Kruse places third for Stars (02/20/06)

FORT WAYNE — South Adams posted a pair of third-place results, but still finished dead-center in the sectional meet.

The Starfires were third in a relay and got a third-place effort from Matt Kruse to finish sixth in the 11-team Homestead boys swimming sectional with 112 points. Jay County was eighth with 55 points, two ahead of Bellmont and four behind Marion.

The host Spartans, ranked second in the state, dominated the meet with 452 points. Norwell was second with 189.

Kruse posted the top finish for either area team as he finished third behind a couple of swimmers from Homestead in the 100-yard butterfly. He reached the wall in 54.79 seconds, short of the state cut time of 53.22.

He added a fifth-place effort in the 200-yard individual medley in 2-minutes, 5.24 seconds.

Kruse was also a part of the top Starfire relay, teaming with Justin Klopp, Kyle Affolder and John Gresla for third in the 200 medley relay in 1-minute, 44.89 seconds.

Affolder and Klopp also participated in individual championship races. Affolder was fifth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.70, and Klopp placed sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.05.

Kruse, Klopp, Gresla and Drew Dull also took sixth in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:36.28.

For the first time in school history Jay County went without an individual in a championship race. It’s top finish came from the 200 medley relay team of Tom McCord, Joseph Vormohr, Josh Hawn and Chance Milligan, which was sixth in a season-best time of 1:51.82.

Gresla completed the 500 freestyle in 5:27 for a seventh-place finish for South Adams, and the team of Dull, Marcus Hoover, Shane Swygart and Brock McPeek was seventh in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.84. Klopp posted a time of 23.10 to place ninth in the 50 freestyle, and Swygart took ninth in the 100 back in 1:02.52.

Tom McCord and Steven Kelly shared the top individual finish for Jay County. McCord took eighth in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.18, and Kelly scored 311 points to place eighth in diving.

Vormohr posted a career-best time as he finished ninth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.71, Scott Walker took 10th in the 500 freestyle in 5:37.63 and McCord added an 11-place effort in the 100 freestyle in 54.26.

Walker, McCord, Hawn and Lance VanSkyock placed eighth in the 400 freestyle relay in a season-best 3:46.37, and Vormohr, Walker, Milligan and Min Guen Cho posted a time of 1:43.88 for ninth in the 200 freestyle relay.[[In-content Ad]]