Patriots improve against Bulldogs

Personal improvement.
Coming off of their winter break workouts and in the midst of a stretch of three meets in five days, coaches wanted Thursday to be a chance for the Patriot swimmers to see the fruits of their labors.
It was a successful night.
Career- and season-best times were all over the scoreboard as the Jay County High School girls team defeated the visiting Celina Bulldogs 177-123.
“All-in-all I felt tonight told a lot about where our training is … I think we’re swimming tired, we’re swimming sore, but we’re swimming faster than we were last year at this time,” said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, whose team defeated Bellmont on Tuesday and hosts the Jay County Invitational on Saturday. “There were a lot of bright things tonight.”
The same was true for the boys team, although it came up short in a 161-129 defeat. Celina’s Grant Guggenbiller was the lone double winner of the night for either boys team, taking the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year … was to improve on their individual times. That’s been our focus,” said JCHS boys coach Cori Vormohr. “And tonight, every single kid did something well. … In the middle of the season right now, especially right after Christmas training, that’s huge.”
The breaststroke was the strongest event of the evening for the Patriots, as both the boys and girls took three of the top four positions.
Sophie Bader, who won two events along with her sister Alex and cousin Anne Vormohr, led the girls team as she picked up a first-place finish by more than six seconds in 1 minute, 10.92 seconds. Ashley Mark (1:18.18) and Vivienne Kunkler (1:27.11) followed in third and fourth.
Senior Thomas Boozier held off teammate Luke Nichols to win the boys race in 1 minute, 14.63 seconds. Alex LeMaster added a fourth-place finish.
“(Boozier’s) whole swim looked strong,” said Vormohr, noting that his time was similar to what he posted at the sectional last season. “He’s been battling a shoulder injury this year, but still he had a best time. … That’s just awesome.
“His win was great. It was good for his confidence to be back down to where he needs to be.”
The girls team, which improved to 8-1, also claimed three of the top four spots in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley.
Alex Bader led the way in the former, winning in 2:07.08 with teammates Kaitlyn Dow in third, Jamie Valentine fourth and Kunkler sixth.
“Vivienne Kunkler has shown to be a tremendous asset to this team,” said Slavik, noting that the freshman dropped 8 seconds in the event. “She’s coming on strong in her events.”
Vormohr posted a 24-second win in the IM as she turned in a time of 2:16.98 ahead of fellow Patriots Cassie Reno (third), Abby Saxman (fourth) and Shanay Newton (sixth). Her second win came by more than a minute in the 500 freestyle in 5:40.63, and Sophie Bader took the 50 freestyle by more than two seconds in 25.49. Alex Bader and Elizabeth McDowell went one-two in the 100 freestyle, with Bader finishing in 58.11 for the win.
The Patriot girls also swept the relays, with Ashley Mark, McDowell and the Bader sisters taking the 200 freestyle (1:48.67), Sophie Bader, Vormohr, McDowell and Dow the 400 freestyle (4:07.62) and Alex Bader, Vormohr, Mark and Valentine the 200 medley (1:59.07).
The tightest race of the night came in the 100-yard freestyle, as the Patriots’ Sok Vormohr and the Bulldogs’ Mason Baker met in a rematch from the 50 freestyle.
Vormohr finished second to Mason in the shorter event, and fell behind again in the first 50 yards in the 100 freestyle. He was 0.46 seconds back at the midpoint of the race and still trailed as the swimmers made the final turn.
But he surged in that last 25 yards, closing in on Mason stroke by stroke. And at the wall, it was a near dead heat.
Only the scoreboard could tell the story, as Vormohr edged Mason by 0.02 seconds for the win in 51.48 seconds.
The only other victory for the JCHS boys came in the 200 freestyle relay, with Travis Barton, Connor Daniels, Jason Minnich and Vormohr posting a time of 1:37.05.