December 2, 2015 at 6:34 p.m.
Patriot depth beats Tigers
JCHS swimming
The Patriots’ No. 1 swimmers did their jobs, winning each event. And their No. 2s, 3s and 4s pulled in plenty of points behind them.
Jay County High School girls swim team took the top two spots four times Tuesday and three of the top four twice as it rolled to a 188.5-120.5 victory over the Bluffton Tigers in its home opener.
“It was a good meet tonight. We’re swimming tired and sore,” said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, noting the team’s tough workouts thus far this year. “I saw a lot of good stuff from the girls, finishing out races. We’re swimming decent for this time of year and we’re where we want to be. … I think we’re looking good.”
The Patriot boys were on the opposite side of the spectrum as they gave up the top two spots in four events, including first, second and third in the 100-yard breaststroke. It added up to a 185-129 loss to the defending Allen County Athletic Conference champions, but first-year coach Cori Vormohr saw some positive individual efforts.
“I think the boys did well tonight for our first meet. Compared to last year, a lot of them are swimming much faster,” she said. “We even had some lifetime best times. … The boys are seeing times they haven’t seen this early in the season … It’s a good start.”
Jay County’s returning state swimmers led the sweep, as Alex Bader (200 individual medley, 100 freestyle), Sophie Bader (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) and Anne Vormohr (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke) each won two individual events and contributed to a pair of winning relays. Senior Ashley Mark (100 butterfly) and junior Jamie Valentine (100 breaststroke) also earned victories for the Patriots.
The Patriots were most dominant in the 200 individual medley, with Elizabeth McDowell following Alex Bader (2 minutes, 20.77 seconds) in second, Valentine taking fourth and Madison Brown finishing sixth. They also took three of the top four spots in the 100 breaststroke as Valentine won in 1:15.82 ahead of Ashley Mark in second and Abby Saxman in fourth.
“Abby Saxman had a tremendous night tonight,” said Slavik of the senior, who was also fourth in the 50 freestyle. “She’s already gone personal-best times. She’s not only a leader, she’s showing it in the pool.”
Alex Bader and McDowell also teamed up for a one-two finish in the 100 freestyle, and Mark and Kaitlyn Dow accomplished the same feat in the 100 butterfly. Joining Vormohr for a strong effort in the 100 backstroke were Cassie Reno (third), Brown (fifth) and Allisyn Smith (sixth).
Other swims that gave the Patriots a depth advantage came from Dow (third – 500 freestyle) and Vivienne Kunkler (fifth – 50 freestyle).
“As much as swimming is an individual sport, high school swimming is still a team sport. We’re still team focused,” said Slavik, who also got a runner-up finish from Heather Stinson (161 points) in diving with Samantha Link and Lou Moser tied for third. “In dual meets … we’ve got to have fourth, fifth, sixth places. We can’t give those points up. … That’s extremely important.
“For us as a team, I need those girls who aren’t typically in the top five to finish in the top five at dual meets, and they did that tonight. They were fighting hard, they were swimming strong, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement.”
Vormohr and the Bader sisters joined Dow in winning the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.83 and teamed with Mark to take the 400 freestyle relay in 4:04.78. McDowell, Valentine, Mark and Reno were first with a time of 2:05.38 in the 200 medley relay.
Bluffton’s lone win came in diving, where BreAnna Kizer scored 173.75 points.
Sophomore Christopher McDowell led the only one-two finish for the Patriot boys, claiming first place in the 500 freestyle in 5:42.81 with classmate Jason Minnich in second. McDowell was also the runner-up in the 200 freestyle with teammate Garrett Campbell third.
“Chris will be very important in the distance events,” said Cori Vormohr, noting that McDowell is swimming times comparable to what he posted at sectional time last year. “There’s some little things we have to work on with his strokes, and as long as he fixes those things I think we’ll see large improvements in his times.”
Sok Vormohr fought off Bluffton’s Walker Leas by less than a second to take the 100 freestyle in 51.96 and also teamed with Connor Daniels, Travis Barton and Minnich to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:06.04. He turned in a career-best time to finish second in the 50 freestyle by just 0.17 seconds to Bluffton’s Jacob Ehle with Daniels third and Minnich fourth. And despite diving in about half a length of the pool behind, he nearly rallied the Patriots to victory in the 400 freestyle relay.
Diver Christian Phillips earned the other JCHS victory, posting 165.45 points to knock off Evan Kitt (154.85) of the Tigers.
“Christian did really well tonight,” said Vormohr. “He threw some dives that he hasn’t been practicing that much. His double pike was great.
