Patriots too Giant for Marion

Senior night was mostly a celebration.
The Patriot girls mixed up their lineup, with a different athlete winning each of the nine individual events. The boys team added six winners.
And together, they took the top two spots in five out of six relays.
Jay County High School’s boys and girls swim teams were both dominant Thursday, defeating the visiting Marion Giants by scores of 196-91 and 193-90 respectively.
“It was a good win,” said Patriot boys coach Cori Vormohr. “(The seniors) have been good leaders. … Together they have so much fun and they kind of feed off of each other. … We’ll miss them next year.”
The win finished off the dual-meet season for the girls, who posted an 11-1 record with the lone loss coming to Oak Hill. They will seek to defend their sectional title beginning with swimming preliminaries at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at JCHS.
“We had a lot of really good swims. I was pretty stoked with where we’re sitting going into sectional,” said girls coach Matt Slavik. “(These seniors) are without a doubt some of the best kids that I’ve had the opportunity to coach. ... They’re just good all-around people. … We’re just fortunate to have had them here for four years. Their impact will remain for a long time.”
A trio of seniors led the way for the Jay County boys team, with Connor Daniels, Sok Vormohr and Travis Barton each winning a pair of events.
Daniels led top-three sweeps in each of his races, winning the 100-yard freestyle in 54.12 ahead of teammates Christopher McDowell and Luke Nichols. He posted a time of 1:07.03 in the 100 backstroke, with Garrett Campbell and Tayler Smeltzer following in second and third.
Vormohr set the pace in the other top-three sweep for the Patriot boys, taking the 100 butterfly in 59.68 with Jason Minnich and Campbell behind him. His other win came in 2:02.7 in the 200 freestyle.
Barton, who had a pair of career-best times, stepped away from his usual breaststroke spot to win the 50 freestyle in 24.66 with teammate Ian Reynolds as the runner-up. He also claimed first place in the 500 freestyle in 6:07.24.
“Travis hadn’t seen those time drops all year like a lot of kids, so it was, I think, hard for him … Finally he’s come through that and he’s swimming lifetime bests consistently now,” said Vormohr, who also got a one-two finish from senior Thomas Boozier (1:15.12) and McDowell in the 100 breaststroke. “I know it’ll carry out into sectional when he’ll really drop some time.”
Sophomore Alex Bader led the only top-three sweep for the girls team, posting a time of 1:02.97 in the 100 butterfly with Kaitlyn Dow and Cassie Reno behind her. Reno, a junior, had kicked off the individual events with a victory in the 200 freestyle in 2:30.77.
Sophomore Elizabeth McDowell took the 100 backstroke in 1:11.24, and junior Jamie Valentine claimed the 500 freestyle in 6:43.9.
The rest of the individual swimming victories came from seniors, with Anne Vormohr taking the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.23, Ashley Mark the 100 freestyle in 59.73, Sophie Bader the 50 freestyle in 26.16 and Abby Saxman the 200 individual medley in 2:48.1.
“I think Abby Saxman is just an incredible individual,” said Slavik. “She has developed some swimming talents that I don’t know she knew she was capable of. … Wherever I’ve needed her, she’s stepped up and scored points for us.”
Jason Minnich added a victory in the 200 individual medley for the boys team in 2:23.98. Seniors Heather Stinson (183 points) and Christian Phillips (176.1) took the top spots in diving, in which Marion did not have any competitors.
Anne Vormohr had a hand in all three winning relays for the girls, teaming with McDowell, Dow and Alex Bader in the 200 medley (2:07.6), Madison Brown, Mark and Saxman in the 200 freestyle (1:56.54) and Abby Chapman, Mackenzie Knisely and Mark in the 400 freestyle (4:58.58).
Boys relay wins came from Barton, Campbell, Minnich and Sok Vormohr in the 400 freestyle (3:53.59), Daniels, Vormohr, Minnich and McDowell in the 200 freestyle (1:42.83) and Barton, Daniels, McDowell and Campbell in the 200 medley (1:57.2).