Four Patriots advance to finals (02/20/04)

PORTLAND — Jay County got four swimmers into individual sectional championship races. South Adams advanced a pair.

But much like the girls sectional two weeks ago, the Norwell Knights established themselves as the dominant force at the Jay County boys swim sectional in the preliminaries Thursday.

Norwell took the top seed in eight out of 11 events and is the clear favorite to win a second straight title.

Oak Hill took the top seed in three other events and looks destined for the runner-up slot, while Adams Central tied Norwell for one of the top spots.

The sectional finals will be at Jay County Saturday with diving preliminaries at 9 a.m. and swimming and diving finals at 2 p.m.

Junior Derick Lee stood as Jay County’s top finisher as the Patriots had an outstanding day of 28 personal-best swims in 32 tries. Lee was second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1-minute, 0.66 seconds.

Adam Miller was the lone Jay County swimmer to reach the finals in a pair of events. He qualified fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in 54.14, and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.22.

Daniel Fisher was third in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.08, and Matthew Peterson qualified fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.72.

Lee, Miller, Fisher and Peterson all qualified with personal-best times.

The quartet also led Jay County’s best relay finish, taking the No. 2 spot in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:52.12.

Joseph Vormohr, Josh Hawn, Lee and Peterson had the fifth-best time in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:49.59, and Dave Johnston, Miller, Fisher and Vormohr teamed for sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:41.87.

Heath Lehman continued to be the top swimmer for the Starfires, qualifying in the top three in a pair of events.

The defending sectional champion in the 500-yard freestyle qualified second in the event with a time of 5:36.81. He was also third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:59.78.

Carson Sprunger was the only other South Adams swimmer to advance to the finals in an individual event. He qualified fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.44.

Lehman led teammates Carl Masters, Lyle Koehler and Corey Simon to a second-place preliminary effort in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:46.07. Lehman, Sprunger, Masters and Simon were third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:39.35, and Andy Lehman, Drew Dull, Brent Hirschy and Sprunger were fifth in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:00.31.

Alex Troxel and Philip Towne led Norwell to its dominance, each earning the No. 1 spot in two events. Troxel was first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke, and Towne set the pace in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle.

Nathan Truex added a top seed in the 100-yard backstroke.

Norwell was also the top seed in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Knights and Adams Central tied for the time seed in the 200-yard freestyle relay with identical times of 1:38.82.

Brett Pettit took two of Oak Hill’s three top seeds, finishing first in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. Tyler Hodge was first in the 100-yard butterfly.[[In-content Ad]]