Mt. Vernon’s Annelise Hiner takes off in the 100-yard freestyle event at the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet last season.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Brad Grieshop has a young team and that’s quite alright with him.
The Mt. Vernon girls swimming coach, along with youth, has a larger group to choose from when he’s picking out a lineup for the 2022-23 season.
“We’re growing in numbers right now and that’s been awesome and there’s some depth in those numbers. It’s been good for us,” Grieshop said. “The girls team is so young this year, which is good. We’re not just looking forward to this year, but the next couple of years.”
Mt. Vernon is coming off a season where it placed fifth in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and fourth in the New Palestine Sectional. The coach said goals are to better those numbers and get back to finishing in the upper tier in the two biggest meets of the season.
The team would also like to set some records. Though young, they have the entire 400-yard relay team back — and still no seniors — from a group that finished just two seconds off the school mark last year.
The quartet of juniors Annelise Hiner, Emme Grubbs, Madelyn Meyer and sophomore Calista Smith placed third in last season’s sectional 200 and 400 freestyle relay races. They are also expected to be the Marauders top scorers and among those seeking the Marauder record book.
Hiner had a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints at last year’s sectional meet. Grubbs won the B final in the 200 IM and was fifth in the main 100 butterfly.
The Marauders have four seniors among the 21 team members. All are expected to be big parts of the team’s point production.
In the pool, Ava Crouch and Leah Foland return with ample experience.
The Marauders also welcome back senior diver Riley Nielsen, who placed third in last year’s conference meet. She suffered an injury just before the sectional and was unable to compete the remainder of the season.
An all-around athlete, Nielsen recently signed a Division I track and field scholarship as a pole vaulter for Central Michgan University.
“We’re really looking forward to having her back. She suffered an unfortunate injury two weeks prior to sectional. She has come back absolutely on fire and ready to attack the season,” Grieshop said.
Alayna Walker is another senior diver that has scored in some of the bigger meets.
Sophomore Alex Biggs and Macie Murphy and freshman Catherine Hiner are other top swimmers.
“For the first time in a couple years, we’re going to be able to fill a whole lineup,” Grieshop said. “Our new swimmers and our freshmen are going to be filling in spots that we haven’t had in a few years. It’s going to be interesting to see where all of our pieces fall together knowing what Ava and Leah have contributed over four year and Anna, Emme, Maddy and Calista can all do. We just have a really good core right now that we’re continuing to build upon.”
The Marauders begin their season at home Nov. 22 with a meet against Richmond.
