NEW PALESTINE — Greenfield-Central head swim coaches Mark and Emily Logan have more than one child listed on this year’s roster. They have dozens.
Referred to as “mom” and “dad”, the Logans, whose daughter Carley is a freshman on the team, earned the titles of Hoosier Heritage Conference Swim Coaches of the Year after leading the Cougars to two conference championships Saturday afternoon at New Palestine.
For the boys, it was Greenfield-Central’s sixth-straight HHC win. However, for the girls, it was the team’s first title in school history.
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Without winning a single swimming event, thanks to an exceptional team effort, the girls held off Yorktown and Pendleton Heights by a fair margin. The Cougars finished with 400 points as the Tigers followed with 371. The Arabians scored 334 points.
“When they announced both our names for coach of the year, one girl said, ‘Hey, it’s mom and dad’ and was crying,” Emily Logan said. ”We are just a little family. We are a close, tight-knit group of people all working toward the same goal.”
Added Mark Logan, “It’s a special thing, but it’s not why we’re here. It’s them (the kids). If they aren’t swimming well and aren’t excited, then we probably aren’t going to get that award. Swimming should be fun and that’s what we stress.”
Carley Logan and juniors Krista Zornes, Kortney Hodnett and Ashley Finney left their marks on the program’s first conference championship. The foursome teamed up to take second in the 200-yard medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Logan also finished third in the 200 and 500 freestyles while Hodnett was third in the 200 individual medley and second in the 100 breaststroke. Finney was fourth in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 butterfly.
Yorktown won six events overall, but the Cougars simply had too many bodies across the board.
“We knew coming in on paper it would be close,” Emily Logan said. “It was kind of a realization for the girls that you really have a chance to win this if you swim hard. There is some really tough competition here and some really tough races.
“All three of our girls (in each race) are up there in the top placings. We were right in the hunt. Honestly, I love to win it that way, because it’s a total team effort.”
The boys’ squad used exceptional depth of its own to score 494 team points. Delta finished second with 395 points while Pendleton Heights scored 300.
Greenfield-Central senior Jordan Cermak and sophomore Zach Cook were a part of four first-place finishes to lead the boys’ team. Cermak won the 50 and 100 freestyle races while Cook took first in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke.
The pair joined junior Allen Forbes and sophomore Ethan Kile to win the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Chris Joven teamed with Forbes, Cermak and Cook to take first in the 400 freestyle relay.
Kile also won the 100 breaststroke and finished second in the 200 individual medley while Joven was second in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle.
Senior Jared Tomer added two third-place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyles while Forbes finished second in the 100 backstroke.
“It’s the depth that’s going to win,” Mark Logan said. “But this year, we have four conference records in there, too. Talent definitely helps sustain it, but to do it consistently you have to have that depth.”
Mt. Vernon had solid showings from multiple athletes and finished near the middle of the pack on both sides of the meet. The girls finished fourth with 259.5 points while the boys were fifth with 239.
Senior Dixon Tierney led the Marauders with a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley in his last HHC meet. He also finished second in the 200 butterfly. Senior Matthew Bauchert was fifth in the 50 freestyle while junior Bryce Gray was fifth in the 200 freestyle.
The trio joined with sophomore Timmy Broaders to take third place in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
For the girls, senior Gloria Gonzalez led the team with a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke. She was also fourth in the 200 freestyle while teammate, sophomore Lydia Tierney, finished second in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 500 freestyle.
Gonzalez and Tierney teamed with Haley Moore and Riley Chambers for third-place finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
New Palestine finished in sixth on both sides of the meet with the boys scoring 180 points and the girls scoring 225.5.
Junior Courtnee Coffman led the Dragons with two second-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Coffman joined seniors Kenzie Wells and Alex Jacobs and junior Leah Bare to take fourth in the 200 freestyle relay. Bare was also ninth in the 50 freestyle.
For the boys, junior Michael O’Leary led the team with a fifth-place showing in the 100 butterfly. Senior Joey Rogers was ninth in the 50 freestyle while Connor Page was 12th in the 100 backstroke.
“It wasn’t as productive as I’d hope,” New Palestine head coach Steve Maxwell said. “We had a couple people out, one kid was sick and another was in an accident. No excuses, we didn’t swim as well.
“Courtnee did swim well, both were best times for her. But I expect more from her because I know she is capable of it.”
Maxwell was also proud of senior Grace Hornsby, who was spread thin around the meet in several events.
“She’s really been focusing on getting her technique better and this was the first meet she saw significant improvement with it,” he said.
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Team Scores
Girls
1. Greenfield-Central – 400
2. Yorktown – 371
3. Pendleton Heights – 334
4. Mt. Vernon – 259.5
5. Delta – 246.6
6. New Palestine – 225.5
7. Shelbyville – 156
8. New Castle – 60. 5
Boys
1. Greenfield-Central – 494
2. Delta – 395
3. Pendleton Heights – 300
4. Shelbyville – 253
5. Mt. Vernon – 239
6. New Palestine – 180
7. Yorktown – 127
8. New Castle – 39
Event Winners
(Womens, Mens)
200 Medley Relay
Yorktown – Gray, Hicks, Weiss, Nowakowski (1:50.87)
Greenfield-Central – Forbes, Kile, Cook, Cermak (1:38.89)
200 Freestyle
Gray, YT (2:00.49)
Hollingsworth, PH (1:47.50)
200 Individual Medley
Weiss, YT (2:11.30)
Tierney, MV (2:00.88)
50 Free
Jule, PH (25:01)
Cermak, GC (22:59)
Diving
Milne, GC (391.75)
McCammon, PH (560.10)
100 Butterfly
Weiss, YT (1:00. 02)
Cook, GC (50.98)
100 Freestyle
Jule, PH (53.68)
Cermak, GC (48.80)
500 Free
Brand, PH (5:21.66)
Wihebrink, PH (5:09.83)
200 Free Relay
Pendleton Heights – Jule, Dudley, Mallory, Brand (1:44.95)
Delta – Hunt, Tucker, Rawis, Torres (1:30.32)
100 Backstroke
Gray, YT (1:03.89)
Cook, GC (53.24)
100 Breaststroke
Hicks, YT (1:09.42)
Kile, GC (1:03.09)
400 Free Relay
Pendleton Heights – Jule, Dudley, Brand, Benbow (3:50.37)
Greenfield-Central – Cermak, Cook, Joven, Forbes (3:16.88)
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