NEW PALESTINE — Following Friday’s result, the last eight Hoosier Heritage Conference Girls Swimming and Diving Championships have been divided evenly between Greenfield-Central and Pendleton Heights.
It was the Arabians turn in a close contest at the New Palestine Natatorium Friday, edging the Cougars by a mere 16 points, 393-377.
The teams were deadlocked, 251-251, after eight events, but the Arabians’ depth proved to be the difference in halting the Cougars from winning their third straight crown.
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Greenfield-Central came in winning four of the last five, taking titles in the 2019-20 season along with 2018-19, 2016-17 and 2015-16. Pendleton Heights won for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign. It also won in 2014-15 and 2013-14.
Yorktown wasn’t too far behind with 321 points. New Palestine placed fourth with 241. Mt. Vernon was seventh with 199.
Though the Cougars were unable to add to their recent dominance, head coach Emily Logan could not have been happier with how her team performed.
By seeding times, Pendleton Heights was expected to win this a little easier than they did. Plus, Greenfield-Central swam without Ariel Niemeier, who won the individual title in the 200-yard freestyle last year and was one of the legs on the team’s victorious 200 medley relay, along with a couple of other key swimmers.
“It was much tighter than I actually thought it would be being down who we were down,” Logan said. “Honestly, I think if we would have had them, it might have been a different outcome.
“They swam out of their minds today. The biggest thing was they came out to swim and have fun. When you’re having fun you go fast. The kids gave everything they could today and then some.”
Of 12 events, Greenfield-Central had six champions. Yorktown had four. Pendleton Heights had just one, along with New Castle.
Sophomore Mary Ellen Stratman won the 100 butterfly (1:00.47) and 100 backstroke (1:01.37) and was the leadoff swimmer in the team’s 200 medley relay (1:53.74) victory followed by sophomore Norah Johnson, junior Ellei Coleman and sophomore Reagan Crouch, who won Thursday’s diving competition.
Coleman picked up a win in the 200 IM (2:20.11) and Johnson was dominant in winning the 100 breaststroke (1:05.66) finishing seven seconds ahead of her closest competitor, Neely Agnew of Yorktown (1:12.74). It was the largest margin of victory of all the events.
Pendleton Heights’ lone win came from junior Grace McKinney, who won the 200 freestyle in 2:01.62, but the Arabians gathered points through their depth, as points were given to the top 16 in all individual races.
“Their depth was the difference for them today and usually that’s the key for us,” Logan said. “They are very strong, all three swimmers, all the way through and in all the events.”
“We’ve been working hard to make this happen,” Pendleton Heights coach Mindy Hertzler said. “Greenfield-Central has wonderful coaches and they do an amazing job.
“It was extremely helpful for us to have depth. We have some strong kids coming up so I think we’ll be able to keep going on that in the future. It definitely helped us.”
The host Dragons had a strong performance, too. They were only four points out of third after eight events.
“They swam lights out,” coach Jason Tillage said. “They’ve progressed a lot. We were seventh in this event last year and fourth tonight. That’s a bonus to me and it was a good solid fourth. I feel like if some things switched another way third wouldn’t have been out of the question.”
Freshman Adrianna Huston had the top finish for the Dragons, placing third in the 200 freestyle (2:04.20).
Mt. Vernon’s top finish was a fourth place from its veteran 200 medley relay (2:05.77) team of senior Maddie Moore, junior Ila Boston, senior Gail Crouch and senior Fiona Wray.
