Jay wins six events, finishes 2nd

From the moment Anne Vormohr pushed off the wall to start the medley relay to the second she touched it to end the final race, the Patriots zipped through the water at a blistering pace.
They put together the best sectional effort in Jay County history, sending five swimmers to the state finals with wins in six events while breaking five sectional, five school and three pool records in the process. Cousins Sophie Bader and Vormohr won two individual events apiece, and also joined Katy Smeltzer, Caitlin Mark and Ashley Mark to take first place in a couple of relays.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” said Vormohr of her four-win day and six JCHS wins overall. “It feels really good. … It’s really sad to see all the seniors go, but they really worked us. All these girls pushed us so hard this whole season. … It was just awesome. It’s been a great day.”
“I’m excited to be going with my sister,” added Caitlin Mark. “We’ve all been swimming together forever, and it makes it so much better. We just spend so much time together. It’s awesome.”
Jay County fell short of its first sectional title as Muncie Central, which got two wins from junior Emmy Rawson, one from senior Kaitlin Kerrigan and took the top spot in the 200 freestyle relay, won its third straight with 386 points. The Patriots were the runners-up in the 10-team field with 375.
JCHS trailed by 51 points heading into the final relay, closing the gap as they won the 400-yard freestyle event in record time while Bearcats were disqualified.
“Muncie Central had some outstanding swims,” said Jay County coach Matt Slavik, who was voted sectional coach of the year. “Their depth got us in the long run. …
“It makes it a lot easier to take overall getting beat when you broke two relay sectional records … and not just breaking them, but killing them. That’s pretty phenomenal.”
Cady Farlow earned a regional berth for the second straight season, breaking a pair of records for South Adams. The Starfires finished fifth with 224 points.
“We started out the day with that great medley relay that took down a (school) record that’s been up since 1995,” said SAHS coach Janelle Gresla. “And they took it down by almost a whole second.
“I was thrilled. I think they swam well.”
The record relay swims served as bookends on the big day for Jay County, with Vormohr taking the lead role in the first race and swimming the anchor leg in the last.
The freshman turned in her fastest career split on the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay, and Bader, Caitlin Mark and Smeltzer continued to tear through the water as they surpassed the previous school record by more than two seconds.
They won in 1 minute, 51.9 seconds, also surpassing the sectional and pool record of 1:52.7 set by Norwell in 2010.
“Everybody was fired up, from Anne Vormohr's split in the 50 backstroke. Immediately that lit the fuse right there. She came in at a 26.59. She hadn’t been faster than 27 and she went 26 Thursday and went faster today. And it just compounded from there.”
It was Smeltzer who started the Patriots off on their record 400 freestyle relay, swimming the fastest split of her career at 55.62 seconds. Ashley Mark added a 58.54 and Bader and Vormohr pulled away in the final two legs as JCHS obliterated another set of records.
The Patriots finished in 3:41.96, beating the previous sectional record by five seconds and also crushed the pool record of 3:45.39 held by perennial state champion Carmel.
“We came in and we wanted to take Carmel off the board,” said Bader. “That’s what our main goal was. … We just really wanted to get the pool record and get Carmel off of there. We did it, and I’m super proud of that.”
“All four of us were under a minute by a lot,” added Smeltzer. “It’s just so exciting that we could go that fast. I think it’s all the excitement, and of course the crowd gets us pumped. It’s just so much fun to come in and know that we can do it, and then do it.”
Vormohr and Bader also dominated their individual events.
Bader handled the long-distance races, taking the 200 freestyle by nearly 10 seconds in a sectional record time of 1:58.47. She was nearly a full length of the pool ahead of the field in the 500 freestyle as she won in 5:21, breaking her own sectional and school records.
Vormohr put up the second-fastest time of her life in the 100 backstroke, winning in a sectional, school and pool record time of 56.59. She also took the top spot in the 100 freestyle, breaking her own school record in 53.47.
Smeltzer was also third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle, and Ashley Mark took third in the 200 individual medley and sixth in the 100 freestyle. Caitlin Mark was fifth in the 200 individual medley.
Alyson Lucas placed fourth in the 500 freestyle. Other top-eight efforts came from Sammi Compton (fifth – diving), Taylor Campbell (fifth – 100 breaststroke), Laci Hall (sixth – diving), Carli Ostrowski (seventh – butterfly) and Julie Valentine (seventh – 100 breaststroke).
“The girls swam their hearts out today,” said Slavik. “They did an outstanding job. …
“I haven’t been associated with a team like this. I’ve coached a lot of good swimmers in the past, but this team is really special.”
Farlow, a state qualifier in two events last season, earned her trip to the state finals in the 100 breaststroke. She broke her own sectional, school and pool records with a time of 1:07.07 as she won by more than three seconds.
She was also the runner-up to Vormohr in the 100 freestyle.
“It’s exciting,” said Gresla. “We knew she had a chance. … I’m hoping she can come down to a low 106 for state.
“She’s worked hard this season and I give her all the credit.”
Kara DeLong was second in both the butterfly and backstroke for South Adams. Sidney Sprunger finished fifth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 individual medley.
Competing in consolation races for the Patriots were Lucas (ninth – 200 freestyle), Caitlin Mark (10th – 100 butterfly), Campbell (11th – 200 individual medley), Ostrowski (12th – 100 breaststroke), Darcy Parker (13th – 100 butterfly) and Laurann Schoenlein (15th – 50 freestyle).
Michaela Rupp (ninth – 200 individual medley), Victoria Richardson (10th – 100 breaststroke, 12th – 200 individual medley), Sylvia Marbach (12th – 500 freestyle, 16th – 200 freestyle), Ellie Kaverman (13th – 50 freestyle), Korinna Schindler (15th – 200 freestyle) and Maddie Kloepper (15th – 100 butterfly) swam in consolation races for South Adams.


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