Patriot boys swimmers finish sixth at sectional

JCHS boys swimming

The Patriots improved on their preliminary times in just over half of their events. In a meet that saw Delta break three sectional records, that wasn’t nearly enough to compete for a team title or state berths. The host Jay County High School boys swim team’s top finish in any event was fourth as it placed sixth in the 11-team field with 179 points in the sectional meet that concluded Saturday. “For us to come in and swim the way we swam, I’m extremely pleased with how our kids performed to their capabilities,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “They all got in and gave it everything they had.” Delta, led by Brady Samuels’ record swims in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly and Sam Bennett’s record diving effort, won seven events to take its seventh straight sectional title with 426 points. Norwell was the runner-up with 320. The lone Patriot who will continue his season is senior Justice Murphy, who advanced to tonight’s diving regional at Fishers with a fourth-place finish in the event that was contested Friday. The winner of each swimming event advances to the state finals while the top four divers move on to the regional. Jay County’s Kyle Sanders wasn’t able to repeat his effort from the preliminary round two nights earlier, but still posted the best Saturday finish for the team as he matched Murphy from the night before. He was about a half-second off of his preliminary pace in the 200 freestyle, placing fourth in 1 minute, 55.45 seconds. He was also seventh in the 100 freestyle. The Patriots were able to cut time in all three relays, with Nick Lyons, Griffin Mann, Aaron Funkhouser and Sanders delivering the highest of those finishes with a fifth-place effort in the 200 medley relay in 1:50.05. Sam Crump, Funkhouser, Mann and Sanders were fifth in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:42.93, and Konner Sommers, Ralph Link, Wyatt Kunkler and Lyons came in eighth in the 200 freestyle relay by slicing more than two seconds for a time of 1:43.18. “Our depth is in our relays,” said Slavik. “Our relays are young … When I look at those relay splits and look at where they started the year at to where they ended the year at, it’s been truly positive.” Mann followed Sanders in the individual events by taking fifth place in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 50 freestyle. The only individual event that saw multiple Jay County swimmers cut time was the 500 freestyle, in which Kunkler dropped 2.43 seconds for 11th place in 5:48.83 and Josh Monroe sliced 0.44 seconds for 13th place in 5:52.95. “Wyatt Kunkler and Josh Monroe both swam lights out,” said Slavik. “They swam to the maximum of their abilities. That’s what we like to see …” Also scoring for the Patriots in consolation races Saturday were Monroe (ninth – 100 breaststroke), Ralph Link (12th – 100 breaststroke), Kunkler (13th – 200 freestyle), Lyons (13th – 100 backstroke), Sommers (13th – 100 butterfly) and Funkhouser (16th – 50 freestyle).The Patriots improved on their preliminary times in just over half of their events. In a meet that saw Delta break three sectional records, that wasn’t nearly enough to compete for a team title or state berths.

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• By Ray Cooney
• February 20, 2021