It's time to dust off that cushioned seat back and hit the interstate, the start of the 2011-12 Yorktown High School swimming (and diving) season has arrived. The #15 Lady Tigers travel to unranked (but dangerous) Lawrence North on Thursday to tangle with the Lady Wildcats in the lidlifter for both squads.
Don't let the Wildcats' lack of a pre-season ranking fool you, LN is still plenty good heading into action tomorrow. True, they graduated studs Julie Ogden and Meghan Anderson from last year's team that finished 15th at the IHSAA State Meet. Ogden was the biggest loss--she parlayed a state championship in the 100 Fly into a college career at West Virginia. But this year's LN group packs lots of firepower.
Senior Peyton Cunningham, juniors Taryn Anderson and Laura Weiss, and sophomore Laura Apple all competed on the Wildcats' state team a year ago. It's worth remembering that they scored at the Nat, and they form a talented nucleus for Mike Parratto's team. Look for Anderson to be a force again in the 100 backstroke; Weiss is one of the strongest breaststrokers in this part of the state; and both Cunningham and Apple can bring it in the freestyle events.
Yorktown will counter with proven, state caliber firepower of its own. Senior Larah Beaver, juniors Jessica Extine, Kersea Gable, Caroline Grasso and Ashley Sexton, and freshman Lauren Elston are all capable of dominating races and scoring a LOT of points, both individually and on relays. Throw in the scoring depth of seniors Kirsten Nickoli, Chelsea Watters and freshmen Katie Keller and Katelyn Grasso, and it should be a VERY competitive meet. If both schools stack their 200 Medley Relay teams, you won't want to miss the first race of the night--it'll be FAST!
Diving will also play a role in Yorktown's chances to win tomorrow. Senior Sam Mahon and junior Ellie Smith will be counted on to score valuable points in the diving well, both against LN, and for the rest of the season. Diving is only eight percent of a swimming meet in Indiana, but it can make--or BREAK--a team's chances for overall success.
It will be very interesting to see how first-year coach Laura Slight lines up her Yorktown athletes on Thursday. Will she go with a power lineup that groups the studs on the 'A' relays to chase the extra points awarded in those events? Or will she spread out her most talented swimmers, hoping that they can pull weaker relay squads to victory while keeping them in their best individual events? Only time will tell. I can't wait to find out.
Thursday's meet begins at 5:30 p.m. in the beautiful Lawrence North pool on the north side of the LN campus.
GO TIGERS!
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