Carmel’s Sammie Burchill raises her fist after competing in the girls 100 yard backstroke, during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

INDIANAPOLIS – 
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Sammie Burchill decided on the bus ride home from last year’s state finals that she was going to break the state record in the 200-yard individual medley.

Burchill had just won the state title hours earlier, but was embracing the sentiment that Carmel coach Chris Plumb ingrains into all of his swimmers: Never settle for being satisfied with where you are.

So, Burchill — verbally committed to Georgia — pushed herself back into the weight room, worked on her technique in each leg of the medley and counted down the days until Saturday’s IHSAA swimming and diving championship.

“It’s really been 365 days of trying to get back and ready for this moment,” Plumb said on the pool deck of the Natatorium at IUPUI before the final team results were announced. “Obviously, she worked hard all season. She had some great workouts where we felt like it was coming, but it’s always something else when you come and do it.”

The Carmel Girls Swim Team is presented a trophy for winning the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

Burchill could feel the déjà vu taking over as she streamlined out of her flip turn on the backstroke leg of Saturday’s race, catching a glimpse of Crown Point’s Hannah Kukurugya, whom she upset in the 2016 championship race.

But as Burchill entered her final 25 yards, the contest was no longer between her and Kukurugya. It was between her and a nearly decade-old record set by Center Grove’s Michelle McKeehan in 2008 — McKeehan herself a Georgia Bulldog.

And Burchill got it, by one-fifth of a second, with a time of 1 minute, 56.67 seconds. A new state record-holder. Just like her sister, Veronica, who set the new 100 butterfly record last year for Carmel before heading to Georgia as well.

Sammie Burchill not only wins the 200 IM title for @carmelathletics but also sets a new state record of 1:56.67, previously set at 1:56.87. pic.twitter.com/v35G7WMxPh

— Jordan J. Wilson (@WillieHasWords) February 11, 2017

“It was a little strange, I’ll admit that,” Burchill said of swimming without her sister cheering her on. “But I know she was there, texting me, FaceTiming me, all last night and today. I knew she was here in spirit and she was definitely watching, but having her not on deck, that was a first for me.”

Here's the ceremonial team pool jump for @carmelathletics after extending their national streak of consecutive state titles to 31. pic.twitter.com/TtIas8zj7d

— Jordan J. Wilson (@WillieHasWords) February 11, 2017

The post-meet plunge with her Carmel teammates, however, was nothing new for Burchill. The Greyhounds pushed their unprecedented national-record streak to 31 straight state titles, winning eight of 11 championship races and finishing with 386.50 points. Chesterton was second with 189.

Burchill finished a runner-up in the 100 backstroke back and contributed to relay titles in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle. Meanwhile, Emma Nordin won her third-straight state title in the 500 freestyle and touched the wall almost half a pool length ahead of the rest of the competition.

There was some disappointment, though, for Nordin, who also had her sights set on breaking a record — her own, set in the 2015 state preliminaries. She clocked a 4:45.32, less than one-fifth of a second off her previous record.

Nordin also won her second consecutive 200 freestyle title in addition to helping the Greyhounds to wins in both the 400 and 200 free relays, anchoring the latter.

“It’s my senior year,” said Nordin, who is committed to Arizona State. “It’s just exciting to be closing it off like this.”

Carmel junior Trude Rothrock, who finished second behind Nordin in the 200 free, won the 100 butterfly (52.97) while sophomore Kelly Pash won the 100 freestyle (49.41)

The only non-Carmel local individual winner was Hamilton Heights senior diver Ivy Houser, who won the 1-meter diving championship, beating out Homestead, Northridge and Fishers divers.

Yorktown’s Weiss breaks Lilly King’s record

Mari Gray congratulates Yorktown’s Emily Weiss after completing the girls 100 yard breaststroke, during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

It’s not every day someone wins a state title. But even less often can the winners say they trumped the time of an Olympic gold medalist.

Nevertheless, 15-year-old Emily Weiss of Yorktown managed to do both when she clocked a 59.37 in the 100 breaststroke and broke Lilly King’s record set two years earlier in the 2015 preliminaries. Weiss, a sophomore, is now a two-time title winner in the event, and seems poised for more in the years to come.

IU’s King tweeted about Weiss’ swim shortly after the news circulated around Twitter and said she “wouldn’t expect anyone else to break (her) record.”

Fishers’ Parrish wins Mental Attitude Award

Fishers swimmer Lauryn Parrish, who finished third in the 200 freestyle, was named the Mental Attitude Award winner. Parrish qualified for four events at Saturday’s state finals. She has a 3.4 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Athletic Council and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and volunteers at the O’Malley Foundation, in which she teaches autistic young adults to swim for exercise.

Follow IndyStar reporter Jordan J. Wilson on Twitter: @Wilsonable07.

IHSAA STATE FINALS WINNERS

Team scores: 1. Carmel, 386.5; 2. Chesterton, 189; 3. Fishers, 151; 4. Bloomington South, 143; 5. Penn, 139; 6. Northridge, 126; 7. Carroll, 120; 8. North Central, 97; 9. Hamilton Southeastern, 93.5; 10. Zionsville, 87.

200 medley relay: Carmel, 1:41.23 (Sammie Burchill, Grace Estabrook, Trude Rothrock, Grace Pangburn)

200 freestyle: Emma Nordin, Carmel (1:47.08)

200 IM: Sammie Burchill, Carmel (1:56.67)*

50 free: Grace Haskett, Bloomington South (22.77)

1-meter diving: Ivy Houser, Hamilton Heights (535.80)

100 butterfly: Trude Rothrock, Carmel (52.97)

100 freestyle: Kelly Pash, Carmel (49.41)

200 freestyle relay: Carmel, 1:33.01 (Grace Pangburn, Kelly Pash, Rachel Young, Emma Nordin)

500 freestyle: Emma Nordin, Carmel (4:45.32)

100 backstroke: Grace Haskett, Bloomington South (53.38)

100 breaststroke: Emily Weiss, Yorktown (59.37)*

400 freestyle relay: Carmel, 3:19.10 (Trude Rothrock, Kelly Pash, Emma Nordin, Sammie Burchill)

*state meet record

Hannah Pugh swims the 100 yard butterfly during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

The Carmel Girls Swim Team swims in the diving pool after winning the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

North Central’s Shannon Glesing is hugged by a teammate after competing in the girls 200 yard medley relay, during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

Mental Attitude Award winner Lauren Parish emotionally accepts her award during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

The Carmel Girls Swim Team is presented a trophy for winning the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

The Carmel Girls Swim Team jumps in the diving pool after winning the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

Kelly Pash of Carmel dives in for the girls 400 yard freestyle relay during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.

Carmel’s Sammie Burchill is congratulated by a team member after the girls 400 yard freestyle relay, during the IHSAA girls swimming state finals, held at IUPUI Natatorium, Feb. 11, 2017.