Miller makes state

As Eme Miller made the final turn her mom, Michele, couldn’t hold back her smile.
Timing for the next lane over, she reached out and grabbed Eme’s boyfriend, Cody Bullard, by the shoulder, excitement taking over.
By then, there was no doubt. Eme was going to the state finals.
Miller never gave any of her competitors a chance, dominating the 200-yard freestyle Saturday to win the sectional title and earn her first solo state berth.
“Right now I’m kind of in shock,” said Miller. “I’ve never made it to state, ever. … It’ll hit me when I’m actually there.”
“I’m just super excited. This is my dream that I’ve always wanted. I worked really hard for it, and I’m just happy I finally reached it.”
Miller’s effort led Jay County (321 points) to a runner-up effort behind Muncie Central for the second straight season. The Bearcats took six events including all three relays to win their second consecutive title with 463 points, and Bellmont finished third in the 10-team field with 262.
“What an awesome day,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik, who also got a fourth-place, regional-qualifying finish from diver Sammi Compton. “Our girls were great. ... I know we gave as a team the best  effort we could have gave.”
Freshman Cady Farlow earned a pair of state berths with sectional championships in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke to lead South Adams (201) to a sixth-place team finish. The only other double champion at the meet was Muncie Central’s Emmy Rawson in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.
The winner of each swimming event advances to Friday’s state finals while the top four divers move on to regional action on Tuesday.
“I couldn’t hardly be more pleased with the girls today,” said SAHS coach Janelle Gresla. “They were unbelievably great.”
Miller qualified for the state finals as a member of a relay last season only to be unable to swim because of an illness. She has never competed in the state finals at JCHS or in the county’s summer or winter club programs, but she changed her fortunes Saturday.
After swimming nearly a second faster than her competitors in Thursday’s preliminaries, she took the lead from the start in the first individual event of the day. She was in control after the first 50 and just continued to extend her lead.
The senior improved on her preliminary time by more than two seconds, leaving the field in her wake as she won by five seconds over Muncie Central’s Shelby Haggard in 2 minutes, 7.32 seconds.
She was also the runner-up in the 500 freestyle in 5:30.84.
The sectional championship was a triumphant moment for Miller, whose father, Dave, was killed in a plane crash in March.
“She didn’t give anybody a chance in the race today,” said Slavik. “Eme just, what a fantastic personality she is.“For her senior year, to win an event like that to advance to state after what she’s been through in the last year …
“She’s always smiling, giving hugs and high fives. Just all around, athletic ability plus her personality, she’s a one of a kind kid. I know I’ve learned by having the opportunity to coach her and I know that her teammates look up to her.”
Farlow and the Patriots’ Mary Hudson, a two-time state qualifier in the 100 breaststroke, went head-to-head with the state berth on the line.
Hudson had the lead midway through the race and was still nursing a slight advantage going into the last turn, but Farlow still had something left. She exploded in the final 25 meters to shatter Hudson’s sectional record and win by nearly a second in 1:07.75.
She also knocked off Katy Smeltzer of Jay County in the 100 freestyle by 0.59 seconds in 55.85.
“On the last turn I just saw (Hudson) and I just, I don’t know how to explain it, I just felt like I had to go as fast as I could and swim as hard as I could,” said Farlow. “And I’m just happy it paid off.
“It feels kind of weird. I don’t really believe it right now. It’s kind of like it’s not really happening.
“Coming in, I just wanted to get good times. I just wanted to race. I didn’t expect to go in two events.”
Her time broke the previous sectional and pool record of 1:08.4 set by Hudson last season.
“I knew it was going to take a record-breaking swim to win that today,” said Gresla. “I think it’s her work ethic. Cady has the drive to do it. She had the heart today.”
In addition to her second-place finish to Farlow, Hudson also took the runner-up spot behind Rawson in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.66.
Smeltzer, a freshman, also finished second in two events, trailing Central’s Kaitlin Kerrigan by less than two tenths of a second in the 50 freestyle in 25.67.
Caitlin Mark, Miller, Hudson and Smeltzer teamed for runner-up finishes with times of 1:56.49 in the 200 medley relay and 1:44.08 in the 200 freestyle relay.
South Adams’ Kara DeLong also fell just short of a state berth, finishing just 0.26 seconds behind Norwell’s Kimberlee Bussey in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.47.
Compton had some struggles early in her day of diving and was on the outside looking in heading into the finals. But she came through on her last dive — a reverse dive in the tuck position — to score 267.25 points and finish just ahead of Norwell’s Olivia Shapley (265.65) for fourth place.
“Sammi squeaked by,” said Slavik. “She pulled it together for her last dive to go ahead and move into the fourth spot. … I thought she did a good job. She didn’t hit all her dives, but I think she’ll be able to clean them up and represent well at Hamilton Southeastern. … I know she’s pretty pumped up to get out.”
Laci Hall was seventh in diving for JCHS with 204.75 points. The Patriots also got seventh-place finishes from Laura Bowen  in the 500 freestyle in 6:12.73 and Mark in the 200 individual medley in 2:31.14. Jocelyn Mann was eighth in the 100 butterfly in 1:11.28.
Marissa Murrell, Alyson Lucas, Julie Valentine and Mann were sixth in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:19.15.
Michaela Rupp was seventh for the Starfires in the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.86, and DeLong finished eighth in the 50 freestyle in 27.13. Ellie Kaverman, Farlow, DeLong and Rupp turned in the team’s top relay finish in 2:00.38 in the 200 medley relay.
Scoring in the consolation finals for Jay County were Bowen (ninth – 100 backstroke), Lucas (ninth – 200 freestyle, 10th – 500 freestyle), Mark (10th – 100 breaststroke), Jocelyn Mann (11th – 200 individual medley), Carli Ostrowski (11th – 100 butterfly), Julie Valentine (12th – 100 breaststroke, 16th – 100 freestyle), Murrell (13th – 100 freestyle), Rylee Clemmons (14th – 200 individual medley, 16th – 100 backstroke) and Abigail Johnson (15th – 100 backstroke).
Michaela Rupp (10th – 100 butterfly), Sylvia Marbach (11th – 200 freestyle, 13th – 500 freestyle), Kristal All (13th – 200 individual medley, 14th – 500 freestyle), Brandi Robinson (13th – 200 freestyle), Holly Taylor (14th – 200 freestyle, 16 – 100 butterfly) and Maddie Kloepper (15th – 200 individual medley, 15th – 100 butterfly) placed in consolation events for the Starfires.[[In-content Ad]]