YORKTOWN AT DELTA PREVIEW

It's time for the boys to make some noise as Yorktown kicks off the coed portion of its 2010-11 dual meet season tomorrow. That's when the gents join the girls for a Hoosier Heritage Conference showdown at Delta.

Head coach Matt Routh's guys begin their season as one of the state's elite teams. The Tigers are ranked #20 in the pre-season poll compiled by the Indiana High School Swimming Coaches Association. Yorktown senior Adam Voss leads the way, boasting the #4 ranking among the state's returning competitors in the 100-yard butterfly, along with the #7 ranking in the 200-yard freestyle.

YHS is far from being a one-man team, though. Senior Michael Heavilon, senior Anderson Highland transfer Hunter Hoffman, and freshman Scott Heavilon are also threats to score points across the full spectrum of strokes and distances. Look for all of them to earn their way into the IHSSCA rankings before the season is over. And senior Tyler Donges should be a consistent scorer all season long on the diving board.

Delta's boys have already gotten their feet wet this season. The Eagles are 1-0 after last week's 96.5-86.5 victory over New Castle. DHS got individual victories from sophomore Garland Ivy in the 50-yard freestyle (24.12) and senior Alex Zimmerman in the 100-yard backstroke (1:05.42). The Eagles' 200-yard freestyle relay quartet of Ivy, sophomore Nathan Bolka, freshman Dylan Christman and sophomore Ben Fitzwater also brought home a blue ribbon, finishing in 1:44.01.

The Delta girls have started their season with a 1-1 dual meet record. The Eagles dropped their opener to Richmond 119-67, then bounced back last week for their first win, topping New Castle 100-86. Senior Emilee Kirby has won the 100-yard breaststroke in both meets for DHS (1:17.21 and 1:16.81, respectively); Kirby also brought home top honors against the Trojans in the 200-yard IM (2:25.42). Senior Katie Tomlin captured the 500-yard freestyle against Richmond (6:15.85), sophomore Maija Lewis bested the field against New Castle in the 50-yard freestyle (28.39), and senior Kaitlyn Kennedy took top honors in diving against New Castle with a score of 164.60.

Delta also won the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays in the New Castle meet. Tomlin, Kirby, Lewis and freshman Morgan Allen beat the field to the wall in the medley (2:10.44); the combo of Lewis, freshman Candace Torres, sophomore Victoria Brown and Kirby found victory with a time in the sprint free of 1:59.74.

The 22nd ranked Yorktown girls (0-1) will be looking for their first win of the season after dropping their opener to #19 Lawrence North 109-77. The YHS ladies had some good swims at the Westfield Invitational, and appear poised to even their record on Tuesday.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. at Delta High School.

GO TIGERS!