Jay Co. girls win invite

They didn’t have any individual victories, but they still came out on top.

Jay County High School’s girls swim team finished first on Saturday at the Celina Sprints meet in its home pool.

The Patriots totaled 132.5 points to win the 10-team meet. Celina was second with 128 points, and Bellefontaine was third with 90. Fort Recovery totaled 66.5 points for fifth.

Jay County’s boys scored 41.5 points for sixth out of 13 teams, and Fort Recovery placed 11th with 6.5 points. St. Marys Memorial won with 132.5 points.

Sophomore Eliza Bader had four top-eight finishes for the Patriots. Her best was runner-up in the 50-yard butterfly, and she was third in the 50 freestyle. She also placed fourth in the 50 breaststroke and seventh in the 50 backstroke.

Ashlyn Dow tied for fifth in the 50 breaststroke, was sixth in the 50 freestyle and 11th in both the 50 butterfly and 50 backstroke. Vivienne Kunkler ended third in the 50 breaststroke, seventh in the 50 freestyle and 15th in the 50 butterfly.

Skyler Myers tied for fourth in the 50 freestyle as the only Patriot boy to finish in the top eight. 

Cassy Martin paced the FRHS girls. She was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle, placed third in the 50 backstroke, tied for fifth in the 50 breaststroke and took seventh in the 50 butterfly.

Also placing in the top 16 for Jay County girls was Lilli Clemmons (14th – 50 backstroke). Chase McFarland (ninth – 50 backstroke), Griffin Mann (10th – 50 breaststroke) and Tayler Smeltzer (10th – 50 butterfly, 13th – 50 breaststroke) also scored for the JCHS boys.

Other Fort Recovery swimmers earning points were Owen Sheridan (10th – 50 freestyle) and Ava Bubp (13th – 50 butterfly, 16th – 50 backstroke).