Established a meet record and an automatic All-American qualifying time in a 56.68
If anyone had any question as to the power of a good taper, all they need do is look at the times in the prelims and finals of the girl’s sectional in Fishers this weekend. The Lady Tigers turned in outstanding performances with almost everyone turning it season best times, some dropping as much as 17 seconds from their seed time (Chappell Railey in the 500 free)! Yorktown finished third with 141 points behind #2 ranked Hamilton Southeastern and #8 Fishers.
Thus far the Tigers will be sending two individuals and one relay to the Indiana High School state meet next weekend by achieving state cut times. The medley relay team of Beaver, Gable, Extine and Grasso (3 freshmen and 1 sophomore!) swam to a state berth in 1:51.26 – a full second below the cut – and finished third. The 200 free relay (Beaver, Grasso, LaVoie and Extine) came in third behind the top two teams (1:41.70) and are only one second off the cut. Chances are they could be included in the state meet as well.
Jess Extine finished 6th in the 50 free (24.49), but the top seven finishers all achieved a state cut, which is a testament as to the strength of the Fishers sectional. She fell slightly short of the state cut in the 100 butterfly (1:00.30) but secured a fifth place finish and has a chance of being called down to Indianapolis depending on the results of the remaining sectionals (some postponed secondary to the weather).
Larah Beaver achieved a state cut in the 100 free (52.90) finishing third, but had her crowning achievement in the 100 backstroke establishing herself as not only the sectional champion, but also setting a new meet record and easily falling below the automatic All-American qualifying time in an amazing time of 56.68.
Other swimmers participating on Saturday in the consolations and finals are as follows: Kirsten Nickoli, 200 free – 12th and 500 free – 11th ; Chappell Railey, 200 IM – 8th and 500 free – 8th ; Caroline Grasso, 50 free – 12th and 100 back – 11th ; Sam Mahon, diving – 8th and 100 fly – 12th ; Gabby LaVoie, 100 free – 11th ; Kersea Gable, 100 breast – 9th ; 400 free relay – 6th (LaVoie, Chelsea Watters, Gable and Heather Elston).
We wish all of the girls going to state the best of luck and congratulate all of the Lady Tigers for an outstanding performance at sectionals!
Girl's Sectional Prelims
2/4/2010
The Lady Tigers put on an awesome display of what hard work and a good taper can do for a swim team. Almost every girl dropped significant amounts of time, making it possible for a Yorktown swimmer to appear in every race during the Sectional finals. The following swimmers qualified for the big show on Saturday:
The men from Yorktown appeared relaxed as they went into their last duel meet of the season against Anderson Highland, who were hosting their last competition before the school closes its doors forever. The Scots were able to finish their final season as a team undefeated as they beat our Tigers 104-81.
The meet moved quickly as the boys had to rush from one race into the next without the girls there to buffer the timing. The relay team of Watters, Dunn, Voss and Heavilon won both the 200 medley and 200 free relays. Michael Heavilon also walked away with a win in the 500 free; Austin Dunn was victorious in the 100 breaststroke; Cameron Watters out-touched his opponent in the 100 back and Adam Voss won the 200 IM and 100 free.
The boy’s team will be ready to cheer on the Lady Tigers as they enter Sectional week and also begin their own preparation for the upcoming championship meets.
Senior Night vs Central
1/26/2010
The Class of 2010 was honored at the Senior Night festivities during and after the meet with arch rival Muncie Central. Though the Bearcats came out on top in the water, the six seniors from Yorktown were all winners in the eyes of their teammates and families. The girls finished only 15 points behind their opponent with a score of 99-84. The men from Yorktown succumbed to the Bearcats 105-81 but both teams posted some excellent times in the pool.
The Lady Tigers started the night off right with a win in the 200 medley relay where the team of Beaver, Gable, Extine, and Grasso won by a full two seconds. Other swimming winners for Yorktown included Jess Extine (50 free and 100 fly) and Larah Beaver (100 free and 100 back). One of the great efforts of the evening was the 500 free team of Chappell Railey and Kirsten Nickoli who were able to hold off the number two swimmer from Central by only 0.68 to take second and third place respectively. Though the divers were unopposed, all three girls finished with good scores and Sam Mahon taking the number one spot.
The boy’s team faced a worthy opponent in the Bearcats splitting the wins 5-7. The Tigers were able to capture the top finish in the 200 free and 100 fly (Adam Voss), 100 free (Austin Dunn), 500 free (Michael Heavilon) and 400 free relay (Heavilon, Waters, Eskew, and Kalley). But perhaps the most exciting race and effort of the night came in the form of a second place finish by the 200 free relay team anchored by senior Harrison Slater who tore up the pool to overcome the Central B relay ahead of him and out touch the opposition by 0.26 seconds with a personal best split of 25.21. His teammates included Thommy Brown, Michael Stocker, and Joe Eskew (who also broke 6 minutes in his 500 free for the first time!)
The post-meet dinner celebration was capped off by the boy’s senior song composed and performed by Michael Heavilon and the senior skits. We wish our seniors – Heather Elston, Kara Martin, Cameron Watters, Kyle Bonneau, Harrison Slater, and Michael Stocker – all the best as they end their swimming careers here at Yorktown after this season. Austin Dunn was also recognized as he will be moving to Greenwood after this school year. We will miss you all…
HHC Conference Results
1/16/2010
The Yorktown High School swimmers and divers participated in one of the closest conference meets in recent history. The girl's team finished 50 points behind number one Mt. Vernon with 357 point - only 13 points ahead of number three New Palestine. The top five teams in the boy's competition were separated by only 45 points as the Tigers finished in a tie with Pendleton for fourth place with 300 points. The winner, New Palestine had 345 points with Mt. Vernon (337) and Greenfield Central (332) finishing second and third. Several of the Yorktown swimmers, both boys and girls, stepped up to the plate to give season best performances.
The girl's meet was highlighted by Larah Beaver breaking her own conference record in the 100 back in a time of 59.37. This was complimented by a decisive win in the 200 Medley relay (Beaver, Gable, Extine and Grasso) with a time of 1:54.97 and a come from behind victory in the 400 free relay (Extine, LaVoie, Elston and Beaver) in a time of 3:54.04. The only other win for the Lady Tigers came again from Larah Beaver in the 100 free (55.35). The remainder of the girl's team obviously performed well to grab several top 8 places to allow the girls to secure a number two finish.
Though the boy's won multiple events, it was not enough to overtake the depth of the other teams. The mighty men from Yorktown secured first place in the 200 medley relay (Watters, Dunn, Voss, Heavilon); 200 free (Voss); 200 IM and 100 fly (Heavilon); 100 free (Dunn); 500 free (Watters) and 400 free relay (Voss, Watters, Heavilon, Watters) where the margin of victory was almost 13 seconds. One of the most exciting races of the day was Austin Dunn's come-from-behind victory in the 100 freestyle where he out-touched his sprinting adversary by 0.44 seconds.
Overall, excellent performances were turned in by all of the Tiger swimmers and divers as they look forward to their next competition at home against arch rival Muncie Central on Tuesday, January 26th at 5:15 pm.
2009-2010 All-American Time Standards: on NISCA website (posted 11/03/09). Note that there are about 110,000 boys swimming and 150,000 girls swimming. All-American awards are given to the top 130 or about 1/10 of 1%
