Miller opens year with championship

Sawyer Miller made a habit of winning tournaments as a Starfire.
He started his sophomore collegiate campaign in the same fashion.
Miller, a 2015 South Adams High School graduate, finished first in the 125-pound weight class of the Patriot Open hosted by University of the Cumberlands on Saturday.
A three-time state medalist for SAHS, Miller opened Saturday’s tournament with a tech fall, 18-2, over Reinhardt University’s Johan Olarte. He followed it with decisions against Chad Lampe (5-4) and Devane Dodges (3-2) of Life University.
In the semifinal, Miller (5-0) won in sudden victory over Reinhardt’s John Ragsdale 7-5. In the championship, the former Starfire won 7-3 over Lyon College’s Dustin Miller.

Sophie Bader
Anne Vormohr
Jay County – 2016
Teamed for a pair of relay victories for the Ball State University women’s swim team Saturday in a 200-61 victory over Tiffin University.
The freshmen cousins joined Amanda Kedzierski and Jessica Extine to win the 400-yard medley relay in 3 minutes, 56.81 seconds. Vormohr swam the backstroke leg with a split of 59.41 seconds, and Bader handled the butterfly duties with a time of 58.97 seconds.
The quartet also won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:36.86. Bader (55.42) was the second leg and Vormohr (54.36) was third.
Individually, Vormohr earned victories in the 50 freestyle (24.69) and 100 freestyle (53.92), and Bader placed second in both the 100 breaststroke (1:10.39) and 200 breaststroke (2:34.41).

Eric Hemmelgarn
Jay County – 2014
Had three solo tackles and blocked an extra point for the University of Saint Francis football team in a 35-6 victory Saturday against Davenport (Michigan) in the regular-season finale.
Hemmelgarn started at defensive tackle for the NAIA No. 4 Cougars (9-1, 5-0 Mid-States Football Association-Mideast League). His blocked PAT in the third quarter made it 28-6 USF.
The redshirt sophomore has played in all 10 games, recording 45 total tackles, a team-high 17.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

Kegan Comer
Jay County – 2013
Finished as one of five University of St. Francis men’s basketball players in double figures as the undefeated and top-ranked Cougars clobbered Lourdes 96-66 on Election Day.
Comer hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 11 points as NAIA No. 1 USF improved to 5-0. He also had five rebounds and two assists.

The senior totaled 12 points, five assists and four rebounds Friday in a 75-67 victory over Cumberland, and he had three points, two assists and two rebounds in limited playing time Saturday in a 113-68 blowout of Marygrove.

James Keen
Jay County – 2015
Won one event and was second in another for the Tiffin University men’s swim team Saturday in a 162.5-74.5 loss to Ball State.
Keen had a time of 54.57 seconds to win the 100-yard backstroke, and followed that performance with a runner-up finish in the 200 backstroke (1:57.82). He joined Ygor Zanardo Bortolato, Adam George and Lucas Merigue Bernardo to finish second in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:20.11. He swam the third leg with a split of 51.54 seconds.

Catherine Dunn
Jay County – 2015
Was second in scoring for the Brescia University women’s basketball team Thursday in a 84-77 loss to Goshen College in the Wetzel Auto Red Wolf Classic hosted by IU-East.
She was 4-of-14 from the field, made one of her two 3-pointers and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She also added one five rebounds and three assists.
The sophomore tallied eight points, five rebounds and one assist in an 84-74 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan on Friday.
Tuesday, the former Patriot tallied eight points, two steals an one rebound for the Bearcats (1-4) in a loss to Bethel (Tennessee).

Cady Farlow
South Adams – 2015
Earned a pair of individual third-place finishes for the Purdue University women’s swim team Friday in a pair of wins against Iowa and Missouri State.
The sophomore was third in the 100-yard breaststroke with her time of 1 minute, 3.47 seconds. She then finished the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.63.
Farlow swam the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay team, joining Breanna Robinson, Taite Kitchel and Roxy Griffore to finish third in 1:44.29.
The Boilermakers defeated Iowa 178-122, and knocked off Missouri State 252-48.

Abby Wendel
Jay County – 2016
Scored her first career points for the University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team Friday in a 97-83 loss to Shawnee State.
The freshman came off the bench to score four points, grab one rebound and tally one assist in 20 minutes of action.
She split a pair shots from the field and made both of her free-throw attempts for the Red Storm (1-2).

Julie Valentine
Jay County – 2013
Competed for the Stephens College women’s cross country team at the American Midwest Conference Cross Country Championship in O’Fallon, Illinois.
Valentine was the No. 6 runner for the Stars, who placed ninth out of 11 teams. She finished 61st out of 77 runners with a time of 25 minutes, 43.55 seconds in the 5K race.

Scott Schwieterman
Jay County – 2013
Helped the Indiana Tech men’s basketball team improve to 2-1 with a win Saturday over Holy Cross.
Schwieterman started and scored eight points for the Warriors, whose loss came against Comer’s St. Francis squad.
He also had four rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist.

Elijah Kahlig
Fort Recovery – 2014
Came off the bench for the University of Findlay men’s basketball team in a 76-69 exhibition loss Thursday to the Dayton Flyers.
The junior logged 19 minutes, going 2-for-8 from the field, including 1-of-7 from 3-point  range to finish with five points. He also hauled in two rebounds and a pair of assists for the Oilers.

Derek Wanner
South Adams – 2015
Recorded four tackles for the Taylor University football team Saturday in its 48-45 double-overtime victory against Lindenwood.
The sophomore had one tackle in the third quarter, two in the fourth and one in the first overtime period for the Trojans (4-6).

Abigail Johnson
Jay County – 2014
Ran for the Indiana Wesleyan University women’s cross country team Saturday in the Crossroads League Championships hosted by the Wildcats.
Johnson, a junior, finished the 5K race 72nd overall in 20 minutes, 48.9 seconds, and was 14th on the team. The Wildcats finished second with 68 points, behind Taylor University’s 46.

Aleesha Goodwin
South Adams – 2015
Competed for the Indiana Tech women’s cross country team Saturday in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The sophomore was 47th overall and 10th on the team for the Warriors with her time of 20 minutes, 41.1 seconds. The Warriors totaled 83 points for fourth place.
Aquinas scored 29 for the team championship. Indiana Tech teammate Tiffany Rauch was the individual winner in 18:02.7.

Morgan Lennartz
Fort Recovery – 2016
Came off the bench for the IU-East volleyball team Saturday in a 25-11, 25-13, 25-17 loss to NAIA No. 24 Madonna University.
Lennartz had 11 total attacks and registered one kill, having played all three sets.
The Red Wolves (4-19) open River States Conference play Friday against Asbury University.