You never know what you might find if you walk into a swimming practice at Yorktown. And today, I found a very interesting situation as I arrived to give my daughter a ride home from practice.
Head coach Brad Grieshop and assistant club coach Andy Wallace were having some good natured fun, joking with the swimmers. Turns out Grieshop had bet Larah Beaver that he could swim a certain time in the 100-yard back--and if he did, Larah would have to agree to swim some 400-meter IM's during the summer long course season. The challenge was joined, and the race was on.
Grieshop put on his Speedo, I helped Wallace and Larah get out the touch pads and timing equipment, and we set up a little mini-meet. In the first event, Grieshop joined Ethan Leach, Caroline Grasso, and Alex Nickoli in the 100 back. Grieshop took advantage of the group's agreement to waive the 15-meter rule (which requires backstrokers to surface at that point) to swim most of his opening 25 underwater. Grieshop got to the 50 mark in a split of 28.92, and won the match race against his kids in 1:01.87. Larah congratulated her coach on nearly breaking her middle school record with that time. ;)
Just for the record, Leach was 2nd in 1:06.27, Nickoli was 3rd in 1:08.20, and Grasso was 4th in 1:09.33.
But the fun was far from over. Inspired by what they had just witnessed, several former Yorktown swimmers (who were putting in a workout during their college spring break) agreed to have an alumni race. Kenny Brown, Darik Hall and Wells Arwood couldn't resist the chance to test themselves (and each other). They waged a spirited battle in a 100-yard free, with Hall flashing glimpses of the strong strokes that once put his name on the school record board. Hall took top honors with a 51.03, with Arwood 2nd in 51.98 and Brown 3rd in 56.03.
Today's extravaganza has Grieshop thinking about returning to training in an effort to qualify for USA Swimming's Masters level National Meet. Wallace has also kicked that around (no pun intended) in recent days. Just for fun tonight, I looked up the qualifying times for U.S. Masters Swimming's upcoming Short Course Yards Nationals at Georgia Tech. The qualifying time in the 100 back in the men's 25-29 age group is 1:02.90. So way to go, Brad.
The road to Atlanta apparently begins at 1100 S. Tiger Drive in Yorktown, Indiana.
GO TIGERS!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
TIGERS HONORED, COACHING CHANGE
Several Tigers were singled out for honors at last night's post-season swimming and diving banquet at Yorktown High School.
Junior Adam Voss took home the 2009-10 Most Valuable Player award for the boys. Voss posted Top 16 finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly at this season's IHSAA State Meet. Earlier in the tournament, Adam swam to the 100-yard butterfly championship at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional. His time of 51:10 qualifies him for consideration for an All-American award from the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA).
Senior Harrison Slater was named Most Improved Swimmer. Slater dropped an amazing 15 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle prelims at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional. Way to go, Harrison!
On the girls side, sophomore Larah Beaver captured her second-straight Most Valuable Player award. Beaver was a Top 16 finisher at the IHSAA State Meet, placing 11th in the 100-yard back. Beaver won the 100-yard back championship at the Fishers Sectional in a time of 56.68. That time broke Larah's own YHS record, the sectional record previously held by Hamilton Southeastern's Aubrey Hertzler, and it qualifies Beaver for an automatic All-American award from NISCA. Beaver has also met the criteria for a Scholastic All-American award given by USA Swimming.
Senior Heather Elston is this year's Most Improved Swimmer. Elston polished off her final YHS season by relieving an ailing Beaver in the 200-yard free relay at the State Meet. Elston teamed with junior Gabby LaVoie and freshmen Jessica Extine and Caroline Grasso for a 31st place finish at State.
Three Tigers will be adding their names to the Academic All-American banner that hangs in the YHS pool. Seniors Michael Stocker, Harrison Slater and Heather Elston qualified for the designation from NISCA, which bases the award on an athlete's career accomplishments in the classroom. Nice job, Class of '10!
Wrapping up the awards, we turn to a brother-sister act. Senior Cameron Watters and sophomore Chelsea Watters were named the 2009-10 Mental Attitude Award winners for the Tigers. Head coach Brad Grieshop lauded them for their quiet, yet unwavering commitments to YHS swimming. Cam and Chelsea don't say much on the deck, they let their swimming do their talking. And all Cam did in his final season was break the YHS record in the 100-yard back.
Finally, a note of sadness from last night's banquet. Diving coach Shanan Riegle announced that she is resigning her position. Riegle has been coaching Yorktown divers since the 2001-02 season, but she told the audience that her family's time demands prevent her from focusing enough of her energies on coaching. You'll probably still see Shanan at meets from time to time, but former YHS and Ball State diver Nicole Niccum will taking the coaching reigns. Thanks, Shanan--and good luck, Nicole.
See you around the pool when the 2010-11 IHSAA season opens with the first girls' practice on October 25th.
GO TIGERS!
Junior Adam Voss took home the 2009-10 Most Valuable Player award for the boys. Voss posted Top 16 finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly at this season's IHSAA State Meet. Earlier in the tournament, Adam swam to the 100-yard butterfly championship at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional. His time of 51:10 qualifies him for consideration for an All-American award from the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA).
Senior Harrison Slater was named Most Improved Swimmer. Slater dropped an amazing 15 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle prelims at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional. Way to go, Harrison!
On the girls side, sophomore Larah Beaver captured her second-straight Most Valuable Player award. Beaver was a Top 16 finisher at the IHSAA State Meet, placing 11th in the 100-yard back. Beaver won the 100-yard back championship at the Fishers Sectional in a time of 56.68. That time broke Larah's own YHS record, the sectional record previously held by Hamilton Southeastern's Aubrey Hertzler, and it qualifies Beaver for an automatic All-American award from NISCA. Beaver has also met the criteria for a Scholastic All-American award given by USA Swimming.
