Repeat Champions

It takes a team.
Matt Slavik had emphasized to his Patriots all season that winning a second sectional title would require contributions from everyone on the roster.
And with the championship on the line Saturday, the quartet of swimmers that had combined for eight wins and a list of records was standing on the pool deck cheering on its teammates.
Jamie Valentine, Cassie Reno, Elizabeth McDowell and Kaitlyn Dow finished the job with a fourth-place effort in the 400-yard freestyle relay, enough to preserve a seven-point sectional win for host Jay County High School over runner-up South Adams.
“All the coaches have preached to us that it doesn’t take just the first places. It takes the entire team,” said senior Anne Vormohr, a two-time state medalist. “And I think they finally realized that this last couple of weeks. … And they really stepped up.”
The Patriots scored 362 points with Sophie Bader, Alex Bader and Vormohr each winning two individual events and joining Ashley Mark for a pair of relay victories. The 200-yard freestyle relay set new school, sectional and pool records, and Bader also eclipsed marks in both of her individual triumphs.
They will head to the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals, which begin with preliminaries at 6 p.m. Friday at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
SAHS, which held the lead after four events, got state berths from Ashton Klopp in the 200 freestyle and its 400 freestyle relay team. It broke five school records as it closed the gap significantly after finishing second to the Patriots by 71 points last season.
“I was really pleased with today’s swims,” said South Adams coach Andy Lehman. “I could not have asked for anything better than that. …
“Jay obviously got first last year at sectional and we got second. So you always go after the team that is ahead of you. … Our goal was to get as close as we possibly could and I feel like we succeeded in that today.”
Third place went to Delta (329.5), which took the lead from the Starfires with a strong effort in diving but then relinquished it to Jay County. Muncie Central (308) was fourth in the field of 10 teams.
“I knew coming into this that it would be a three-horse race between Delta, South Adams and us,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “South Adams has improved so much in the last several years. … They’re going to definitely be the team to watch next year.
“It was a great day. We did what we needed to do.”
After trailing early, Jay County took the lead for good when Sophie Bader and Mark teamed up for a one-three finish in the 100 butterfly. Bader broke not only her school record (56.68 seconds) but also the sectional and pool records (56.65) held by Muncie Central’s Emmy Rawson as she finished in 56.48. Ashton Klopp took second as she broke South Adams’ school record in 58.12, and Mark hacked more than two seconds off of her preliminary time for third.
A one-two finish from Alex Bader (1 minute, 6.69 seconds) and Jamie Valentine (1:11.91) in the 100 breaststroke extended the Patriots’ lead to 17 points, and the fourth-place effort in the final relay was enough to secure the title.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking throughout the entire day,” said Sophie Bader. “My stomach was in my throat about 90 percent of the time until the last event.”
Sophie Bader’s other individual record swim came in the 200 individual medley as she broke her own sectional and pool marks in 2:08.62 with Brette Klopp of the Starfires more than eight seconds behind in second place. The IM provided another highlight for Mark, who finished four seconds faster than her preliminary time for fourth place.
Mark, Vormohr and the Bader sisters also broke the school, sectional and meet records set last season as they won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.21 ahead of the school-record South Adams squad of Ashton Klopp, Brette Klopp, Ashley LeFever and Caroline Kloepper (1:41.72). And the same group took first by more than 12 seconds with a time of 1:47.49 in the 200 medley relay.
“I’ve been swimming since I was 6, and I’m not planning on continuing in college. And just knowing this is probably it for me, is really shocking, just because it feels like my childhood is ending,” said Mark. “It’s bittersweet that it’s ending, but I wouldn’t have wanted to end it any other way.”
Vormohr’s wins came in the 50 freestyle in 24.12 and the 100 backstroke in 56.57 as she fought off school-record swims from runners-up LeFever (24.85) and Brette Klopp (1:00.45) respectively. Alex Bader was first in the 100 freestyle in 53.51 with LeFever following in second.
While the final relay locked up the title for Jay County, it also gave the Starfires their second state berth as Olivia Von Gunten, LeFever and the Klopp twins broke their school record while taking first place in 3:43.55. Ashton Klopp picked up the lone individual state berth — the winner of each swimming event earns a trip to Indianapolis — as she posted a time of 1:57.61 to win the 200 freestyle.
Korinna Schindler scored 289.1 points for the Starfires to finish second in diving behind Delta’s Breanna Evans and will compete in Tuesday’s regional at Fishers. Audrey Burson was third in the breaststroke.
McDowell added a pair of top-five finishes for the Patriots, taking fourth in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 500 freestyle. Kloepper was fifth in both the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly for South Adams.
Emi Minnich, a Portland resident who swims for Burris, was sixth in the 50 freestyle and eighth in the 100 freestyle.
Also scoring points for Jay County were Heather Stinson (sixth – diving), Samantha Link (eighth – diving), Dow (10th – 200 freestyle, 10th – 500 freestyle), Reno (11th – 100 freestyle), Abby Saxman (11th – 100 backstroke), Valentine (12th – 200 IM) and Lou Moser (16th – diving).
South Adams also got points from Riley Thompson (sixth – 500 freestyle, ninth – 200 freestyle), Von Gunten (seventh – 500 freestyle), Hadi Hawbaker (ninth – 100 freestyle, 10th – 100 breaststroke), Victoria Richardson (ninth – 100 breaststroke), Burson (10th – 200 IM) and Schindler (12th – 100 backstroke).