Making history

In the history of Jay County swimming only seven girls have competed in the state finals in an individual event.
None of them have advanced through Friday night’s preliminaries, let alone stood on the medal stand.
Anne Vormohr has a chance to change that this weekend.
The Jay County High School freshman is seeded fifth in the 100-yard backstroke for the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals, which will be contested Friday and Saturday at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
“I think realistically she can break that 56 barrier,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik of his goal for Vormohr, who won the sectional title Saturday in 56.59 seconds. “For her to come back (and swim Saturday) she’s got to swim 56 mid or faster.
“I realistically think she can finish top four. I’d like to see her top three.”
The competition begins Friday with preliminaries, from which the top 16 advance to swim in Saturday’s championship and consolation races. The top eight swimmers in each event earn a state berth.
Vormohr’s backstroke is just one of six races Patriot athletes will compete in this weekend as Jay County sends its largest contingent in school history to the state meet.
Sophie Bader will swim in the 200 and 500 freestyle events, and Vormohr will also compete in the 100 freestyle. Vormohr, Bader and Katy Smeltzer will team with Ashley Mark and Caitlin Mark in the 400 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay respectively.
After Vormohr’s backstroke, the Patriots’ next-highest seed is in the medley relay where they are at No. 21 with their sectional winning time of 1:51.9.
They would need to cut a big chunk of time in order to have a chance to swim Saturday, as Yorktown sits at the No. 16 seed at 1:50.09.
“Hopefully we haven’t maxed out on how fast we can go,” said Smeltzer. “I’ve done a 25.01 and my goal this year was to swim a 24, so if I can do that it will help us get faster and hopefully into that top 16 spot.”
Vormohr, Smeltzer, Bader and Ashley Mark are the No. 23 seed for the 400 freestyle relay at 3:41.96, five seconds off the No. 16 seed pace of Westfield.
Regardless of where they finish in the relays Friday, the group of five has already written themselves into JCHS history. The school has never sent two relays to the state finals in the same season.
There is also a distinct family flavor, with a set of sisters and a set of cousins headed to Indianapolis.
“We’ve been swimming together our whole life, and I love swimming with her,” said Ashley Mark, a freshman, of getting to go to the state finals with her sister Caitlin, a junior. “It’s a fun experience. It’s just really cool to swim with my sister.”
Caitlin Mark is the only athlete in the group who has been to the state meet before, having competed at the state finals in the 200 freestyle relay in 2011 with 2012 graduates Mary Hudson and Eme Miller and French foreign exchange student Charlotte Becot.
“It’s so exciting,” said Caitlin Mark. “There are so many fast swimmers. It’s so much different than sectional. … We’re just going to go and have fun.”
While this was the first chance for the freshmen to advance to the IHSAA state championship meet, swimming at the natatorium is nothing new for Vormohr and Bader.
The cousins have been regulars at the Indiana swimming age group state meet held in the spring. Vormohr won age group state titles in the 50 backstroke in 2008 and 2010, and had the best swim of her life last year when she finished third in the 100 backstroke in 56.49 to earn her berth in the USA Swimming Winter National Championships.
“We know the atmosphere,” said Bader of being familiar with the pool, which has been a past host of the U.S. Olympic Trials. “We know our way around. It won’t be so nerve-wracking when we go in there.
“I don’t think I’ve swam at state without Anne. Without her being right beside me, right with me would be extremely odd. I’m happy and excited to once again have her with me.”
Bader is seeded in the 20s in both of her events after dominating the races at the Jay County sectional.
She holds the No. 27 seed in the 200 freestyle at 1:58.47 and the No. 28 seed in the 500 freestyle at 5:21. The No. 16 seeds are Carroll’s Zoe Toscos (1:53.77) and Mary Thielking (16th – 5:06.52) respectively.
“She can go faster than what she went at sectional,” said Slavik. “I think she’ll drop some time. I think just simply racing with some people who are her speed … She won both of her races at sectional by more than a length of the pool. It’s hard to keep pushing when you don’t have anybody to push against. … When the adrenaline kicks in, it’s amazing what you can do.”
Vormohr, who is also seeded 23rd for the 100 freestyle, is hoping for big things in the backstroke as she trails No. 4 seed Alex Cleveland of Zionsville by just 0.25 seconds. The top three seeds in the race all belong to No. 1 Carmel, with freshman Claire Adams as the runaway favorite at 54.95.
A positive attitude is key for Vormohr, so she’s set a goal of winning the race.
 “I always do,” said Vormohr of going after the victory. “Even though I’m going against the girl that was seeded No. 1 in the nation, anything can happen. I always try to put it out there and reach for it.”[[In-content Ad]]