“The beginning of the year is a good time to test things out, build his confidence in those new dives and raise that degree of difficulty …”
Logan Baumgardner (100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle) and Ehle (100 butterfly, 50 freestyle) earned two individual victories apiece and were part of Bluffton’s winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Jay County High School girls swim team took the top two spots four times Tuesday and three of the top four twice as it rolled to a 188.5-120.5 victory over the Bluffton Tigers in its home opener.
“It was a good meet tonight. We’re swimming tired and sore,” said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, noting the team’s tough workouts thus far this year. “I saw a lot of good stuff from the girls, finishing out races. We’re swimming decent for this time of year and we’re where we want to be. … I think we’re looking good.”
The Patriot boys were on the opposite side of the spectrum as they gave up the top two spots in four events, including first, second and third in the 100-yard breaststroke. It added up to a 185-129 loss to the defending Allen County Athletic Conference champions, but first-year coach Cori Vormohr saw some positive individual efforts.
“I think the boys did well tonight for our first meet. Compared to last year, a lot of them are swimming much faster,” she said. “We even had some lifetime best times. … The boys are seeing times they haven’t seen this early in the season … It’s a good start.”
Jay County’s returning state swimmers led the sweep, as Alex Bader (200 individual medley, 100 freestyle), Sophie Bader (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) and Anne Vormohr (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke) each won two individual events and contributed to a pair of winning relays. Senior Ashley Mark (100 butterfly) and junior Jamie Valentine (100 breaststroke) also earned victories for the Patriots.
The Patriots were most dominant in the 200 individual medley, with Elizabeth McDowell following Alex Bader (2 minutes, 20.77 seconds) in second, Valentine taking fourth and Madison Brown finishing sixth. They also took three of the top four spots in the 100 breaststroke as Valentine won in 1:15.82 ahead of Ashley Mark in second and Abby Saxman in fourth.
“Abby Saxman had a tremendous night tonight,” said Slavik of the senior, who was also fourth in the 50 freestyle. “She’s already gone personal-best times. She’s not only a leader, she’s showing it in the pool.”
Alex Bader and McDowell also teamed up for a one-two finish in the 100 freestyle, and Mark and Kaitlyn Dow accomplished the same feat in the 100 butterfly. Joining Vormohr for a strong effort in the 100 backstroke were Cassie Reno (third), Brown (fifth) and Allisyn Smith (sixth).
Other swims that gave the Patriots a depth advantage came from Dow (third – 500 freestyle) and Vivienne Kunkler (fifth – 50 freestyle).
“As much as swimming is an individual sport, high school swimming is still a team sport. We’re still team focused,” said Slavik, who also got a runner-up finish from Heather Stinson (161 points) in diving with Samantha Link and Lou Moser tied for third. “In dual meets … we’ve got to have fourth, fifth, sixth places. We can’t give those points up. … That’s extremely important.
“For us as a team, I need those girls who aren’t typically in the top five to finish in the top five at dual meets, and they did that tonight. They were fighting hard, they were swimming strong, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement.”
Vormohr and the Bader sisters joined Dow in winning the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.83 and teamed with Mark to take the 400 freestyle relay in 4:04.78. McDowell, Valentine, Mark and Reno were first with a time of 2:05.38 in the 200 medley relay.
Bluffton’s lone win came in diving, where BreAnna Kizer scored 173.75 points.
Sophomore Christopher McDowell led the only one-two finish for the Patriot boys, claiming first place in the 500 freestyle in 5:42.81 with classmate Jason Minnich in second. McDowell was also the runner-up in the 200 freestyle with teammate Garrett Campbell third.
“Chris will be very important in the distance events,” said Cori Vormohr, noting that McDowell is swimming times comparable to what he posted at sectional time last year. “There’s some little things we have to work on with his strokes, and as long as he fixes those things I think we’ll see large improvements in his times.”
Sok Vormohr fought off Bluffton’s Walker Leas by less than a second to take the 100 freestyle in 51.96 and also teamed with Connor Daniels, Travis Barton and Minnich to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:06.04. He turned in a career-best time to finish second in the 50 freestyle by just 0.17 seconds to Bluffton’s Jacob Ehle with Daniels third and Minnich fourth. And despite diving in about half a length of the pool behind, he nearly rallied the Patriots to victory in the 400 freestyle relay.
Diver Christian Phillips earned the other JCHS victory, posting 165.45 points to knock off Evan Kitt (154.85) of the Tigers.
“Christian did really well tonight,” said Vormohr. “He threw some dives that he hasn’t been practicing that much. His double pike was great.
“The beginning of the year is a good time to test things out, build his confidence in those new dives and raise that degree of difficulty …”
Logan Baumgardner (100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle) and Ehle (100 butterfly, 50 freestyle) earned two individual victories apiece and were part of Bluffton’s winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
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