TIGERS POISED FOR STRONG SEASON

The muscles are aching, the joints are sore, and they're going to bed before 9:00 p.m. And that can only mean that the start of the 2011-12 Yorktown High School swimming and diving season is RIGHT around the corner.

The #15 Lady Tigers return their strongest team since the IHSAA State Runner-up squad of 2005-06 (those were the halcyon days of Maggie Bird, Jill Lockhart, Kelsi Hall, et al). This year's team includes one returning
All-American (Larah Beaver), two returning sectional champions (Beaver and Jessica Extine), and five returning State Meet team members (Beaver, Extine, Kersea Gable, Caroline Grasso and Ashley Sexton).

Beaver will be the favorite to repeat her sectional titles--and make strong runs at possible state titles this season--in the 100 back and 100 free. The senior enters her final YHS campaign with times in the those two events (and the 50 free) that already surpass the IHSAA state cuts for the '11-12 season. Look for Larah to take aim at the YHS school records in the 100 back, 100 free and 200 IM before her days are done.

Extine is the Tigers' other stud. The junior is the defending sectional champ in the 50 free, and Jess' career best time in the 50 is already under the IHSAA state cut. Extine will also be the favorite to double-up at the sectional in February by winning her first title in the 100 fly. My prediction? Jess will shatter the qualifying standard in the fly, and compete in those two individual events at the State Meet at the IU Natatorium. I predict Extine will score in both events at State, and nail down a Top 8 finish in the 50.

The Lady Tigers are hardly a two-girl team this season, though. Juniors Kersea Gable and Caroline Grasso teamed with Beaver and Extine to tie the YHS school record (1:49.91) in the 200 medley relay last February. If those four stay healthy (and continue to comprise the relay quartet), look for them to SMASH the record by as much as two seconds before this season is over! A time that fast would put them in contention to win a sectional relay championship, and perhaps post a Top 8 performance at State.

Grasso is coming off her best season as a Tiger, finishing as the sectional runner-up to Beaver in the 100 back. Caroline is capable of surpassing the state cut in the back (58.81) again, and being a strong contributor in the sprint relays, too. Gable is the Tigers' top returning breaststroker--look for her to score a lot of points in that event and in the medley relay. And Sexton provides YHS with quality depth, especially in the sprints and short relays.

Depth--SCORING depth--is critical in the sport of swimming, and that's where some departures could hurt the Tigers. Replacing the points scored last year by Brooke Sigler and Chappell Railey (who both chose not to compete this season) will be difficult, especially in the 200 free and 500 free. But that's where people like seniors Kirsten Nickoli and Chelsea Watters come in. The co-captains will have to step it up this season and score more points to compensate for the loss of Sigler and Railey, especially in the "BIG" meets of the season.

Finally, you'll be seeing valuable contributions from the group of freshmen girls this season. Lauren Elston is destined to be the next of Yorktown's "IT" girls--a future stud to be sure in the 100 fly, following in the Uggs footsteps of stars like Mitsch, Bird, Lockhart, Hall, Kowalski, Bevans, Long, Beaver and Extine. Fellow freshmen Kaitlyn Grasso and Katie Keller are also good enough right now to pile up the points, especially in dual meets. You'll be hearing and seeing their names a lot between now and February.

Coach Laura Slight's girls open their season on November 17th at Lawrence North, and then tangle with a loaded field that includes #9 Brebeuf, #18 Fishers, and #31 Westfield (along with Lafayette Jeff and Roncalli) at the Westfield Invitational on November 19th.

Good luck, ladies.

GO TIGERS!