Anything but typical

It’s going to be a different sort of state meet.

The preliminaries will be split into two sessions. There will be no fans in the stands. Athletes won’t be allowed on the pool deck until its time for them to compete.

But one thing will be the same. The Patriots will be there.

Friday will mark the 14th consecutive season in which at least one member of the Jay County High School girls swim team competes in the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.

“I think they understand there’s an expectation when they come into this … that we make it to state,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik, while also giving credit to support and dedication to the program community-wide. “It started out as hoping just to make it … Now the bar has been raised every year. I think it’s just intensified our work ethic, our sense of team … and that we want to continue that success.”

Unlike a typical year when all 32 swimmers in each event would compete beginning at 6 p.m. Friday night, the preliminaries will be split into two sessions. Teams from odd-numbered sectionals, including Jay County, will compete at noon, with those from even-numbered sectionals to swim at 5:30 p.m. As always, the competitors with the eight fastest times will move on to Saturday’s championship finals with the next eight making the consolation finals.

For the Patriots, and everyone else swimming at noon, there will be an hours-long wait to find out if their time is good enough.

“It’s going to be very stressful, I feel like,” said JCHS senior Eliza Bader. “If it was like last year, I would know within minutes if I made it back. But I’m going to have to sit around for probably a good six, seven hours to be able to find out if I made it. That six to seven hours I’m going to be sitting and stressing the whole time. … We’re going to just have to swim how we know to swim and do what we can.”

The Patriots, who improved on their seed in six of seven events last season, are on the outside looking in when it comes to advancing as their top seed is senior Ashlyn Dow’s No. 23 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Dow hacked more than two seconds off of her preliminary time to win the sectional title in a career-best 1 minute, 6.68 seconds.

Based on seed times she’d need to drop into the low 1:05 range — Homestead’s Cora Walrond is the No. 16 seed at 1:05.08 — in order to have a chance to return to swim Saturday.

“My breaststroke at sectional, I could have taken it out a second faster, I’d say,” said Dow, who placed 30th in the event last season. “I need to be out in probably a 30, 29 even, if I can. … And then … just bring it back as hard as I can. Leave it all in the pool.”

Bader is in a similar position as the No. 24 seed in the 100-yard butterfly. She earned her sectional title in 57.82 while Abigail Miller of Fishers sits as the No. 16 seed at 56.97.

“I know I can take my first 50 out faster than what I did,” said Bader, who climbed from the No. 28 seed to place 24th a year ago. “This year I’ve been able to bring it back a lot harder. So I’m very hopeful that I can take it out hard and then finish it hard. It used to be I’d take it out hard and I was not able to finish it very well.”

Jay County’s group of Rieley Brewster, Mara Bader, Eliza Bader and Dow also holds the No. 24 seed in the 200 medley relay. Their time of 1:50.1 from the sectional leaves them nearly two seconds behind No. 16 seed Bloomington North (1:48.32) but Slavik said they are capable of making a run at the consolation finals.

“The girls have already done the splits that I’m going to ask them to do,” he said. “Just all four of them have never done it at the same time.”

Dow and Eliza Bader are each swimming in a second individual event, with the former seeded 25th in the 100 freestyle in 53.44 and the latter 28th in the 50 freestyle in 24.43. The No. 16 seeds in those events are Charlize Ramey (52.56) of Fishers and Kalliopi Agapios (24.11) of Fishers, respectively.

Lilli Clemmons, Dow and the Bader sisters are the No. 27 seed for the 200 freestyle relay in 1:41.61, about three seconds off of No. 16 seed Plainfield (1:38.86). And Mara Bader is the No. 32 seed in the 200 individual medley after winning her sectional title in 2:19.6.

Winchester senior Ella Baldwin, who trains with the Patriots, will compete in the 100-yard backstroke Friday. She is the No. 31 seed in the event in 1:01.58 while Pike’s Olivia DiRuzza holds the No. 16 seed at 57.1.