Measuring stick

The Patriot boys swimmers beat one sectional rival Monday.

Their date with another Tuesday provided a measuring stick for where they stand as the holiday break approaches.

Taking on the 2024 sectional runner-up Delta Eagles, the Jay County High School boys swim team came up short in a 161-104 loss but rallied to win the final event of the evening.

The Patriot girls got their only victory in diving as they fell 205-96 to two-time defending sectional champion Delta.

“I think there were a lot of positives for tonight,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “In general, I’m happy with where we’re at. Tonight was a good test. Delta is a phenomenal team. You’re going against one of the best teams in our sectional. It helps us to see where we need to improve. …

“I think, for them, it’s a great experience to see a team that’s at a different level …”

Having dropped the first two relays of the evening, Jay County’s boys had one more chance. Freshman Carson Westgerdes staked them to a slight early lead as he outpaced Eagle sophomore Elijah Brown, but the visitors surged on the next to legs to pull ahead by about a second

Then Cooper Glentzer hit the pool.

Also a freshman, Glentzer roared back with a 24.71-second first 50 yards and continued to reel in Owen McCormick. He pulled ahead and turned in a 51.72-second split as the Patriots won by 0.95 seconds with their time of 3 minutes, 48.04 seconds.

“It was really exciting,” said Westgerdes, who teamed with Peyton Yowell, David Keen and Glentzer for the win. “I thought that was really good for us.

“We didn’t win our medley relay or the short free relay and it felt really good to come back in the 400 relay to win it.”

“It’s a fantastic way to finish a meet with Cooper coming in,” added Slavik, who also got runner-up finishes from Westgerdes in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle. “(Glentzer) went three seconds faster than his 100 freestyle has been this year. … It was a good challenge for him.”

The only other individual win for the JCHS boys or girls in a swimming event came from Glentzer in the 200 freestyle. He again out-paced McCormick, finishing first by more than five seconds in 1:57.11.

Glentzer was second to Delta’s Sam Stokes in the 100 butterfly by 0.17 seconds.

The Patriot girls struggled to find success against Delta, which has not lost a dual meet since the 2021-22 season. Maddy Snow gave them their only victory, scoring 186.4 points to win easily over Eagle senior Savannah Condie (147).

Adding second-place for Jay County were Kaitlyn Fisher (200 individual medley), Brooklynn Byrum (100 butterfly) and Kenzie Huey (100 backstroke) for the girls, and Yowell (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) for the boys.

“They’re being consistent,” said Slavik. “They’re all ahead of where they were last year at this time.

“But it’s kind of a hard wake up between South Adams last night and Delta tonight. We’re not there yet.”