Two win titles

Sok Vormohr was the strongest swimmer in the second half of the 100-yard freestyle. Three races later, James Keen’s dominance was evident from the start.
Keen and Vormohr each earned state berths Saturday — the former in record fashion — and Christian Phillips finished as the diving runner-up as they led the host Jay County High School boys swim team to a third-place finish in the sectional meet.
“Relief. Excitement. Joy. Pride,” said Keen. “Practically any happy emotion that you could think of, I was feeling.”
As sectional champions, Keen and Vormohr advance to Friday’s state finals at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. Phillips, thanks to a top-four finish, moves on to Tuesday’s diving regional at Fishers.
Delta won its second sectional title in three years with 447 points, taking the title from defending champion Muncie Central (381.5). Jay County followed with 244 points as it won a tight four-team race for third place.
For the first time this season the Patriots finished ahead of Bluffton (238), a team it had lost to in dual-meet action as well as at the Norwell Invitational and the Allen County Athletic Conference Championships.
“That’s a fantastic way to end the season,” said JCHS coach Barry Weaver, who was honored with the sectional coach of the year award in his 40th and final year at the helm. “All the kids up and down the line really swam their hearts out. We knew it was going to be Delta, and then Central, and then four teams fighting for third through sixth. And they took it to heart and really put everything into that they had, so it was really super to see them be able to come out and get that third place.”
South Adams followed Bluffton in fifth with 220 points, and Norwell was sixth with 214. The Starfires turned in career-best swims in 13 of their 15 races.
“Today was an awesome day,” said SAHS coach Andy Lehman. “We have one of the smallest teams here … and we were in the top half today, which is great. … We’re very pleased with ourselves today.”
With Vormohr having already secured one state berth for the Patriots, it was up to Keen to earn one more chance at a state medal.
The senior had earned the No. 1 seed in the 100 backstroke during Thursday’s preliminaries by just over a half second over Norwell’s Logan Ackley. But Saturday, there was never any doubt as to who was the best swimmer in the race.
Keen, who finished 17th in the state last season, emerged from the water as the leader and no one else was ever close. He had a lead of more than three body lengths as he made the final turn, and finished more than three seconds ahead of Ackley.
His time — 51.9 seconds — surpasses the sectional and pool records of 52.8 seconds by Tim Miller of Muncie Central in 2011 and his own school record of 52.74.
“I don’t know what was driving him today, but I’m sure glad whatever it was pushed his buttons,” said Weaver. “You got a 51 in the backstroke, that’s pretty substantial. And I wouldn’t have guessed it coming in.”
Keen was also the runner-up in the 50 freestyle in 22.06.
Vormohr’s sectional championship came in come-from-behind fashion in a race in which the top five swimmers were separated by less than 1.5 seconds.
The junior was in the pack in the first 25 yards and remained third at the mid-point of the race. But as others faded, he stayed strong.
By the 75-yard mark he had pulled even for second place and he powered his way through the final length of the pool to win in 49.43 ahead of South Adams’ David Steffen by 0.37 seconds.
“We talk a lot about the third quarter of each race,” said Weaver of Vormohr, who was also sixth in the 100 individual medley. “It always seems like most people can get through that first half pretty easy. The third quarter is when it starts to hurt, and you can’t see the end yet. And we put a lot of emphasis on that.”
Phillips was first through five and eight dives, and he surpassed his previous career-best score on his ninth dive. He continued to hold the lead by less than three points with one dive remaining before slipping to second place.
His reverse with a half twist (a 1.8 degree of difficulty) opened the door for Bellmont’s Connor Ross, who was smooth on his forward two somersault pick (a 2.3 DD) to take the title with 384.65 points. Phillips was second with 371.65, which was 66 points more than he has ever scored before.
“He had an awesome day,” said Weaver. “Christian dove consistently all day. With his height on the dives that he does … it’s great to see him be able to stick those in the water and be able to get some good points on them.”
Cody White added fourth- and fifth-place finishes respectively in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Connor Daniels, Keen, Vormohr and White were third in the 400 freestyle relay.
The top efforts for South Adams came from Steffen in the 100 freestyle behind Vormohr and the team of Daniel Burson, Drew LeFever, Jesse Sutton and Steffen as runners-up in the 200 freestyle relay in a school-record time of 1 minute, 33.37 seconds. Steffen was also fifth in the 200 individual medley.
LeFever finished third in the 100 butterfly and Burson was fifth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle. Xavier Rupp placed seventh in diving, and Sutton finished eighth in the 100 backstroke.
In relays, Ian Bentz, Keen, Vormohr and Daniels were fourth for JCHS in the 200 medley, and Travis Barton, White, Daniels and Bentz placed sixth in the 200 freestyle. Others scoring points for the Patriots were Daniels (10th – 50 freestyle), Christopher McDowell (10th – 500 freestyle, 13th – 200 freestyle), Bentz (11th – 100 breaststroke, 16th – 50 freestyle), Ian Reynolds (12th – 100 backstroke), Barton (13th – 200 individual medley, 15th – 100 butterfly), Thomas Boozier (14th – 100 breaststroke) and Luke Nichols (16th – 100 breaststroke).
Adding top-16 finishes for South Adams were Drew LeFever (ninth – 50 freestyle), Jesse Sutton (ninth – 200 freestyle), Zac Teeple (ninth – 200 individual medley, ninth – 100 backstroke), Brayden Collingsworth (13th – 500 freestyle) and Rupp (16th – 100 butterfly). The Starfires were fourth in the 400 freestyle relay and ninth in the 200 medley relay.