Twice as nice

INDIANAPOLIS — Anne Vormohr surged toward the wall, finishing with everything she had left after two long days of swimming.
Then she looked at the scoreboard and saw the result — 55.79, fifth place — and pumped her fist in the air as she made eye contact with her poolside supporters. Looking back at the scoreboard, she leaned her head back against the edge of the pool and closed her eyes, a satisfied smile on her face.
Any lingering disappointment from the previous year had been erased in those 100 yards, the fastest 100 yards of her career.
“That’s more than I could have asked for,” said Vormohr, who had finished 12th last season after earning a state medal with a fifth-place finish as a freshman. “It’s just amazing. I couldn’t be happier.”
Vormohr’s state-medal performance in the 100-yard backstroke highlighted the best day of swimming in the history of Jay County High School as the Patriots finished in the top 16 in six events, scored 47 points and placed 15th overall in the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Championships at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
The effort included a tie for first place — ninth overall — for Katy Smeltzer, Sophie Bader, Alex Bader and Vormohr in the consolation finals of the 200 medley relay. And Alex Bader (100 breaststroke) and Vormohr (50 freestyle) both added 11th-place finishes.
“It was an incredible day,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik, whose team was two points behind North Central (Indianapolis) and two ahead of Northridge in a competition that saw powerhouse Carmel win its 29th straight state title. “I couldn’t have asked for any better.
“I’m just so proud of these girls all the way across the board. It makes my job fun.”
South Adams’ Cady Farlow closed her career with a 10th-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Her seven points in that event tied the Starfires with 32nd out of 41 scoring teams.
Having already secured a state medal thanks to a seventh-place finish in Friday’s preliminaries, Saturday brought new goals for Vormohr. She wanted to climb the ladder and come away with a career-best time that had been eluding her for the last two years of high school swimming.
She was in a tight battle from the start, making the first turn in sixth place before surging ahead of Hamilton Southeastern’s Natalie Mudd and Wawasee’s Breanna Robinson by five hundredths of a second at the 50-yard mark. And she stayed strong in her second 50, falling behind Mudd but fighting off Robinson for fifth place in 55.79.
That time was more than a quarter of a second faster than the school record of 56.12 she had set at the state finals during her freshman season and had been chasing ever since.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for all of my coaches and my teammates,” said Vormohr. “It feels amazing, but honestly, I couldn’t have done it without (them) pushing me.
“I’m so grateful for them.”
The swim to a state medal was part of a day that saw Patriots start in style, swimming in lane five in the opening race with Vormohr giving Jay County the early lead in the consolation heat of the 200 medley relay. Alex Bader slipped to third by just 14 hundredths of a second on the second leg, but her sister Sophie Bader reclaimed the advantage on the third.
Then it was left to senior Katy Smeltzer, who turned in a split of 24.72 and touched the wall at the same moment as Zionsville’s Claire Brewer.
Both teams posted times of 1 minute, 48.17 seconds, which tied them for first in the heat and ninth overall.
(Only seven teams actually swam faster, as Hamilton Southeastern was disqualified in the championship heat.)
“Our first relay, I thought that set a great start to the meet,” said Sophie Bader. “We had made the goal to go out and win the heat. … I think that created a pretty hyped up environment.”
The same group of Patriots went on to finish 15th in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:39.08.
“It was just amazing,” said Smeltzer, a senior. “Our medley relay ended up tying for ninth, which is just phenomenal to even think about that. If you look at the other teams, they have so much talent. To be able to swim … on finals day is just so much fun, it’s so much different. It’s a great way to end my high school career.”
Meanwhile, Alex Bader completed the first year of her high school career with an effort that makes state medals seem likely in her future.
The freshman was fifth midway through the consolation heat of the 100 breaststroke, but turned in a blistering second half of the race. Her split of 34.89 for the second 50 yards pushed her ahead of Carmel’s Mary Woods and North Central’s Hope Christy for third in the heat and 11th overall.
She was the second-fastest freshman in the even with her time of 1:06.07, and five of the swimmers, including Farlow, who finished in front of her were seniors.
“Alex has a tremendous amount of potential,” said Slavik. “She has a lot of skills now and as she gets a little bit more strength and as she gets a little bit more training, I think the sky’s the limit for her as well. I think she has a legitimate shot for a podium spot in the next couple years.”
Farlow, who had finished ninth last season, posted a time of 1:05.42 to finish ahead of Bader and behind Penn’s Kionna Clayton (1:04.61) in the consolation race.
Sophie Bader also competed as an individual on Saturday of the state finals for the first time, placing 16th in the 100 butterfly in 57.43. She posted the third-fastest time of her career after breaking her own school record the night before to earn a place in the top 16.
The Bader sisters had each competed in another individual event Friday, with Sophie taking 17th in the 200 individual medley and Alex finishing 28th in the 200 freestyle.
“Every one of these girls just had great swims last night and today,” said Slavik. “I think I’ve said it a few times. This has been a dream season, a once-in-a-lifetime season, and the way these girls finished out today just put an exclamation point on it for me.”