THEORETICAL HHC MEET--GIRLS

I've been doing a lot of heavy reading lately, checking out the best times of the season in the Hoosier Heritage Conference heading into the annual HHC Meet. And just for fun, I've run the numbers on a theoretical 2011 HHC Meet, based on the top reported times in all 12 events.

Here's my methodology--I began by assuming that all eight teams in the meet would use each of their athletes in two individual events and two relays (clearly they won't; some teams will choose to put their best athletes on THREE relays, hoping to grab the double point values in those events). But that's the first basis for an apples-to-apples comparison, especially when one of the teams in the meet lacks the numbers to field relays.

I also scored the theoretical meet based on each athlete's two best individual events; in situations where an athlete would be seeded equally high in more than one event, I scored that individual in the event where they were more likely to score more points for their team. Again, some athletes will swim "off" events to strengthen other parts of their squad's lineup. But for the sake of comparison, I went with the best two.

This is all just for fun and debate, because each coach's lineup choices will have the biggest impact on the outcome of the meet. But here's how the girls theoretical meet played out, based on best times through Christmas:

1. Yorktown 287, 2. Mt. Vernon 253, 3. Greenfield-Central 191, 4. New Palestine 184, 5. Pendleton Heights 151, 6. Delta 131, 7. Shelbyville 116, 8. Rushville 0 (Rushville began the season with only three kids on their team).

The Yorktown-Mt. Vernon showdown could be a real donnybrook again this year. The Marauders don't have as much scoring depth as they have had the last couple of years, but they still have enough to give the Tigers a run for their money. Saturday should be a very interesting day for all of us.

Later this week--a theoretical HHC Meet for the boys.

Stay tuned, and GO TIGERS!