth in butterfly in 1:11.37, Rashel Anderson was second in the 100-free in 56.12 and fifth in the backstroke in 1:06.32, Katherine Aliff was fifth in the 100-free in 58.24. The 200-freestyle relay team of Anderson, Samantha Jones, Adelaide Jones and Stieber placed second in 1:42.31. Stieber and the 400-yard freestyle relay advance to the State Final Prelims on Friday at 6 p.m. "State is a fun time for us and a great reward for all the hard work we have put in over the year," Eadie said. "It definitely helps that a lot of these girls have swam there before, and we want to go out there, do our best and show we can compete with these bigger schools." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.