TIGERS GET MAULED AT HOMESTEAD

Saturday's 10th annual Homestead Invitational was a fantastic display of high quality mid-season racing and gutsy performances. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those efforts came from swimmers who aren't from Yorktown. But more about that in a moment. First, the final team standings from Saturday:

Boys--1. Northridge 490, 2. Chesterton 478, 3. Homestead 464, 4. Indianapolis North Central, 5. Yorktown 225.

Girls--1. Chesterton 564.5, 2. Homestead 488, 3. Northridge 425, 4. Indianapolis North Central 351.5, 5. Yorktown 169.

This meet is known for its high level of competition, and for the fast times it typically produces. If you show up at Homestead unable or unwilling to "dial it up" against some of the state's top quality teams and individuals, you'll get your teeth kicked in. And that's just what happened to the Tigers on Saturday.

Yorktown had 66 individual and relay team entrants get in the pool on Saturday. Of those 66, only 14 swam faster than their seed times. Of those 14, six were from athletes who were considered "no time" entrants. So they automatically get a pass for an improvement. That means only eight YHS entries improved on their established times at Homestead.

All six of Yorktown's 'A' relay teams swam slower than their seed times. Some of the Tigers most talented swimmers added significant amounts of time to their previous lifetime bests. Perhaps most glaringly, YHS swimmers finished in the bottom four places in three of the days events, and in the bottom three places in two other events.

I know what some of you are probably thinking. Cut them a break, it's the middle of the season, the kids are exhausted, they aren't supposed to be swimming fast in mid-December, etc. Well, those are excuses and cop outs. Every other team that showed up on Saturday was in the middle of the season, exhausted, and not supposed to be swimming fast in mid-December. THEY raced, we DIDN'T. It's all about effort and mindset, and if you need proof, here you go.

Chesterton's Kyle Whitaker is a world class swimmer. If anyone at Homestead could have been excused for skipping the 15-minute warm-up break between Saturday's 50 free and 100 fly, it's him. The guy's resume speaks for itself. But Whitaker was the LAST boy out of the pool during the break. Other swimmers from other teams also spent the break in the pool, working on stroke technique, or turns, or just getting a better feel for the water.

At the same time, many Yorktown kids were eating snacks, chit chatting with friends, posing for photos, etc., you know, the really important things at a swim meet.

All Whitaker did at the end of the meet was swim an incredible 44-second split in the 400-yard freestyle relay to turn a six-yard deficit into a victory by .04 second. That's not a typo, Whitaker swam a 44-second split over 100 yards, with WATER in his goggles!

As a journalist, I covered sporting events for 20 years. What Whitaker did Saturday was the greatest thing I've ever seen a high school athlete do, bar none. I don't know how many Yorktown Tigers were actually bothering to watch the race at the time, but they should have been. And they should have been inspired by Whitaker's burning desire to win. We could use a BIG dose of that spirit around here.

What I witnessed from the Tigers on Saturday was just sad. The Yorktown greats of the past (Ruth, Mattingly, Barttrum, Lockhart, Bird, and Hall) didn't build this program to have their legacy tarnished like this. They built it with pride, sacrifice, and determination so future Tigers would embrace the challenge, and take the program to even greater heights. They RACED!

Yorktown dropped out of the College Events Classic at Carmel this year because we were no longer competitive there. Saturday proved the same is true of the Homestead Invitational. We should not go back to Homestead until we belong there again. The other teams deserve better, and we are far from that right now.

It's only this writer's opinion, but the gap between what this once-proud program was, and what it has become, is an embarrassment.