JC's Lee takes OAC title (01/25/05)

PORTLAND — Retire the nickname.

Derick Lee’s teammates had taken to calling him “Oh so,” in reference to his being oh so close in his quest to break the one-minute mark in the 100-yard butterfly. He had fallen just short in every attempt this season.

Not only did he shed that nickname Monday, but he grabbed a new moniker — conference champion.

Lee accounted for the only Olympic Athletic Conference title for Jay County as he won the butterfly in 59.90 seconds.

“It was awesome,” said Lee. “Bringing home a first place with a 59, I couldn’t ask for a better night. ...

“ What can I say. I was feeling it. I wanted it.”

Both Patriot teams finished in third place, with the boys scoring 207 points and the girls posting 288.

Anderson Highland won the boys title with 324 points, Connersville was second with 278 and Muncie Southside placed fourth with 96. The order was the same in the girls competition with the Scots scoring 415, the Spartans 371 and the Rebels 101.

Lee’s 59.90 was a personal-best time, although he had broken the one-minute mark once before. He finished second in the event at the 2004 sectional meet in 59.97, but had not been under a minute yet this year.

He finished Monday with career bests in each of his four events, including leading second-place efforts in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

“He finally did what he’s been wanting to do since the first meet,” said Jay County coach Barry Weaver of Lee’s butterfly. “He finally got under a minute again in the fly, and cut two seconds in the 200 free. He had two good relay splits. He had a very good night.”

The butterfly was the highlight event for the night for the Patriots, with freshman Matt Eldridge turning in a stunning performance. Seeded third with his previous best at 1-minute, 10.77 seconds, he nipped at Lee’s heels for much of the race.

He sliced nearly eight seconds off his seed time, finishing second to his teammate in 1:03.

“I have no clue,” said Eldridge of where he found such an effort. “... I guess I just tried really hard and I got it. Derick told me about it and I looked up at the (scoreboard) and I was like ‘no way.’ That’s so cool.”

“I don’t know where that came from,” added Weaver. “I’m sure glad it came, but I don’t know where it came from. He hadn’t gone under 1:10.7 and he turns around and goes 1:03 — I don’t know, but I like it.”

Senior Matthew Peterson earned some big points for Jay County as well with a pair of second-place efforts. He trailed Dylan Shepard of Highland in both the 50-yard freestyle (24.92) and the 100-yard frestyle (55.41).

“We had a good night overall,” said Weaver. “We’re getting where we want to be. I hope we don’t run out of time. The times are starting to come down and really get competitive now.

“I think we came closer together,” added Lee. “I think we realized we can be a strong team if we want to. I think we’ll be able to compete real well by sectional.”

The girls team had its highlight race in the opener, where it scored one of its two second-place finishes.

The Patriots trailed heading into the final leg of the medley relay, but junior Lindsey Vesperry led them back. She surged down the stretch to squeak by Connersville by 16 hundredths of a second as the team finished in 2:16.70.

Senior Julie Sours was responsible for the only other second-place finish for the Jay County girls. She was second in the 100-yard breaststroke behind the Scots’ Amber Stephenson in 1:19.99.

“As I look at the result sheet, we had a good meet,” said Patriot girls coach Bev Arnold. “We did what was expected.

“I think we swam OK. I think it’s going to help us approach next year a little differently. There are only four teams here. We can shoot for some success here.”

It will be difficlut for the Patriot teams to have sectional success as they have to travel to Homestead this year. Homestead is ranked fifth in the state in boys swimming, and ninth in girls.[[In-content Ad]]