Jay swimmers seeking OAC repeat

It took 34 seasons for the Jay County High School girls swim team to win its first conference title.

Coach Matt Slavik is hoping to make the feat a much more regular occurrence, and back-to-back titles would be ideal.

"Our goals are the same as last year," said Slavik, who led the Patriots to the Olympic Athletic Conference title and a second-place sectional finish in his first season. "I think we have the potential to make the OAC an extremely close meet. ... I think we have solid depth in events.

"Sectionals, I would hope that we can finish in the top three or four."

The group returning to try to lead JCHS to back-to-back titles - the team opens its season Saturday at the Norwell Invitational - includes a pair of sophomores who both posted top-two finishes last season.

Mary Hudson won the Patriots' lone individual OAC championship in 2008, taking first place in the 100-yard backstroke. She was also the runner-up in the individual medley while her classmate Eme Miller took second place in the 100 freestyle.

Hudson and Miller also placed in the top six in a pair of events at the sectional meet in their home pool.

The only other returning swimmer to score points in multiple sectional events last season is senior Michelle Landfair, who was fourth in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle. She will return to the freestyle sprints with Hudson in the breaststroke and Miller in the butterfly and possibly individual medley.

"They had a pretty strong freshman year," said Slavik of Miller and Hudson, who joined Landfair and 2008 graduate Cori Vormohr in setting a couple of school relay records last season. "I expect them to contribute quite a bit more than they did last year.

"They're both extremely strong swimmers. I think the potential is there. And I think they're taking more of an active (leadership) role.

"I think we're in good shape. With Michelle and (senior Caitlin Ruchgy) as seniors and those two young girls, I think they provide a strong foundation for us."

Jay County's group of nine seniors last season included Vormohr, one of the best swimmers in school history. The four-time state qualifier, who has her name all over the school record board, is now swimming at Ball State.

Swimmers Briann Saxman and Maddie Fennig, and divers April Acker and Tricia Skiver, are also gone after all scoring points in the sectional meet.

The losses are significant, but at the same time Slavik said he expects last year's large freshman class to make big strides and replace those missing points.

"We're losing a little bit of strength up top, but we're making up for it with a lot of very consistent, solid swimmers," he said. "I think some of them have the potential to have a break-out year this year.

"Right now it's a matter of getting the girls to believe. ...

"We've got a little bit smaller team, but I don't think that will affect our depth too much."

Along with the top returning swimmers, Megan Taylor returns after leading the team in diving a year ago.

She finished second in the OAC last season, and advanced in the tournament with a fourth-place sectional finish. She went on to place 17th in the regional.

"Megan has a lot of potential this year," said Slavik of the junior, who will also likely swim all three relay events. "Returning with the experience that she has ...

"She's got all the tools and she's got the work ethic. ... I think she's going to be one of the top divers in our league and our sectional."

Other Patriots returning after scoring points at the 2008 sectional meet are breaststrokers Elaine Hemmelgarn (seventh) and Katie Simmons (eighth), and Laura Bowen (12th - individual medley). Other sophomores expected to make strong contributions are Michaela Long (backstroke/sprints), Jocelyn Mann (butterfly/mid-distance) and Marissa Murrell.

Slavik also said he likes what he's seen thus far from Polish foreign exchange student Martyna Gajewska.

"I think she should be a pretty good sprinter based on what I see right now," he said. "I don't have times on her as of yet, but just by looking at how she's performing (in practice), I think she's going to come through in that short free."

As a whole the Patriots, who are already putting in more daily practice yards than at mid-season last year, are going to spend more time focusing on the short freestyle races. They hope that will help their performance at the end of the season as well as give them the ability to put together strong relays.

"We're going to train different this year," said Slavik. "We're going to focus more on cardio work ... and a lot more sprints.

"I'm looking to have four solid sprinters for a relay. I think that short freestyle relay is kind of overlooked in our conference, and I think that's an area where we can get some points."

In addition to trying to repeat their conference and sectional successes from last season, the Patriots will be seeking their fourth straight winning season. JCHS picked up eight wins in 2006-07 and 2008-09 before reaching the double-digit mark last year.

"I'm pretty optimistic about our season and our chances," said Slavik. "It's going to be a good year. It'll be an interesting year. ... I think last year a lot of them realized they could do more than they expected, and I want that to carry through into this year."[[In-content Ad]]