Swimmers face 'tall order'

For six consecutive seasons, the Patriots have had a swimmer in the pool on Saturday of the state finals.

If they are to keep that streak alive, they’ll need to make a significant jump Friday night.

Jay County High School’s highest seed heading into the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals this weekend at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis is 26th. The top 16 swimmers from Friday’s preliminaries advance to swim in the championship and consolation finals Saturday.

“We’ve got a pretty tall order to come back on Saturday in both of our relays, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility for who we have in those spots,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik, adding that he feels senior breaststroker Vivienne Kunkler and sophomore butterflyer Eliza Bader also have the ability to return. “But we’re going to have to really swim perfectly. There is no room for error.”

South Adams is in a similar situation in terms of seeds as its lone state qualifier, Ashley LeFever, is 27th in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle.

Jay County’s streak over the last six years has included five medalist performances — two each by Anne Vormohr and Alex Bader, and one from Sophie Bader — as well as several relays returning to swim in the consolation finals.

As the Patriots try to keep that run alive, they hold the No. 26 seed in 200 medley relay. The sectional championship time for Ashlyn Dow, Rieley Brewster, Kunkler and Bader of 1 minute, 50.22 seconds, is 2.5 seconds slower than that of No. 16 seed Bloomington South. A year ago, the final team to qualifying to swim in the consolation finals came in at 1:48.45.

The JCHS group of Erica Hathaway, Kunkler, Dow and Bader is in a similar position as the No. 29 seed for the 200 freestyle relay after winning the sectional title in 1:41.78. They’re about three seconds behind 16th-seeded Lake Central (1:38.84).

In individual events, Kunkler, Bader and Dow are all seeded 30th.

Kunkler, the lone Patriot senior who will compete Friday, dominated Saturday’s sectional with her career-best time of 1:07.27. Sarah Jarding of Carmel is the No. 16 seed in the event at 1:05.32, and a year ago it took a time of 1:05.26 to advance to the consolation finals.

“I just want to make it back to Saturday, in any one of them, the relays or breaststroke,” Kunkler said. “Just to make it to finals one year would be amazing.

“Senior year, I just want to go out with a bang and be with my team as long as possible.”

Bader, a sophomore, is competing in the state finals in the 100 butterfly for the second consecutive year after placing 31st last season. She is seeded 30th at 59.55 while Caitlin Marshall of Noblesville holds the No. 16 spot at 57.02.

Slavik said the story for Kunkler and Bader is the same. 

“Both Eliza and Vivienne are taking their races out fast enough to come back on Saturday,” he said. “They’ve got to be able to finish them.”

Dow’s No. 30 seed time of 2:16.93 is about 10 seconds off the pace needed to reach the consolation finals in the 200 individual medley.

For the Starfires, LeFever faces daunting numbers as well but proved last season she might be able to overcome them. She was seeded 25th for the 100 freestyle at the 2018 state finals and climbed all the way to 17th, falling short of a Saturday swim by just 0.11 seconds.

This year, her seed time of 53.25 puts her 27th, trailing 16th-seeded Kristina Paegle of Bloomington South by 1.2 seconds.

She’s also the No. 27 seed in the tightly-packed 50 freestyle at 24.54. Betsy King of Columbus North is seeded 16th at 24.06, and the No. 14 through 19 seeds are separated by just 0.08 seconds.