CONFERENCE PREVIEW, TAKE 1

One of the most exciting weekends of the season is just around the corner--the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet at New Palestine High School!

Yorktown has dominated the HHC through the 2000's. The Tiger boys have won eight straight team championships (2002-2009); the Tiger girls had their streak of six straight team titles (2003-2008) snapped by Mt. Vernon last year.

Here's how the final standings looked following last season's HHC meet:

Girls--1. Mt. Vernon 282.5, 2. Pendleton Heights 259, 3. Yorktown 221, 3. New Palestine 221, 5. Greenfield Central 142, 6. Delta 95.5, 7. Rushville 57, Shelbyville 47.

Boys--1. Yorktown 276, 2. New Palestine 260, 3. Mt. Vernon 224, 4. Delta 150, 5. Pendleton Heights 149, 6. Greenfield Central 142, 7. Shelbyville 72, 8. Rushville 52.

In this post, we'll take a look at how many points each school returns from last season's meet, and what it might (or might not) portend for 2010.

The Mt. Vernon girls won just one event last year (the 200-yard freestyle relay), but used superior depth to capture the team crown. MV returns more than 74% of the points it scored in 2009. Here's how the returning points break down for the girls heading into Saturday:

1. Mt. Vernon 221.5, 2. New Palestine 214, 3. Pendleton Heights 194.5, 4. Greenfield Central 124, 5. Delta 95.5, 6. Yorktown 95, 7. Shelbyville 40.5, 8. Rushville 10.5.

The boys meet is even closer based on the returning points comparison. The Tigers' eight year run of championships appears to be in very real jeopardy just a few days from now. Yorktown returns only 49% of the points the Tigers scored in 2009, when YHS was a senior-dominated squad. Here's the breakdown of returning points for the boys:

1. New Palestine 146.5, 2. Pendleton Heights 145, 3. Yorktown 135, 4. Mt. Vernon 130.5, 5. Delta 73.5, 6. Greenfield Central 68.5, 7. Shelbyville 62, 8. Rushville 29.

Now, there's a lot of wiggle room in interpreting returning points--it is by no means a conclusive way to predict the future. Coaches may use swimmers in different events from year to year; swimmers can have great days (or bad days) at conference; and there's no way to know for certain which freshmen will step up and score big points for their schools at HHC.

Later this week, I hope to post an analysis of the 2009 HHC meet, based on the actual entries.

GO TIGERS!