Valparaiso senior Isaiah Parrish may have turned in a season-best time in the 200-yard freestyle, but the result didn’t sit well with the Vikings swimmer.
Highland freshman Ethan Churilla’s time of 1:45.41 outdid Parrish’s 1:46.73 at Saturday’s Highland Invite, lighting a fire underneath Parrish.
Parrish channeled the anger into his 100 freestyle performance (48.08), when he avenged the earlier loss to second-place Churilla (48.72). He also swam on victorious 400 and 200 free relay teams to help the Vikings to their first Highland Invite title in 18 years.
“Isaiah wasn’t rested; he’s been working his rear off,” Valparaiso coach Adam Nellessen said. “He’s going to do some special things by the end of the year.”
In recent years, local swimming supremacy has belonged to Chesterton and Munster. Now the Vikings are ready to challenge the status quo. They defeated second-place Munster 266-243 after finishing third last season.
“We have every intention of swimming with Chesterton at sectionals,” Nellessen said. “I was reading about Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and changing the culture. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Nellessen was a senior at Valparaiso when the Vikings last won the Highland Invite in 1998.
“Valpo looked great,” Munster coach Matt Pavlovich said. “If somebody is going to beat us, I like it to be Adam Nellessen. He’s a good dude.”
Valparaiso’s Ryan Hrosik won the 50 free (22.30) and was second in the 100 butterfly (53.25). Teammate Ian Holmes won the 500 free (4:46.53) and finished second in the 200 individual medley (2:02.99).
“We have the perfect mix of guys this year,” Holmes said. “We don’t have the depth of other schools, but all of our front-runners are the best we’re going to get. We’re going to lose a lot of guys next year, so you won’t see this again for a while.”
Holmes’ 500 free time was his best of the season, but he finished shy of the goal of shattering a pool record of 4:40.20.
“I felt good, but I started off too fast,” Holmes said. “If I had started a little slower, I would have had a little more left, but I got overly excited.”
Churilla made a splash in his home-pool invitational debut. The freshman achieved career bests in the 200 free and 100 free. He set the freshman school record in the 200 free.
“The 200 free was a really exciting race,” Churilla said. “This is our first big meet of the season, so I was really hyped for it. In the 100 free, I didn’t do as well as I thought I could have. My first 50 wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be, and it went downhill from there.”
Lake Central’s Alex Morgan won diving for the second consecutive year, scoring 454.7 points.
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Michigan City’s Tim Schoof and Munster’s Jack Wulf were the only multiple individual event winners. Wulf captured the 100 breaststroke (1:01.40) and 200 IM (2:00.37), while Schoof took firsts in the 100 butterfly (51.10) and 100 backstroke (54.06).
Irish’s Prosise going pro: C.J. Prosise has played his last game for the Notre Dame football team.
The running back announced Saturday on Instagram that he intends to enter the NFL draft.
“After a lot of thought and reflection I have decided to forego my remaining eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft,” Prosise wrote. “Thank you to Notre Dame, the coaches, staff, faculty and fans.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better university to play for, it’s been an honor to have played with Team 127 and I’m glad to have had the opportunity. I look forward to what lies ahead. Thank you, Go Irish!!!”
Prosise rushed for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games after making the transition from receiver to running back this season.
Prosise played defense when he first arrived at Notre Dame. He didn’t see any action in 2012 and appeared in all 13 games on special teams and at wide receiver in 2013. He made seven catches for 72 yards in 2013 and had 29 catches for 516 yards and two TDs in 13 games in 2014.
The Irish moved him to running back in the spring, and he was one of the standout players during the camp. It carried over to the fall, where he took over for an injured Tarean Folston and led the team with 1,340 all-purpose yards.
PUC men win: LaBradford Sebree scored a game-high 22 points as Purdue Calumet beat host Olivet (Mich.) 54-52 in men’s basketball. Lake Central grad Danny Paschen had his second career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) for the Peregrines (7-9).
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Post-Tribune staff contributed.