NEW PALESTINE — If it seemed like déjà vu, it’s because it was.
One year after claiming both Hoosier Heritage Conference titles for the first time in school history, which was the first championship for the girls and sixth in a row for the boys, each Greenfield-Central swim team topped its respective field again on Saturday, using a number of bodies and several top-three finishes to earn the repeat wins.
This year, however, Cougar head coaches Mark and Emily Logan walked away from the New Palestine swimming facility completely dry. After jumping in the pool to celebrate the first title for the girls’ program last season, the standard, like it has been on the boys side, is now set.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryGreenfield-Central can thank a deep senior class for that, including familiar names such as Kortney Hodnett, Ashley Finney, Krista Zornes and Shyanne Milne, who started the team’s recent dominance in the area with a sectional championship as freshman.
With their help, the Cougars held off a surging Pendleton Heights squad, 463.5-443. Yorktown was third, while New Palestine and Mt. Vernon were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The only event Greenfield-Central won, though, didn’t even take place on Saturday. Milne claimed her third HHC diving title in four years on Thursday but was the only Cougar to earn a blue ribbon, further proving Greenfield-Central’s strength is in its numbers.
“(The seniors) have definitely laid the foundation and groundwork,” Emily Logan said. “That whole group, all seven seniors have. Our underclassmen really stepped up (Saturday) and kind of took that lead with the seniors and said ‘this is what we do.’ They have definitely jumped on board with them.”
Seniors Hailey Russo, Samantha Stanley and Hannah and Kaylee Walden are also included in Greenfield-Central’s talented veteran group. Hodnett, Zornes and Hannah Walden went 3-4-5 in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Finney was third in the 100-yard butterfly.
Cougars sophomore Carley Logan finished second in both the 500 and 200 freestyles by approximately two seconds. Logan, who broke the school record in the 500 free, teamed with Zornes, Finney and freshman Megan Coffin to take second in the 200 medley relay.
Zornes and Finney joined with freshman Anne Marie DeKeyser and junior Braedy Laymon to finish second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Greenfield-Central’s boys, who are closing in one a decade of dominance in the HHC with their seventh-straight win, tallied 527 points to run away from the field. Delta was the closest team to the Cougars with 324 points, while Mt. Vernon was third and Pendleton Heights was fourth. New Palestine finished the day in seventh.
“With the guys, it’s really been about developing them,” Mark Logan said. “A lot of these juniors never swam before or started in eighth grade or freshman year. We develop them over the years.”
“A lot of our kids swim year round with GCAT (Greenfield Community Aquatics Team),” Emily Logan added.
Cougars’ junior Zach Cook, who swam at nationals earlier this year, added to his résumé with wins in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. His times in both events broke his own conference record set in 2016.
Cook’s teammate, senior Ethan Kile, also had a successful day after winning the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Cook and Kile teamed with senior Allen Forbes and junior Chris Joven to win the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. Both relay times broke HHC records set by Greenfield-Central in 2016.
“The guys (in relays) are focused on getting to that state level,” Mark Logan said. “Their medley relay time is ranked in the top three in the state right now.”
Cougars freshman Samuel Jennings was the only swimmer to break five minutes in the 500 freestyle, earning him a blue ribbon in his first conference meet. He finished second in the 200 freestyle by less than three seconds.
Mt. Vernon was led by a familiar name over the weekend. Junior Lydia Tierney earned two first-place finishes, one in the 200 individual medley and the other in the 100 butterfly. She topped Greenfield-Central’s Coffin, who was second, in the 200 individual medley by approximately eight seconds and won the 100 butterfly in 58.48, which broke a 10-year-old HHC record.
“I think we are in a really good spot with her,” Marauders coach Dixon Tierney said. “Those times were season-bests. We are in a tough training stretch right now. With three weeks until the sectional, I think we have a good shot at getting on the podium at state. We will have to drop a little more time, but her strokes looked a lot better.”
Also for Mt. Vernon, junior Timothy Broaders finished sixth in the 50 freestyle with teammate Bryce Gray, a senior, right behind him for seventh. Broaders eventually took fourth in the 100 freestyle and was on the second-place 200 freestyle relay team with Gray, junior Joshua Blackburn and sophomore Kaylen Morgan.
“We have a good collaborative core in our relays,” Dixon Tierney added. “All four of those boys, in practice, are in separate lanes racing each other.”
New Palestine was led by program veteran Courtnee Coffman, a senior. She finished third in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. She also teamed with Jessica Rogers, Anna Doolin and Maria Virt for a third-place effort in the 200 freestyle relay.
