Greenfield-Central’s Rachel Stutz swimming the freestyle leg of the women’s 200-yard medley relay during the Hoosier Heritage Conference Swimming Championship at New Palestine High School on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. (Rob Baker/Daily Reporter)
NEW PALESTINE — One team was looking to regain its place atop the Hoosier Heritage Conference, while another was seeking to erase all doubt.
Both accomplished their goals this weekend, as Hancock County reigned supreme during the HHC swimming and diving championships at New Palestine High School on Friday and Saturday.
The Greenfield-Central girls swimming and diving team broke through first on Friday night by winning its fifth conference title in seven years behind seven individual-event winners for 503 points.
On Saturday, the defending HHC champion Mt. Vernon Marauder boys swimming and diving team repeated after claiming its first title in 10 years last winter in 2020. The Marauders won four events and compiled enough placement points Saturday to fend off Delta 350.50-336.
The Marauders’ conference performance served as payback, avenging a narrow, 95-91, dual-meet loss to Delta earlier this month at home.
With their season aspirations firmly in place, the Marauders came out ready to defend, a season after claiming the program’s first sectional title since 2005.
“I think they knew we still had an opportunity this year for the guys to win the meet, but as much as we graduated, we also returned several points and we had some big swims out of our underclassmen,” Mt. Vernon head coach Brad Grieshop said.
“(The meet with Delta) was very close. Both of our teams swam extremely well, and we used that as a little extra motivation for conference because we really felt that those were winnable meets, and we kind of wanted to prove that, and that’s what they did at conference.”
The Marauders’ girls lost to Delta, 97-89, on Dec. 2, along with the boys, but they, too, also surged ahead of the Eagles, taking fifth at conference with 204 points in front of their sixth-place foes with 196.
Last year’s HHC champion Pendleton Heights was second to Greenfield-Central in the final girls team standings with 395 points. New Castle (257) and Yorktown (228) were third and fourth. New Palestine was seventh with 183 points.
Greenfield-Central won the HHC in 2019-20 and 2018-19, in addition to 2016-17 and 2015-16. They were aiming for a third straight in 2020-21, but the Arabians turned the tide to win, 393-377, for their first HHC team championship since 2017-18. Pendleton Heights also won the title in 2014-15 and 2013-14.
“The girls came out strong Friday night and set the tone quickly,” G-C head coach Emily Logan remarked. “We had everyone and we were ready. There were great swims by all. At least two relays were within a second of school records. This is a great place to be at this point of the season.”
The Cougars had two four-event, winning swimmers in Mary Ellen Stratman and Norah Johnson.
Individually, Johnson won the 100-yard freestyle in 55.48 seconds and added a 100 breaststroke title in 1:06.29. Stratman was first in the 100 butterfly (1:00.10) and in the 100 backstroke (1:00.84).
Both teamed with Alyssa Osborn and Rachel Stutz to win the 200 medley relay ahead of Yorktown in a time of 1:51.04.
The duo’s second relay victory unfolded in the 400-freestyle race with Osborn and Stutz in a time of 3:44.09, which bested rival Pendleton Heights (3:48.48). The Arabians won three events, including Thursday night’s diving competition as Madelyn Heineman tallied 331.55 points.
Osborn also won the 200 IM (2:14.18) to give her three HHC first-place ribbons. She was second in the 100 breaststroke at 1:08.76.
“We are very excited for the rest of the season. This was a total team effort and all the girls did their job,” said Logan, who was named the 2021-22 HHC Coach of the Year.
Cecelia Duffy-Johnson (2:02.14) was second for the Cougars in the 200 free. Elizabeth Coleman (2:18.01) was second in the 200 IM. Stutz took runner-up in the 50 free at 25.44 and was third in the 100 backstroke (1:02.10), while Duffy-Johnson was third in the 100 free at 56.12. Ariel Niemeier (5:37.67) was third in the 500 free.
The Cougars were second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:45.39, just ahead of New Palestine in third at 1:48.85.