Senior Heather Elston is this year's Most Improved Swimmer. Elston polished off her final YHS season by relieving an ailing Beaver in the 200-yard free relay at the State Meet. Elston teamed with junior Gabby LaVoie and freshmen Jessica Extine and Caroline Grasso for a 31st place finish at State.
Three Tigers will be adding their names to the Academic All-American banner that hangs in the YHS pool. Seniors Michael Stocker, Harrison Slater and Heather Elston qualified for the designation from NISCA, which bases the award on an athlete's career accomplishments in the classroom. Nice job, Class of '10!
Wrapping up the awards, we turn to a brother-sister act. Senior Cameron Watters and sophomore Chelsea Watters were named the 2009-10 Mental Attitude Award winners for the Tigers. Head coach Brad Grieshop lauded them for their quiet, yet unwavering commitments to YHS swimming. Cam and Chelsea don't say much on the deck, they let their swimming do their talking. And all Cam did in his final season was break the YHS record in the 100-yard back.
Finally, a note of sadness from last night's banquet. Diving coach Shanan Riegle announced that she is resigning her position. Riegle has been coaching Yorktown divers since the 2001-02 season, but she told the audience that her family's time demands prevent her from focusing enough of her energies on coaching. You'll probably still see Shanan at meets from time to time, but former YHS and Ball State diver Nicole Niccum will taking the coaching reigns. Thanks, Shanan--and good luck, Nicole.
See you around the pool when the 2010-11 IHSAA season opens with the first girls' practice on October 25th.
GO TIGERS!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
STATE MEET RECAP
If there's one thing in swimming that's more important than a well designed taper, it's the timing of that taper. And that was borne out by the results of the Yorktown Tigers at the boys 2010 State Meet.
Senior Cameron Watters, juniors Adam Voss and Michael Heavilon, and sophomore Austin Dunn swam as hard as they could over the weekend, but could not sustain the impressive performances they displayed a week earlier at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional.
Voss was the only Tiger to advance from Friday night's prelims to Saturday's finals, putting himself in the Big Show in two individual events. Voss was the #3 seed in the 100-yard Fly following his 51.10 sectional champion effort the week before. But Voss' 52.00 in the prelims forced him into Saturday's 'B' final field, where he managed a 52.06. That was good enough for an 11th place finish.
Voss also competed in the 200-yard Free. The #11 seed put up a 1:44.07 prelim swim to finish Friday night in 13th place. He followed that with a 1:44.05 in Saturday's 'B' final, which gave Voss a 13th place finish in the standings. Both results are probably less than Voss had hoped for, but hundreds of swimmers across Indiana would give anything just to make it to State. So there's a lot to celebrate in being one of the Top 16 in your sport--nice job, Adam. Look for even bigger and better things out of this young man as a senior next year!
Watters, Heavilon and Dunn also struggled to find that "top gear" again at the State Meet. Watters' final individual swim as a Tiger came in the 100-yard Back prelim, where his 55.31 was more than a second slower than his seed time (54.09). Watters finished the night in 25th place. The best Dunn could muster in the 50-yard Free prelim was 22.54; his seed time was 22.05. Dunn settled for a 29th place finish.
Heavilon joined his three YHS teammates competing in two relays. The "Fab Four" added nearly two seconds to their seed time in the 200-yard Medley Relay on Friday night, posting a 1:41.59 to finish in 26th place. In the 400-yard Free Relay, Yorktown picked up a 20th place finish by swimming a 3:16.70.
Voss' individual placings earned Yorktown 10 points, which left the Tigers 40th of the 54 teams that scored at the State Meet.
Congratulations to all the boys, their coaching staff, and their parents for a job well done during the 2009-10 season.
GO TIGERS!
Senior Cameron Watters, juniors Adam Voss and Michael Heavilon, and sophomore Austin Dunn swam as hard as they could over the weekend, but could not sustain the impressive performances they displayed a week earlier at the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional.
Voss was the only Tiger to advance from Friday night's prelims to Saturday's finals, putting himself in the Big Show in two individual events. Voss was the #3 seed in the 100-yard Fly following his 51.10 sectional champion effort the week before. But Voss' 52.00 in the prelims forced him into Saturday's 'B' final field, where he managed a 52.06. That was good enough for an 11th place finish.
Voss also competed in the 200-yard Free. The #11 seed put up a 1:44.07 prelim swim to finish Friday night in 13th place. He followed that with a 1:44.05 in Saturday's 'B' final, which gave Voss a 13th place finish in the standings. Both results are probably less than Voss had hoped for, but hundreds of swimmers across Indiana would give anything just to make it to State. So there's a lot to celebrate in being one of the Top 16 in your sport--nice job, Adam. Look for even bigger and better things out of this young man as a senior next year!
Watters, Heavilon and Dunn also struggled to find that "top gear" again at the State Meet. Watters' final individual swim as a Tiger came in the 100-yard Back prelim, where his 55.31 was more than a second slower than his seed time (54.09). Watters finished the night in 25th place. The best Dunn could muster in the 50-yard Free prelim was 22.54; his seed time was 22.05. Dunn settled for a 29th place finish.
Heavilon joined his three YHS teammates competing in two relays. The "Fab Four" added nearly two seconds to their seed time in the 200-yard Medley Relay on Friday night, posting a 1:41.59 to finish in 26th place. In the 400-yard Free Relay, Yorktown picked up a 20th place finish by swimming a 3:16.70.
Voss' individual placings earned Yorktown 10 points, which left the Tigers 40th of the 54 teams that scored at the State Meet.
Congratulations to all the boys, their coaching staff, and their parents for a job well done during the 2009-10 season.
GO TIGERS!
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