Senior Michael O’Leary was fifth in the 100 butterfly for the boys. On Thursday, freshman Colin Stacey was third overall in diving.
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Team Scores
Girls
Greenfield-Central – 463.5*
Pendleton Heights – 443
Yorktown – 340
New Palestine – 217
Mt. Vernon – 194
Delta – 191
Shelbyville – 138
New Castle – 116.5
*Second consecutive HHC title
Boys
Greenfield-Central – 527*
Delta – 324
Mt. Vernon – 250
Pendleton Heights -236
Yorktown – 227
Shelbyville – 203
New Palestine – 171
New Castle – 106
* Seventh consecutive HHC title
Event Winners
(Girls, Boys)
200 Medley Relay: 1st – Yorktown (Gray, Weiss, Santino, Duncan), 2nd – Greenfield-Central (Zornes, Finney, Coffin, Logan), 3rd – Pendleton Heights (Benbow, Robinson, Mallory, Riffey). 1st – Greenfield-Central (Forbes, Cook, Kile, Joven), 2nd – Pendleton Heights (Wihebrink, Kordes, Fredericks, Hollingsworth).
200 Freestyle: 1st – Madison Brand (PH), 2nd – Carley Logan (GC), 3rd – Morgan Hicks (YT). 1st – Landis Hollingsworth (PH), 2nd – Samuel Jennings (GC), 3rd – Chandler Tucker (DT).
200 IM: 1st – Lydia Tierney (MV), 2nd – Megan Coffin (GC), 3rd – Elle Nowakowski (YT). 1st – Ethan Kile (GC), 2nd – Nathan Hicks (YT), 3rd – Evan Fredericks (PH).
50 Freestyle: 1st – Emily Weiss (YT), 2nd – Jule McKenna (PH), 3rd – Courtnee Coffman (NP). 1st – Andrew Torres (DH), 2nd – Chris Joven (GC), 3rd – Jared Hunt (DT).
Diving: 1st – Shyanne Milne (GC), 2nd – Maddie King (MV), 3rd – Breanna Evans (DH). 1st – Ben Rader (GC), 2nd – Joey Ulrich (YT), 3rd – Colin Stacey (NP).
100 Butterfly: 1st – Lydia Tierney (MV), 2nd – Meri Gray (YT), 3rd – Ashley Finney (GC). 1st – Zach Cook (GC), 2nd – Cameron Cordes (PH), 3rd – Kohler Kerber (GC).
100 Freestyle: 1st – Emily Weiss (YT), 2nd – Jule McKenna (PH), 3rd – Anne Marie DeKeyser (GC). 1st – Andrew Torres (DH), 2nd – Chris Joven (GC), 3rd – Landis Hollingsworth (PH).
500 Freestyle: 1st – Madison Brand (PH), 2nd – Carley Logan (GC), 3rd – Morgan Hicks (YT). 1st – Samuel Jennings (GC), 2nd – Chandler Tucker (DT), 3rd – Luke Wihebrink (PH).
200 Free Relay: 1st – Pendleton Heights (McKenna, Riffey, Brand, Dudley), 2nd – Greenfield-Central (DeKeyser, Laymon, Zornes, Finney), 3rd – New Palestine (Rogers, Coffman, Doolin, Virt). 1st – Delta (Tucker, Hunt, Rawls, Torres), 2nd – Mt. Vernon (Morgan, Broaders, Blackburn, Gray), 3rd – Greenfield-Central (Payne, Prince, DeKeyser, Jennings).
100 Backstroke: 1st – Meri Gray (YT), 2nd – Hannah File (SH), 3rd – Courtnee Coffman (NP). 1st – Zack Cook (GC), 2nd – Allen Forbes (GC), 3rd – Luke Wihebrink (PH).
100 Breaststroke: 1st – Jyeisha Mallory (PH), 2nd – Elle Nowakowski (YT), 3rd – Kortney Hodnett (GC). 1st – Ethan Kile (GC), 2nd – Brayton Helderbrand (NC), 3rd – Nathan Hicks (YT).
400 Free Relay: 1st – Yorktown (Weiss, Gray, Nowakowski, Hicks), 2nd – Pendleton Heights (McKenna, Dudley, Robinson, Brand), 3rd – Greenfield-Central (Coffin, DeKeyser, Finney, Logan). 1st – Greenfield-Central (Cook, Kile, Forbes, Joven), 2nd – Delta (Tucker, Hunt, Rawls, Torres), 3rd – Pendleton Heights (Hollingsworth, Fredericks, Kordes, Wihebrink).
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