February 12, 2017 at 3:33 a.m.
Bader 7th at state
Junior climbs another spot with surge in finals
Bader 7th at state
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
INDIANAPOLIS — In the days leading up to the state finals, Matt Slavik had talked about the finish.
He had all the confidence in the world that Alex Bader could hang with the best in the state for the first 90 yards. It was those last 10 that would make the difference.
After earning her wayon to the state podium Friday night, the Jay County High School junior proved she had plenty left in the tank.
Bader rallied from eighth place at the midpoint of the race to climb one more spot, earning the seventh-place state medal in the 100-yard breaststroke at Saturday’s IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
"It was incredible,” said Bader, just the third female swimmer in school history to stand on the state podium. “I'm still kind of in shock that I even made the top eight last night. Just being up there with all those other girls who are such great girls and great swimmers, it's just incredible …”
Bader had already shocked herself Friday night when she sliced 1.26 seconds off of her career-best time to vault all the way from the No. 13 seed into the top eight. But she wasn’t done climbing the list of the best breaststrokers in Indiana.
She got off to a strong start, but slower than she had just 20 hours earlier in the preliminaries. Through the first 50 yards, she was eighth, trailing North Central’s Hope Christy by 0.12 seconds.
Then she came storming back.
With Christy on the far side of the pool, Bader focused her attention on her nearest competitor — MadisonBlakesly right next door in lane seven. Giving chase to the Riley junior proved the perfect motivation.
Bader was nearly 0.6 seconds faster than Christy in the second half of the race as she finished in 1 minute, 4.19 seconds, and nearly caughtBlakesly as well, finishing just 0.12 seconds out of sixth place.
"I saw the girl right inside of me in lane seven, and I knew I was neck and neck with her,” said Bader. “I saw her on my third turn. My legs felt good, which is different from normal. Normally when I get to my third turn, my legs start to give out. But I felt pretty good throughout the whole race."
The time was the second-fastest of her career, trailing only the 1:03.94 she had posted 20 hours earlier to secure her state medal. Her previous school record came at the Feb. 4 sectional meet at 1:05.2.
Her climb up the rankings came in perhaps the fastest event at the Indiana state meet, which included Yorktown sophomore Emily Weiss breaking the state record in 59.37 seconds. The previous mark was set just two years ago by Evansville Reitz’s Lilly King, who went on to win Olympic gold in the event this summer in Brazil.
Her effort earned 12 points, putting JCHS in a tie with Columbus North and International in the team standings.
"It's been a remarkable weekend, the pinnacle of which was Alex swimming this 100 breaststroke, the second-best swim of her career,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “Considering she dropped 1.3 seconds to get into the top heat, she had a great swim today.
"Seventh in the state in the 100 breaststroke ... (and) the girl that won is probably the fastest girl in the country right now. Not too shabby."
The seventh-place medal is the second highest ever attained by a Patriot female swimmer.
Bader, who was 11th in the event as a freshman and 21st last season, surpassed her sister, Sophie, who was eighthat the state finals in the 100 butterfly last season. Her cousin, Anne Vormohr, tops the list after earning fifth-place medals in the 100 backstroke in both 2013 and ’15.
In Friday’s preliminaries, Bader fell three slots short of advancing as she placed 19th in the 50 freestyle in 24.07. She was also a member of the Patriot relay team that competed in the 200 freestyle relay.
"It is a tremendous thing,” said Slavik, who saw one of his athletes on the state podium for the third year in a row. “The hard work that everybody puts in, from the club teams to the summer team to all the coaches, all the athletes involved. And to come here in the pinnacle of our sport in this state and have an athlete among the elite is a tremendous feeling."
All Rights Reserved
INDIANAPOLIS — In the days leading up to the state finals, Matt Slavik had talked about the finish.
He had all the confidence in the world that Alex Bader could hang with the best in the state for the first 90 yards. It was those last 10 that would make the difference.
After earning her way
Bader rallied from eighth place at the midpoint of the race to climb one more spot, earning the seventh-place state medal in the 100-yard breaststroke at Saturday’s IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
"It was incredible,” said Bader, just the third female swimmer in school history to stand on the state podium. “I'm still kind of in shock that I even made the top eight last night. Just being up there with all those other girls who are such great girls and great swimmers, it's just incredible …”
Bader had already shocked herself Friday night when she sliced 1.26 seconds off of her career-best time to vault all the way from the No. 13 seed into the top eight. But she wasn’t done climbing the list of the best breaststrokers in Indiana.
She got off to a strong start, but slower than she had just 20 hours earlier in the preliminaries. Through the first 50 yards, she was eighth, trailing North Central’s Hope Christy by 0.12 seconds.
Then she came storming back.
With Christy on the far side of the pool, Bader focused her attention on her nearest competitor — Madison
Bader was nearly 0.6 seconds faster than Christy in the second half of the race as she finished in 1 minute, 4.19 seconds, and nearly caught
"I saw the girl right inside of me in lane seven, and I knew I was neck and neck with her,” said Bader. “I saw her on my third turn. My legs felt good, which is different from normal. Normally when I get to my third turn, my legs start to give out. But I felt pretty good throughout the whole race."
The time was the second-fastest of her career, trailing only the 1:03.94 she had posted 20 hours earlier to secure her state medal. Her previous school record came at the Feb. 4 sectional meet at 1:05.2.
Her climb up the rankings came in perhaps the fastest event at the Indiana state meet, which included Yorktown sophomore Emily Weiss breaking the state record in 59.37 seconds. The previous mark was set just two years ago by Evansville Reitz’s Lilly King, who went on to win Olympic gold in the event this summer in Brazil.
Her effort earned 12 points, putting JCHS in a tie with Columbus North and International in the team standings.
"It's been a remarkable weekend, the pinnacle of which was Alex swimming this 100 breaststroke, the second-best swim of her career,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “Considering she dropped 1.3 seconds to get into the top heat, she had a great swim today.
"Seventh in the state in the 100 breaststroke ... (and) the girl that won is probably the fastest girl in the country right now. Not too shabby."
The seventh-place medal is the second highest ever attained by a Patriot female swimmer.
Bader, who was 11th in the event as a freshman and 21st last season, surpassed her sister, Sophie, who was eighth
In Friday’s preliminaries, Bader fell three slots short of advancing as she placed 19th in the 50 freestyle in 24.07. She was also a member of the Patriot relay team that competed in the 200 freestyle relay.
"It is a tremendous thing,” said Slavik, who saw one of his athletes on the state podium for the third year in a row. “The hard work that everybody puts in, from the club teams to the summer team to all the coaches, all the athletes involved. And to come here in the pinnacle of our sport in this state and have an athlete among the elite is a tremendous feeling."
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