TIGERS CLAW THEIR WAY TO SWEEP OF ARABIANS

It's a good thing several Yorktown Swimming parents are physicians, because the "Cardiac Kid" Tigers are testing the hearts of their fans this season!

Last night, the Tiger girls went into the final event clinging to an 87-82 lead over Pendleton Heights; the boys were in even more jeopardy, deadlocked 85-85 with the host Arabians with one last swim to go.

The Lady Tigers called on the the team of freshman Jessica Extine, sophomore Kirsten Nickoli, sophomore Chelsea Watters and sophomore Larah Beaver to polish off the Arabians in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The quartet came through with a blue ribbon effort, winning in 4:09.08 to give Yorktown a 97-86 victory.

Head coach Brad Grieshop turned to his "Fab 4" again to seal the deal for the boys. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Cameron Watters, Michael Heavilon, Adam Voss and Austin Dunn brought home the bacon, besting the field in 3:36.29. That win allowed the Tiger boys to dodge a bullet and emerge with a 93-91 victory.

Think PHHS head coach Jeff Maydak wishes he hadn't left two points unclaimed by entering only two boys instead of three in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly?

The girls "Dynamic Duo" of Larah Beaver and Jessica Extine continued to lead the way for YHS, both claiming three victories in the meet. Beaver and Extine teamed with freshmen Kersea Gable and Caroline Grasso to take the 200-yard medley relay (1:59.95), and with Nickoli and Watters in the 400-yard freestyle relay; Beaver won the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.57), while Extine finished first in the 100-yard butterfly (1:05.57).

Diver Sam Mahon picked up Yorktown's other blue ribbon, keeping her 2009-10 dual meet winning streak alive with a total of 184.90 points.

The Tiger boys followed a now-familiar script to win the meet Tuesday night--a heavy dose of the "Fab 4" and key contributions down the lineup from other swimmers. Watters, Heavilon, Voss and Dunn were all multiple winners against the Arabians. Watters won the 500-yard freestyle (5:23.31) and the 100-yard backstroke (59.86), Heavilon was first to the wall in the 200-yard IM (2:12.03) and 100-yard butterfly (59.05), Voss was victorious in the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.50) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.68), and Dunn sped to blue ribbon finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (22.98) and 100-yard freestyle (50.33).

Depth played a critical role in last night's outcomes. Senior Kyle Bonneau, senior Harrison Slater, junior Tyler Donges, junior Joe Eskew, junior Joseph Railey, junior Zach Pitzer and freshman Thommy Brown also scored crucial points for the boys. Donges had an excellent night diving for a runner-up finish (186.65), and Brown showed lots of grit, fighting off a PHHS swimmer's late charge in the 200-yard IM to finish 4th (2:35.07) instead of 5th. That two-point swing alone would have sent the meet into a tie. Way to go, Thommy!

The YHS girls also got just enough scoring in the lower placings to win the meet. Nickoli, Mahon, Gable, Grasso, senior Heather Elston, senior Kara Martin, junior Rachel Reising, junior Megan Morency, sophomore Chappell Railey, sophomore Alexa Voss and freshman Jillian Buche put badly needed points on the board. Nickoli battled her way to a runner-up finish (6:01.24) in a tight 500-yard freestyle, and Voss had a nice diving performance (160.95) to finish 3rd, just 4.1 points behind the PHHS runner-up.

The Tigers will be back in action Thursday, hosting the Anderson Indians with a scheduled start time of 5:30 p.m.

GO TIGERS!