NEW PALESTINE — Thursday night’s action at the New Palestine Natatorium was equivalent to whetting the appetite.
The three-day Hoosier Heritage Conference Swimming and Diving Championships got underway with the girls diving competition.
Divers went through preliminary and semifinal rounds Thursday. The finals, along with swimming finals, will take place tonight. On Saturday, the boys take to the pool with both swimming and diving competitions.
Greenfield-Central is the defending girls champion. Head coach Emily Logan believes her team has an appetite to continue their winning ways.
“(The divers) did a nice job to get us started and get us going for a nice long weekend meet,” Logan said. “… They’ve (all) been working like beasts. They are hungry and they love to race. I think that’s what I love most about these girls. They are hungry racers all the time and they love to compete.”
For the Cougars, seniors Norah Johnson (100-yard freestyle, 100 breaststroke) and Mary Ellen Stratman (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke) are returning champions in two individual events and were part of last season’s relay titles, with Alyssa Osborn and Rachel Stutz, in both the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Osborn was a champion in last year’s 200 IM.
“It should be a lot of fun (tonight),” Logan added. “This is a great group of girls. We’ve got some great seniors that have been with us for a long time. We want to enjoy and have a good time with them, enjoying that last (conference) all together. Of course, they want to come away with the title. That’s a big one for them.”
Today’s action begins at 6 p.m. The final dives will start after the 50 freestyle race, at approximately 6:45 p.m., and before the 100 butterfly.
After Thursday’s eight dives, Delta’s Grier Backus leads a field of 17 with 248.40 points. Mt. Vernon’s Riley Nielsen gained ground from the prelims to semis and is in second with a score of 239.20. She trailed Backus by 14.55 points going in to her three semifinal dives.
New Palestine freshman Ava Tuley is in fifth with 207.40 points. Greenfield-Central’s Avery Davis is sixth with 199.35. Mt. Vernon’s Brooklyn Williams is among the Top 10, at No. 9, with 183.85 points.
Other Hancock County divers, through eight dives, include Mt. Vernon’s Taylor Sauri (13, 157.30), Greenfield-Central’s Kersey Hudson (14, 150.15) and Emily Jones-Estelle (15, 146.95) and New Palestine’s Lauren Appleby (16, 141.00) and Kayla Bain (17, 140.80).
On Saturday, the boys take over with preliminary diving rounds at 9 a.m. Diving semifinals are at 10:15 a.m. The final session of the conference championships will begin at 1 p.m. with the boys swimming finals. Like the girls the evening before, at approximately 1:45 p.m., divers will have their final three dives.
“Big days for both teams. We’re looking to do our best,” New Palestine coach Chris Kingery said. “Divers have done well, they had some nerves at the beginning, but we all have those. We’re looking forward to another great weekend to get some personal bests.”
Mt. Vernon is looking for its third straight boys title. The Marauders have returning HHC champions in Brady Gray (100 freestyle), Matthew Garey (200 IM, 100 breaststroke) and three of four members of the 200 freestyle relay team (Gray, Garey, Ethan Murphy).