Much like the Cougars, the Mt. Vernon boys relied on their top swimmers to set the stage, while the rest of the team filed in to boost their final team score.
“The kids did exactly what they had to do in order to repeat as conference champions and swam really well,” Grieshop said. “We know we are still a good team and that our goals are still the same. It’s just, like I’ve said before, different in how we get there this year and how that looks. But, it’s the same goals and the same expectations.”
Mt. Vernon juniors Matthew Garey and Brady Gray played their part in all four of the Marauders’ individual-event titles.
Garey won the 200 IM in 2:02.14 and was first in the 100 breaststroke at 1:01.75. Gray touched the wall first in the 100 free at 49.01.
Both were on the winning 200 freestyle relay team with Caleb Strege and Ethan Murphy, which finished ahead of Delta in a time of 1:33.11. The Eagles were second at 1:33.60 and New Palestine was third in 1:36.60.
New Palestine finished fourth in the final standings with 288 points behind Yorktown (310) and in front of both Greenfield-Central (209) in fifth and Pendleton Heights (204.50) in sixth.
The Cougars had one HHC champion in Kein Dalton, who won the diving competition with 431.40 points. Alex Jahrsdoefer (351.65) was third.
New Palestine’s Aidan Kingery was third in the 100 breaststroke at 1:07.72. Dontae Thompson and Ben Miesse were 4-5 in the 50 free in times of 24.11 and 24.23, respectively. Thompson placed third in the 100 free at 52.95.
The Marauders were third in the 200 medley relay in 1:50.20. Gray placed second in the 50 free at 22.21 in front of Delta’s Brad Shue (22.58). The MV 400 freestyle relay team comprised of Gray, Garey, Adison Mayes and Murphy placed third at 3:31.66.
Murphy, a junior, provided crucial team points by taking fifth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 200 free, along with top-eight finishes from Mayes, Strege, Jack Champion, Camden Cave and Brady Youngs.
“We really use this meet as a confidence-builder going into holiday training,” Grieshop said. “We had a great first half of the season, and now, we have to look at the second half and transitioning to really focusing on sectional and being primed and ready for that one.”
2021 Hoosier Heritage Conference Swimming and Diving Championships
Results
Girls Team Scores: Greenfield-Central 503, Pendleton Heights 395, New Castle 257, Yorktown 228, Mt. Vernon 204, Delta 196, New Palestine 183, Shelbyville 134.
Individual Event Winners
200 medley relay: Greenfield-Central 1:51.04
200 free: Grace McKinney, PH 1:59.49
200 IM: Alyssa Osborn, G-C 2:14.18
50 free: Karissa Hamilton, SHS 24.82
100 butterfly: Mary Ellen Stratman, G-C 1:00.10
100 free: Norah Johnson, G-C 55.48
500 free: Lylah Hutson, NC 5:16.41
200 free relay: Pendleton Heights 1:44.04
100 backstroke: Mary Ellen Stratman, G-C 1:00.84
100 breaststroke: Norah Johnson, G-C 1:06.29
400 free relay: Greenfield-Central 3:44.09
Diving: Madelyn Heineman, PH 331.55
Boys Team Scores: Mt. Vernon 350.50, Delta 336, Yorktown 310, New Palestine 288, Greenfield-Central 209, Pendleton Heights 204.50, New Castle 202, Shelbyville 192.
Individual Event Winners
200 medley relay: Yorktown 1:43.84
200 free: Tyler Harker, SHS 1:48.90
200 IM: Matthew Garey, MV 2:02.14
50 free: Gannon Crosser, YK 21.98
100 butterfly: Juan Gonzalez-Gallego, SHS 53.79
100 free: Brady Gray, MV 49.01
500 free: Henry Ko, YK 4:57.79
200 free relay: Mt. Vernon 1:33.11
100 backstroke: Gannon Crosser, YK 54.62
100 breaststroke: Matthew Garey, MV 1:01.75
400 free relay: Delta 3:22.84
Diving: Kien Dalton, G-C 431.40
