On to the finals

INDIANAPOLIS — To swim on Saturday at the state finals.
That’s the dream for every swimmer at the start of every season.
Four Patriots will get to live it today.
Anne Vormohr guaranteed herself a second state medal and Jay County High School advanced in six of its eight events Friday at the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals at Indiana University natatorium in Indianapolis.
“We performed as good as what I could hope for,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “It’s far and away the best we’ve ever done at this meet. … It was just a great night of swimming. … We’re just looking forward to coming back tomorrow.”
Vormohr qualified for the finals in the 100-yard backstroke, the event she medaled in two years ago, and the consolation finals in the 50 freestyle. Sisters Sophie and Alex Bader added consolation berths in one event apiece and joined senior Katy Smeltzer and Vormohr to qualify for the consolation finals in a pair of relays.
The top 16 competitors in each event advance, with the top eight guaranteeing themselves a spot on the podium. The state meet continues today with diving preliminaries at 9 a.m. followed by the swimming and diving consolation finals at 1 p.m.
Vormohr has been focused all season on reclaiming a place on the medal stand after falling short last year, but she had little time to think about it on Friday.
With just a few minutes to rest between the Patriots’ heat of the 200-yard freestyle relay and her race in the 100 backstroke, she did a quick cool down, sat for a moment and then was back on the blocks. But it didn’t phase her.
The JCHS junior surged through the water, and unlike last season, she had enough left in the final 25 yards for a strong finish.

She was third in her heat behind No. 2 seed Sammie Burchill of Carmel and No. 3 seed Grace Haskett of Columbus North, and finished seventh overall in 56.39 to lock up her medal.
“It felt really good,” said Vormohr. “I feel like I can go faster to morrow. I just have this gut feeling I can go faster.”
The junior also recorded the second-fastest time of her career to take 11th in the 50 freestyle in 24.19.
Sophie Bader posted school-record times in both of her events, first finishing 17th and one spot short of the consolation finals with a time of 2 minutes, 7.61 seconds, in the 200 individual medley. She broke her previous record of 2:08.62 by more than a second and climbed six spots from her No. 23 seed.
“I wasn’t really expecting to move up that many places in my IM, so I was focused on my butterfly,” the junior said. “I knew my 100 butterfly was all or nothing. I gave it my all and put my heart into it.”
That effort resulted in a time of 56.68 — two tenths of a second faster than the record she set last weekend. For a moment she thought she was 17th again, but then heard her mom and aunt screaming from the stands.
She was 16th.
After getting a taste of the state atmosphere in the 200 freestyle — she finished 28th in a career-best 1:59.73 — and the relays, Alex Bader made the most of her final race of the evening. She finished the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.35 for 13th place.
“It’s just crazy and unebleivable,” said Alex Bader. “I never thought it would happen … I never thought I’d be able to come back as a freshman.”
Smeltzer, Vormohr and the Baders climbed two places from the No. 12 seed to 10th place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.51, just five hundredths of a second out of ninth. They held strong in a tightly-bunched field in the 200 freestyle relay for a time of 1:38.77 and a 14th-place finish.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Smeltzer. “I’m really excited for tomorrow. It’s just going to be a whole diff atmosphere.”
It was a heart-breaking night for South Adams’ Cady Farlow, who had hoped to finish her career with a state medal after finishing ninth last season.
She suffered the same fate Friday, missing the finals in the 100 breaststroke by just three hundredths of a second. Farlow, who will compete in today’s consolation finals, posted a time of 1:04.97 while South Bend Riley’s Madison Blakesley claimed the final place in the championship heat in 1:04.94.
The senior was also 27th in the 100 freestyle in 54.21.
Brette Klopp, Caroline Kloepper, Ashton Klopp and Farlow finished 22nd in the 200 medley relay in 1:51.15. Olivia Von Gunten, the Klopp twins and Farlow posted a time of 3:49.9 for 29th in the 400 freestyle relay.
Sydney Mathias, who competed for Jay County High School until December, was part of the Vincennes Lincoln 200 freestyle relay team that finished 27th. She teamed with senior Alli Donovan and fellow sophomores Susan Skinner and Jessi Donovan for a time of 1 minute, 43.24 seconds.