JC girls edge Bulldogs

How evenly-matched are the Patriots and Bulldogs? Just one hundredth of a second separated them.

Elaine Hemmelgarn's win by that slim margin in the 100-yard breaststroke lifted the Jay County High School girls swim team to a 155.5-154.5 victory over visiting Celina Monday.

"This year we wound up on top by a point," said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, whose team is now 6-4. "We did exactly what I hoped we'd do when I put this lineup together. I figured it was going to be close. I'm thankful and stoked that it came out the way it did."

The JCHS boys dropped a 171-122 decision to the Bulldogs.

"Overall, I thought we had some really good swims," said JCHS coach Barry Weaver, who was missing four swimmers - two because of illnesses and two for disciplinary reasons. "The guys who are working hard and getting things accomplished."

Though young - Monday was just the second meeting between the Patriots and Celina - the girls rivalry has been hotly contested. The Bulldogs won last season's battle 158-156, and the score was tilted slightly in their favor once again with just two events remaining.

But, as has so often been the case over the last two seasons, the breaststroke made all the difference for the Patriots.

Hemmelgarn, a junior, was second for most of the race, including by a hair as she and Celina's Ashley Coon made their final turn.

Neither swimmer gave an inch during the final 25 yards, and Hemmelgarn just out-touched Coons at the wall to win in 1 minute, 15.66 seconds.

Her time was more than 2.5 seconds faster than she swam at last season's sectional meet.

In addition Hemmelgarn's win, Michael Long was third for Jay County with Julie Valentine fourth and Liza Haggenjos fifth.

"That breaststroke was enormous," said Slavik. "We had an unbelievable finish to the meet with our 100 freestylers and our breaststrokers. Holy smokes, Elaine Hemmelgarn coming through to beat Ashley (Coon) in the 100 breaststroke by one hundredth of a second was amazing."

The Patriots had similar success led by a victory from Mary Hudson in the 100 freestyle.

Hudson had a slight lead at the mid-point of the race before pulling away in the final 25 yards to win by more than a second with a time of 58.68 seconds. Jocelyn Mann placed third, and Marissa Murrell finished fourth.

The only other victory for JCHS came in diving as Megan Taylor scored 186.05 points to finish ahead of the Bulldogs' group of four competitors.

"(Megan) struggled a little bit with her first two dives tonight," said Slavik. "But she came through.

"Megan is a phenomenal worker. ... Megan is up in the top two percent of athletes in terms of work ethic."

Neal Fennig picked up two of the three victories for the Jay County boys team, which is now 0-7 on the year. He was even with Cary Miller of the Bulldogs at the turn on the way to a win by a quarter-second in 24.52 seconds.

He was also first in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.06.

Aaron Hudson had two more close races, splitting the pair. He edged Celina freshman Matt Feltz by 16 hundredths of a second in 100 butterfly in 58.62, and finished second by less than a half second against junior Eric Muhlenkamp in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.

"He's just dying to get under the minute in the backstroke," said Patriot boys coach Barry Weaver of Fennig, "and I think he's going to be able to.

"(Fennig, Hudson) and Jared (Valentine) and some of the others are working very hard."

With just three wins, second-, third- and fourth-place finishes were key to the JCHS girls picking up the victory.

In addition to their wins, Hudson was the runner-up in the 100 backstroke, and Hemmelgarn placed fourth in the 200 individual medley. Senior Michelle Landfair was second in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, and her classmate Caitlin Ruchgy was the runner-up in the 100 butterfly and finished third in the 200 freestyle.

Mann was fourth in the 200 freestyle, and Murrell placed fourth in the 50 freestyle.

"Marissa Murrell had a great night tonight," who was also a part of the Patriots' runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle relay. "She's been consistent all year long. Caitlin Ruchgy had a personal best in the 100 butterfly. ...

"Michelle Landfair, every meet Michelle is solid scoring points."

"We had a lot of really good swims. ... I'm super stoked about going into the end of the year. I think as a team, this team continues to surprise itself. ... They've been swimming awesome.

"I can't say enough about these girls."

Jared Valentine earned the only other runner-up finish for the JCHS boys team in the 500 freestyle. He was just over a second behind Celina's Kabe Eichenauer in 5:50.77.

Valentine also placed third in the 100 breaststroke behind Hudson. Caleb Hummel was third in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, and Wiley Young was the runner-up in both the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle.

"It seems like just about everybody that swam had really fine swims," said Weaver. "Andre Duke is dropping time. He and Jake Sutton are just putting everything into it that they've got.

"We can't determine how well we're doing by what everybody else does. You have to look at the times and make sure you're doing what you can do."[[In-content Ad]]