JCHS girls stay unbeaten

One of the Patriots’ leading swimmers was in Texas, preparing to swim at a national meet. Another was home sick.
It didn’t matter.
Jay County High School’s girls swim team showed off its depth Thursday, stomping the visiting Anderson Indians 206-89 to stay undefeated.
“I was actually a little nervous,” said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, whose team was without Anne Vormohr, who will swim today at the USA Winter Nationals in Austin, Texas, and Katy Smeltzer because of an illness. “Coming out 206-89, that says a lot about our depth. … The girls are doing a great job.”
The Patriot boys stayed close for the second straight meet, but came away with a 165-144 defeat. Still, coach Barry Weaver said he saw good signs and expects his team will start turning those close losses in to wins as the season moves on.
“Up and down the line, I think the kids saw a lot of improvement,” he said. “It was a good meet. …
“Tonight we changed the lineup a little bit to try to get some times and see where we could bolster some things up and try to improve our odds of getting on the better side of the scoreboard. I feel good about what the kids accomplished.”
With Vormohr and Smeltzer missing, freshman Sophie Bader led the Patriot girls to their fifth straight win to open the year.
Bader dominated both of her individual events, winning the 100-yard freestyle by nearly seven seconds in 55.93 and the 100 breaststroke by nine seconds in 1 minute, 12.07 seconds.
Slavik was most excited about her effort in the 200 medley relay, in which she turned in the fastest leg with a time of 26.98 in the butterfly as she joined Ashley Mark, Caitlin Mark and Julie Valentine for a winning time of 2:04.08. She also teamed with Alyson Lucas and the Mark sisters for a winning time of 1:52.62 in the 200 freestyle relay.
Lucas took advantage of her opportunity against the Indians with wins in the 200 freestyle in 2:20.48 and the 500 freestyle in 6:25.11.
Caitlin Mark and Ashley Mark picked up wins in the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley respectively, and Julie Valentine won the 50 freestyle. JCHS was uncontested in diving, with Sammi Compton posting a winning score of 152.55.
Other top-three efforts in swimming events came from Darcy Parker, Carli Ostrowski, Emi Minnich and Berta Paniego.
“Both the Mark girls stepped up and did real well in their events,” Slavik said of the sisters, who also each added runner-up finishes. “Alyson Lucas had a good swim meet tonight. … Julie Valentine had another good meet.
“Rylee Clemmons ( did an outstanding job in all of her events. She went personal bests in all of them tonight.”
James Keen and Josh Lykins again powered the boys team, with Keen taking the 200 freestyle in 1:48.82 and the 100 backstroke in 56.27. He broke the 50-second mark on his leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay with teammates Cody White, Sok Vormohr and Lykins.
“He’s in the 40-second club, which is great for this time of year,” said Weaver of Keen. “He’s so excited about swimming. … He dropped four seconds in that 200 free, which was a great swim for him.”
The two individual wins for Lykins came in the 200 individual medley in 2:13.8 and the 100 butterfly in 58.28.
Willie Skiver, Shelby Wendel, Kaleb Baldwin and Vormohr teamed for a time of 1:57.9 to win the 200 medley relay. Vormohr also had a pair of second-place finishes for Jay County in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Baldwin, Wendel, White and Mitchel Rigby also added top-three finishes.[[In-content Ad]]